What can we expect from Antrim this Sunday? I doubt any of the Cushendall players will be available for selection, maybe too soon for them. Galway will be up for the match for sure, home game Loughnane's first game, and the defeat from last years game all motivating tools to hammer Antrim.
Personally I'm looking good displays from squad, fitness levels to at least match Galway's, attitude to be positive and good discipline as this is the area were we give away the daft frees that put a bad refection on the game and scoreboard.
What is the Galway panel? Not too many lads from the Loughrea side on it?
Heading down for the game. ;D i know!!!
This will be exstremly difficult. The Loughnane factor will motivate Galway, they have more better players to begin with, Cushendall boys will be missing. I'm looking for signs of improved fitness, organisation and tactics. We'll see. The carry on against Laois last week doesnt augur well.
From what i have heard the Laois preparation/match was a bit of a shambles, this is the kind of shabby preparation Sambo used to bleat about in the Irish News. Hopefully it will spur a few fellas and the management to get their finger out or the trip to Galway will be a heavy defeat. I dont think we will catch them cold the way we did last year.
I hope the Antrim squad are getting ready to put it up to Galway on Sunday instead of dwelling on negatives. If they can put up a fighting display for the full 70 minutes then that will be a positive. If they go down with a hiding on their minds then there will be no surer thing. If they are going to do anything come summer time they have to at least show they are up for it. There should be enough strength in the panel to put out a steady 15 for the game.
I just hope the players when they are away on an overnight stay realise they are there on business and not a piss up. Its hard enough to beat these teams without players not properly preparing.
antrim will get der revenge over galway cos they will be mad at loughrea tramps winnin against cushendall last sunday!!!
The defeat last Sunday will have no revelance on the Galway match.
I hope Antrim hit the ground running. Galway are unlikely to be caught unawares this year. I am sure thay will be out to impress Loughnane. Hopefully Antrim can contain them and put up a fighting performance. any word on the team yet
Havent heard, everything has been a bit cloak & dagger with the management which is very unlike Sambo. If we get within 10 pts we will be doing well. Johnny Tosh is recovering from his groin operation other than that i havent heard much.
I'm afraid there will be no 'loughrea tramps' for Antrim to have a go at!
Looks like Antrim will be the christians in the colluseum, watch out for those lions boys! They have a point to prove to KK and Cork!
Galway easily by 10+ points!
GALWAY (SH Antrim):
A Ryan;
D Joyce, S Kavanagh, F Moore;
D Forde, J Lee, D Collins (capt.);
E Lynch, D Tierney;
R Murray, M Kerins, F Healy;
D Hayes, E Cloonan, K Broderick.
strong up front Galway boy, whats the lads like in defence?
Antrim Team and Panel for match against Galway
1. DD Quinn (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
2. Barney McAuley (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
3. James McKeague (Cú Chulainn Dun Lathai)
4. Sean Delargy (Ruairí Og Bun Abhann Dalla)
5. Ciarán Herron (Lamh Dheárg)
6. Johnny Campbell (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
7. Malachy Molloy (Cú Chulainn Dun Lathai)
8. Karl McKeegan (Ruairí Og Bun Abhann Dalla)
9. Brendan Herron (Lamh Dheárg)
10. Karl Stewart (Naomh Gall)
11. Liam Watson (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
12. Micheál Herron (Lamh Dheárg)
13. Patrick Richmond (Cú Chulainn Dun Lathai)
14. Neal McAuley (Mhic Uillín Baile an Chaistil)
15. Paul Shields (Cú Chulainn Dun Lathai)
16. Chris O'Connell (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
17. Sean Burke (Naomh Gall)
18. Barry McFall (Naomh Eoin)
19. Brian McFall (Naomh Eoin)
20. Aidan Delargy (Ruairí Og Bun Abhann Dalla)
21. Martin Scullion (Na Seamróga Loch gCaol)
22. Michael Magill (Tir na nÓg)
23. Aaron Graffin (Ruairí Og Bun Abhann Dalla)
24. Colm Duffin (Tir na nÓg)
Is is probably as strong as we can get a present. Watched McAuley from Ballycastle play full-forward for antrim against Cushendall recently and was impressed. He looks strong. Delargy as corner back should add a bit of pace to that sector but I cannot get the selection of Johnny Campbell at centre-back. I do not rate him at all.
Johnny Campbell is one of these palyers that gets a chance no matter who is the manager, he has had more than enough chances and isnt good enough. Dont rate Mc Keague either at full back, i would prefer someone with a more commanding presence, i have a feeling Eugene Cloonan will have a field day on him.
Quote from: BottleOfStout on February 16, 2007, 01:49:52 PM
Is is probably as strong as we can get a present. Watched McAuley from Ballycastle play full-forward for antrim against Cushendall recently and was impressed. He looks strong. Delargy as corner back should add a bit of pace to that sector but I cannot get the selection of Johnny Campbell at centre-back. I do not rate him at all.
Johnny Campbell is just not a number 6. It's not a snipe at the man, I'm was never a number 6 either. He works better on the wing.
Quote from: Syd The Sailor on February 16, 2007, 01:55:01 PM
Dont rate Mc Keague either at full back, i would prefer someone with a more commanding presence, i have a feeling Eugene Cloonan will have a field day on him.
James in fairness is still learning the trade, and there is no better man to learn IMO. He possesses all the right attributes (committed, strong, good touch, strong in the air, and a great fella to boot) but I feel puts too much pressure on himself going into the bigger games and this affects his performances as a result. In time I think he will develop into a great player...watch this space
And while were on the subject of full backs Syd, what about Oran Scullion ? Do you know if he is going to join the panel at some stage?
As you requested milltown -
A Ryan - new to the team
D Joyce - solid defender over the past few years
S Kavanagh - has revolved between 3 & 6 over the past few years, not very consistent up to now
F Moore - didn't feature under Conor Hayes' reign, not sure if this is his best position
D Forde - centre half forward last year, interesting switch
J Lee - an outstanding minor (we have loads !!!) winner a few years back, this his best position
D Collins - was superb 2 years ago and poor last year, well capable of leading by example when in form
Galway should be chomping at the bit for this one. Might be closer than most people think as I'm sure Loughnane is running the hole of the Galway lads this time of year and legs will be heavy !
cheers, GaillimhIarthair. there has been no word on the training Ger has put in with the squad, but coming on and saying he will be disappointed not to win the all ireland is strong words
Not entirely true to state that Moore didn't play under Hayes, he did until '04, then opted out. Biggest surprise IMHO is the non-inclusion of Diarmuid Cloonan at FB, when you consider that Loughnane is trying to steel up the Galway squad. On the other hand he has included both Broderick (hopefully a Galway manager will at last recognise his ability) and Hayes in the FF line. Will be a lot of interest in seeing how Lee plays at CHB, while Eoin Lynch gets a chance to translate good club form into county appearances. The bench is starting to look strong now as well with guys like Greg Kennedy, Tony Og (might be best place for him), Ger Mahon (needs to improve), John Culkin, Alan Kerins, Niall Healy, Ger Farragher and Kerril Wade on standby. A large crowd will surely be in Salthill on Sunday to see the glorious dawning of a new era in Galway hurling!
Quote from: theskull1 on February 16, 2007, 02:05:20 PM
And while were on the subject of full backs Syd, what about Oran Scullion ? Do you know if he is going to join the panel at some stage?
Do not know if he will join the panel. He tends to travel a lot and may not be able to commit. He was on panel and had a few games a couple of years ago but really did not cut it then
Quote from: theskull1 on February 16, 2007, 01:56:53 PM
Johnny Campbell is just not a number 6. It's not a snipe at the man, I'm was never a number 6 either. He works better on the wing.
I would not have anything personal against him either as I do not know him, but he is simply not good enough for county level, whether no. 5, 6 or 7
I dont think Scullion would cut it at inter county level, i dont think his hurling ability is up to it. I would play Mickey Mc Cambridge at full back as we have enough half backs and the need is greater at full back i think.
Galway 3-25
Antrim 0-12
galwaybayboy.....Result?
If correct that score is appalling
Just goes to show how limited Antrim really are. Its going to be another long Season for them. They are clearly out of their depth at this level. The gap between the first rate and secound rate teams in Hurling is massive.
If the score has right we are as far behind, or further, the big teams down south as ever. Be interesting to see what the managers put this down to, Sambo was always ultra critical of beatings like this under Cahill & Jingos management.
Yeah that's the final score.
So much for the dawning of a new era under Sambo & Woody.........I wonder what spin will be put on it by management
RTE said it was 3-23 to 0-12???
Anyone hear the Cork Offaly result?
Syd, under jingos management the only heavy beating they got was against limerick when they froze badly. Other than that the national league form was excellent. Loosing by this much is a return to the "dont try in the league" era of Dinny
The thing is Sambo used to hammer Dinny in the paper for not going full pelt in the league. I dont think its a case of not trying, more that we are totally out of our depth against this sort of opposition.
We beat this opposition last year and were competitive against the Cats and Tipp. Loosing by 20 points to anyone is not acceptable. Will be intrested to hear a report, did we collapse in the second half like in the walsh cup or were we out of our depth all along
Slow Corner Back.....I dont think it is a matter of going easy in the league, it is more a case of being totally out of our depth against opposition like this. Sambo used to hammer Dinny in the Irish News for not taking the league seriously so it will be interesting to hear what he says. As regards beating Galway last year, we will never catch them as ill prepared like that again, they were back from their team holiday in China about 36hrs before the match. I was at the Kilkenny match and if it was a dry day we would have got hammered, a couple of the players told me the same. Do you remember the conditions against Tipp? so in those two instances i would say the awful weather was a good leveller for us.
Syd,
fair point about the weather. I am still intrested to hear a report to see if the team ran out of steam. To quote woody from earlier this week, its not rocket science to get a team to a competitive level of fitness. However in the walsh cup we ran out of steam after 50 mins against wexford. Compare our result with dublins. The Cats and Galway are of similar standards as are antrim and dublin. Loosing by 20 points is never acceptable. If you are fit and determined you should always be competitve especially in February
I think "Milltownrow" was going down and said he would have a report on Monday. Agree with you about fitness levels, there should not be much difference in any of the teams in terms of fitness, if everyone is determined enough and willing to get ripped in a beating of this scale should not happen at intercounty level. I just worry what Kilkenny will do to us after getting a kick up the arse by Dublin, i cant imagine them being complacent twice, you get the idea Cody isnt the kind of manager to let that happen.....
What ever way you look at it or no matter what reasons we come up with. The bottom line is Antrim have only a handfull of clubs to pick from and our resources are very small. This is why we compete better at club level than County. It is because the areas with the greatest catchments will always come to the top. Places like Offaly are an acception. Who like Antrim have slim pickings but have the advantage of being geographicaly located in the hurling zone.
Plus the added fact that Galway have been punching well below their weight. Loughnane was brought into harness the large pool of talant Galway has and has said himself that if he can't bring an All-Ireland to Galway in two years he will be deemed a failure. I always new this fixture was going to be hell for Antrim. Tough times for Antrim a head but sure were well used to it by now.
All valid comments Baile an tuaigh.
At one level I feel sorry for the players and at another I don't (well to some anyway). Too many people think we are better than we really are and expect us to come on leaps and bounds simply because Sambo and Woody have taken over the reins. The reality is that the targets set out for the team is unrealistic. We don't have the quality in enough depth to survive at the this level in hurling. Why do we think we do? But some leading players on the team went on record last year to say that they wanted a regime change to bring things on. I hope those players are as quick to come on and give us their views this week (let me just say I agree with Syd's post regarding the fortunate results we got last year - I think the points he makes are totally valid) but it is obvious that a managerial change isn't the panecea that many thought it would be ( I hope to be proved wrong in time)
My biggest gripe with all this is that Antrim train and train and play challenge match after challenge match, hoarding players thoughout a season and at the end of it all we end up with is the same old same old. Hurling is in depression in Antrim and I feel that the hoarding of County players year after year (and the domino affect of this) is thee a major reason why hurling is at such a low ebb in Antrim. What about getting back and making club hurling enjoyable again in this bloody county? In the long run it will bear more fruit than the current short sighted approach which is doing nothing but erode the foundatuions of the game itself. I would gaurantee that if an Antrim team was selected for the championship based purely on players performing well in a regular league program (so no orginised Antrim training until about 2-3 weeks before their championship) they would be as good as the Antrim team who had prepared for 8 months for that same game. So why sacrifice so much for so little?
But I'm pretty sure that the opposite will happen. I expect to see more challenge games pencilled in an attempt to turn things round. The County didn't arrange hurling fixtures for a Wednesday night for nothing
Galway shot to the top of the Division 1B standings as they looked sharp in Ger Loughnane's first National League Division 1B game at the helm with a 3-25 to 0-12 win over Antrim at Pearse Stadium.
Kevin Broderick scored 1-02 in the opening half at Pearse Stadium - he batted home a 16th-minute goal for the Tribesmen, who had former minor captain John Lee debuting at centre-back.
David Tierney nabbed the hosts' second goal, just before the break, as they led 2-09 to 0-05.
Eugene Cloonan, who struck five first half points, took his tally to 1-10 with a late goal. The Saffrons' scorers included Karl McKeegan, Liam Watson, Patrick Richmond and Brendan and Michael Herron.
Galway were forced into a defensive reshuffle before the throw-in, losing both corner backs to injury, with Damien Joyce ruled out due to the flu.
Antrim's midfield duo of McKeegan and Brendan Herron were by far the visitors' most effective unit throughout, and the pair shared out three points in the opening minutes.
But Broderick's goal helped Galway wrestle back control and with Richie Murray firing over an excellent line ball, Loughnane's charges led 1-04 to 0-03 by the midpoint of the half.
Michael Herron and Watson, who was an effective presence at centre forward, kept Antrim ticking on the scoreboard before Tierney sent an unstoppable shot to the Saffrons' net, having rounded goalkeeper DD Quinn.
The mismatch continued into the second half as two shots from a sharp-looking Cloonan and another from Niall Healy sent Galway into a 2-12 to 0-05 lead.
Antrim managed to reel the hosts back in with a brace from Watson and a lovely flicked effort from Richmond, but there was a touch of inevitability about the closing half-hour.
Quicker to the ball and showing some neat touches in front of goal, Galway topped off their opening day win with man of the match Cloonan, who cracked over three brilliant '65s, notching his goal and Niall Healy ending his afternoon's work with his third point.
Twelve months ago, Antrim shocked the men from the west with Johnny McIntosh, who hit 1-07 that day, central to that victory.
Unfortunately the Oisin Glenariffe clubman is currently recovering from a groin operation, but it is very doubtful if he would have made a difference in Salthill.
Loughnane had his players primed for this one, and despite a flurry of positional changes, there was nothing new Antrim managers Dominic McKinley and Terence McNaughton could do to thwart Galway.
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"theskull1" I have maintained that we have to get our own domestic scene right before we concentrate on the County team. The lack of club games during the good weather is nothing short of disgracefull. It is by no coincidance that Antrim traditionaly played their best hurling when we had regular competive league and championship club games at home. The Ulster hurling league is a good idea which should be built on. I agree with your post in its entirity.
A very poor match in which neither manager will have taken too much from the result for varying reasons. Antrim started well and were the better side for the first 10 - 15 mins and a little more composure in front of the posts would have had them 3 - 4 points up in that period. It took Galway 10 mins to register our first score (Cloonan free) and after a few more points were tagged on it became very lobsided. The HT score was something like 2-09 to 0-03 after goals from K Broderick and D Tierney and the game was over as a contest. McKeegan and Watson were Antrims two best players over the 70 mins and certainly deserved more for their efforts. No points rating any of the Galway lads from this game as they were not really under any pressure for the vast majority of it. The limerick game away will tell alot more.
I see Loughnane reckoned Antrim "gave up" yesterday. If that was the case we have a long year ahead of us....
Sorry for the delay, of work until today. Now the match report, what I was looking for was commitment, good fitness, competing for the ball and good stick work. Well we had all of that and it lasted for 10 mins. We collapsed again the minute a goal went in. before that Antrim should have been at least 5/6 points to the good. Great early work from Brendan and Micko Heron. Karl McKeegan played with no hang ups from the game last week and scored a great early score.
I though Barney (although he was one of our better defenders) was fit but how your man got the ball before him to score the goal was beyond me. In my opinion I thought our full back and full forward were too inexperienced and didn't really compete. Our heads dropped and there was no fire in the belly. We seemed to be easily pushed off the ball, and panicked our shots. We were fumbling easy ball and losing possession, high ball was going in to our forwards giving them no chance. Where as Galway played low and cross field ball all the time and we didn't catch on, they were first to the ball had so much time to strike it. We hurried clearances to Galway men and as Ger put it we just gave up!!!
The gulf in class was clear, I fear for Antrim hurling. Sort out the club leagues get regular competitive hurling within the county senior teams should be playing 18 league games and then Championship. Not the debacle we have had for the last number of years.
Quote from: Syd The Sailor on February 16, 2007, 01:55:01 PM
Johnny Campbell is one of these palyers that gets a chance no matter who is the manager, he has had more than enough chances and isnt good enough. Dont rate Mc Keague either at full back, i would prefer someone with a more commanding presence, i have a feeling Eugene Cloonan will have a field day on him.
Milltown.......I hate to say i told you so!!! He just does not have a physical enough presence