Messages

[especially with their new pitch]

Intermediate and Junior Hurling Championships start tomorrow.

Carryduff take on Clonduff and Ballela host Warrenpoint in the Intermediate.

Hard to see past Carryduff winning the whole thing. The club  is seriously growing as a hurling outfit and Senior Championship is definitely where they want to be.

Clonduff probably the closest to Carryduff if they're firing on their day and have a full squad, but hard to see them coming away with the win. Seems a lot of lads have focused solely on the football, but if they do put out a full force team, there's potential to give Carryduff a bit of a bloody nose. Also see Clonduff have a transfer from Carryduff in their ranks, so I'm sure that'll be interesting.

Could be a bad, bad year for Ballela. Only two years ago they won back to back junior championships, and now this year they have come seriously close to folding. Absolutely disastrous league campaign; couldn't field half the time and conceded a lot of goals every match before finishing bottom of the table. That was against Div 2 and Junior Championship standard teams- Intermediate may be a different storm altogether.  In  saying that, if there was a team they would fancy the chances against it would probably be the Point at home. If Ballela have all available lads fit, they could stand up for themselves. a very physical team with a couple great hurlers.

Hope the club pulls through this hard time, they've been an important team in South Down for a long time now, and see they have some good stuff at underage joined up with Ballyvarley. You have to wonder what the future would hold for the two clubs- an amalgamated Ballyvarley/Ballela team could be a dangerous outfit, but there would surely be a lot of objection from lads in each club.

Warrenpoint will be relishing the opportunity of Intermediate Hurling, and will fancy their chances of reaching a final. They'll have no fear of Ballela, beat Clonduff well in the league, and would love a chance to show up Newry Shamrocks in a semi final. Some serious good forwards at their disposal, and you would fancy them to stay up in the intermediate. Beat Castlewellen a few weeks ago, so clearly haven't regressed since the junior final last year. Would be great to see hurling growing in Warrenpoint, a decent sized down with a catchment area that would have some great athletes- really would expect them to be flying over the coming years.

The Junior Championship is unbelievably open- perhaps one of the most open championships in Ireland.

First game of the championship is perhaps the most interesting- Ballyvarley head out to take on Castlewellen. Castlewellen will be favourites to win the whole thing. An incredible league campaign where they marched through everybody in front of them, including Ballyvarley. Some lads with great skill, and a team that seem to be very well oiled. Dangerous forward, too, in the form of Croskery.
Probably have the best support outside the Ards, seem to bring a crowd anywhere they go and with it being at home, imagine the support will be huge. The strongest team in the county at underage, so it doesn't seem like the good times will end any time soon, either. Great to see and hopefully they can bring a lot to the County Scene in years to come.

Despite all this, Ballyvarley seriously fancying their chances. Last time these teams played, Castelwellen scored a last minute goal to come away with a 1 point win. That will have a left a very bad taste in the mouth. Ballyvarley have been absolutely flying, a great league (which they could have won), and have been on a terrific run of form lately beating some strong teams such as Carrcikmacross and NCC. Potentially the most physical team in the Junior Championship, which won't suit Castelwellen. Danny Magee strong contender for best player in the junior championship, and if they rattle home a few goals in the first few minutes as they seem to have made a habit of doing recently, Castlewellen may begin to sweat. Key difference for me is Castlewellen seem to have gone hammer and tongs at the first leg of the league and potentially peaked, seeing as the second leg of the league and pre championship games haven't been on par, whereas Ballyvarley seem to have been quietly going from strength to strength. Ballyvarley seem to have good stuff going through like Ballela at underage with the O'Rahilly's and Saint Pat's. Again, you'd wonder how they'd get on amalgamated with Ballela at senior level.
Castlewellen favourites for tomorrow, but Ballyvarley will want to rattle them. Don't be surprised to see both teams face each other in October in the County Final.

Kilclief v East Belfast will be interesting. Kilclief will seriously fancy their chances at winning the whole thing after managing to stay up in Div 1, and East Belfast at home in the first round is a great draw for them. Probably the club that will suffer the most from strains placed on dual players. Will love to get off to a flying start, tomorrow, and won't fear anyone in the JHC.

East Belfast could be the surprise of the championship. Had a great league, although, like Castlewellen, the second half didn't live up to the first. New management team seems to be doing a very good job with them. The folding of Henry Joys also seems to have added a couple decent players. Were never that far off Castlewellen this year, goals separating teams, etc.
Potentially the best goal keeper in the championship, so could be interesting when they host Castlewellen.
Beat Ballyvarley in the first game of the year, although Ballyvarley were far too strong for them the second time they met. Despite this, East Belfast will see it as winnable game, especially since it's the last round robin match and may be fore a place in the final.
Great players all over the pitch, although the team definitely doesn't have age on their side and don't have that natural bond that comes with fellas playing together for years.
The sheer depth of their squad will no doubt be a great aid to them.
If Ryan McMullan is available he's probably their most dangerous hurler, and you'd back him to score a goal or two.
Definitely seems the forwards are stronger than their backs, so will be interesting to see if East Belfast manage to keep the scoreboard ticking over, or will they be chasing Kilclief.
Great to see they seem to be getting established now, especially with their new pitch a few weeks ago. Hopefully a great asset for Down Hurling to tap into that massive population in Belfast in the future.

    Where is the new pitch?

Henry Jones. Between Four Winds/Castlereagh part of the world.
The club's been using it for a very long time but good to see they finally have a proper, dedicated section with goalposts, etc. for GAA use.

Great insight Splash. Good to see hurling spreading its wings throughout the county.

Hopefully it continues to. If Down tapped into a few more areas it could do great things for the county.

Intermediate and Junior Hurling Championships start tomorrow.

Carryduff take on Clonduff and Ballela host Warrenpoint in the Intermediate.

Hard to see past Carryduff winning the whole thing. The club  is seriously growing as a hurling outfit and Senior Championship is definitely where they want to be.

Clonduff probably the closest to Carryduff if they're firing on their day and have a full squad, but hard to see them coming away with the win. Seems a lot of lads have focused solely on the football, but if they do put out a full force team, there's potential to give Carryduff a bit of a bloody nose. Also see Clonduff have a transfer from Carryduff in their ranks, so I'm sure that'll be interesting.

Could be a bad, bad year for Ballela. Only two years ago they won back to back junior championships, and now this year they have come seriously close to folding. Absolutely disastrous league campaign; couldn't field half the time and conceded a lot of goals every match before finishing bottom of the table. That was against Div 2 and Junior Championship standard teams- Intermediate may be a different storm altogether.  In  saying that, if there was a team they would fancy the chances against it would probably be the Point at home. If Ballela have all available lads fit, they could stand up for themselves. a very physical team with a couple great hurlers.

Hope the club pulls through this hard time, they've been an important team in South Down for a long time now, and see they have some good stuff at underage joined up with Ballyvarley. You have to wonder what the future would hold for the two clubs- an amalgamated Ballyvarley/Ballela team could be a dangerous outfit, but there would surely be a lot of objection from lads in each club.

Warrenpoint will be relishing the opportunity of Intermediate Hurling, and will fancy their chances of reaching a final. They'll have no fear of Ballela, beat Clonduff well in the league, and would love a chance to show up Newry Shamrocks in a semi final. Some serious good forwards at their disposal, and you would fancy them to stay up in the intermediate. Beat Castlewellen a few weeks ago, so clearly haven't regressed since the junior final last year. Would be great to see hurling growing in Warrenpoint, a decent sized down with a catchment area that would have some great athletes- really would expect them to be flying over the coming years.

The Junior Championship is unbelievably open- perhaps one of the most open championships in Ireland.

First game of the championship is perhaps the most interesting- Ballyvarley head out to take on Castlewellen. Castlewellen will be favourites to win the whole thing. An incredible league campaign where they marched through everybody in front of them, including Ballyvarley. Some lads with great skill, and a team that seem to be very well oiled. Dangerous forward, too, in the form of Croskery.
Probably have the best support outside the Ards, seem to bring a crowd anywhere they go and with it being at home, imagine the support will be huge. The strongest team in the county at underage, so it doesn't seem like the good times will end any time soon, either. Great to see and hopefully they can bring a lot to the County Scene in years to come.

Despite all this, Ballyvarley seriously fancying their chances. Last time these teams played, Castelwellen scored a last minute goal to come away with a 1 point win. That will have a left a very bad taste in the mouth. Ballyvarley have been absolutely flying, a great league (which they could have won), and have been on a terrific run of form lately beating some strong teams such as Carrcikmacross and NCC. Potentially the most physical team in the Junior Championship, which won't suit Castelwellen. Danny Magee strong contender for best player in the junior championship, and if they rattle home a few goals in the first few minutes as they seem to have made a habit of doing recently, Castlewellen may begin to sweat. Key difference for me is Castlewellen seem to have gone hammer and tongs at the first leg of the league and potentially peaked, seeing as the second leg of the league and pre championship games haven't been on par, whereas Ballyvarley seem to have been quietly going from strength to strength. Ballyvarley seem to have good stuff going through like Ballela at underage with the O'Rahilly's and Saint Pat's. Again, you'd wonder how they'd get on amalgamated with Ballela at senior level.
Castlewellen favourites for tomorrow, but Ballyvarley will want to rattle them. Don't be surprised to see both teams face each other in October in the County Final.

Kilclief v East Belfast will be interesting. Kilclief will seriously fancy their chances at winning the whole thing after managing to stay up in Div 1, and East Belfast at home in the first round is a great draw for them. Probably the club that will suffer the most from strains placed on dual players. Will love to get off to a flying start, tomorrow, and won't fear anyone in the JHC.

East Belfast could be the surprise of the championship. Had a great league, although, like Castlewellen, the second half didn't live up to the first. New management team seems to be doing a very good job with them. The folding of Henry Joys also seems to have added a couple decent players. Were never that far off Castlewellen this year, goals separating teams, etc.
Potentially the best goal keeper in the championship, so could be interesting when they host Castlewellen.
Beat Ballyvarley in the first game of the year, although Ballyvarley were far too strong for them the second time they met. Despite this, East Belfast will see it as winnable game, especially since it's the last round robin match and may be fore a place in the final.
Great players all over the pitch, although the team definitely doesn't have age on their side and don't have that natural bond that comes with fellas playing together for years.
The sheer depth of their squad will no doubt be a great aid to them.
If Ryan McMullan is available he's probably their most dangerous hurler, and you'd back him to score a goal or two.
Definitely seems the forwards are stronger than their backs, so will be interesting to see if East Belfast manage to keep the scoreboard ticking over, or will they be chasing Kilclief.
Great to see they seem to be getting established now, especially with their new pitch a few weeks ago. Hopefully a great asset for Down Hurling to tap into that massive population in Belfast in the future.

3 new hurling clubs in 3 years isn't bad going at all for Down. Hopeuflly Saul and the Mournes get established and can compete the way East Belfast do. Be a great pity if they just fizzled out. Hopefully the trend continues- be great to see the likes of Glenn, Saval, Bryansford, Darragh Cross etc. offering hurling in their respective areas.

Imagine given the current form, Ballygalget will handle Newry alright.
Liatroim v Ports very interesting game, real opportunity for Liatroim to shock the system, but defence will find it difficult to handle forwards of portaferrys quality.

Officially Liatroim are an East Down club as far as I know (think the line is around Hilltown?) but we all know in regards to hurling,  anything this side of the water is South Down, and then obviously the Ards. May need a new categorisation system, though, if the clubs around Belfast continue to grow.

North Down board, maybe?

Ballygalget come out of Belfast with the points. Not much in it in the end. 

Liatroim continue the good run of form and put Shamrocks to the sword in Newry. Apparently was very close in the first half and took Liatroim some time to click and get going.

All the same, would still fancy them to rattle Ballygalget.

Great to see two South Down teams play in the Senior Championship; hopefully South Down hurling continues to grow.

Think the results mean both Shamrocks and Bredagh will be playing in the Intermediate  Semi-Finals (bar an upset against Ballycran or Portaferry). Would say Clonduff would fancy a crack at Shamrocks and Bredagh/Carryduff would be a great derby match.

Think Carryduff will have too much for anyone in the intermediate to deal with, including Bredagh and Shamrocks. Considering they've been neck and neck with Liatroim over the past few years,  an Ulster Title or even an Intermediate All Ireland isnt out of the realms of possibility. They came the closest to beating Liatroim until they were knocked out by Tooreen in the All Ireland Semi Final. Carryduff seem to be coming into a good era of hurling with success at underage levels, and a hurling All Ireland of any type would no doubt do great things for the game in Belfast and North Down, as well as the rest of the county.

Also great to see East Belfast's John Dornan taking charge of the game between Liatroim and Newry Shamrocks, his first Senior Championship match. A great achievement for the club.

Great progress for Down hurling when we have an East Belfast referee taking charge of a Senior Championship match between two South Down teams in a competitive six team championship. Great that the game is growing in the county.

Liatroim definitely have the physicality and attacking ability to compete with the Ards teams, but as you say, defensively they may struggle.

All the same, I imagine they'll definitely fancy their chances against anyone, and Ballygalget could be a big scalp for them. Be interesting to see how they get on.

Would have Ballycran as favourites followed closely by Portaferry. On the day I think Ballycran are just the better team. Especially now with another top level hurler in Sheehan if he has settled in well.

Some big losses for Ballygalget there alright. Missing on me top player would be bad enough on its own, but missing all those lads sounds like it could be a tough year for Ballygalget.

Ballycran laying down a marker with a good scalp over Portaferry.

Be interesting to see if Bredagh just has an off day against Liatroim last week and if  they're able to pick up against Ballygalget where they left off last year. Might be looking like the work they've put in over the last few years is coming to a bit of a halt for a while.

Also be interesting to see the difference in Newry Shamrocks and Liatroim tomorrow; wasn't much between them in the Intermediate Championship over the past few years, but feels like Liatroim really have come on whilst Shamrocks have sort of froze. Not outside the realms of possibility for Liatroim to reach a Senior Championship Final. Not bad for a South Down team.

Ballycran are well organised and are more or less guaranteed a home semi-final for now, Liatroim could be the surprise package this year, a final is not beyond them, but will depend who they get in a semi-final. They've a few more "transfers" into their ranks and the highest paid management team in Down hurling.. 
We're screwed if we get a few injuries to key players like we did against Ballycran but we're hopeful of having three of them back for tonight, which is a must win game for us even at this stage. Bredagh have had a poor league campaign, struggling with injuries as well I believe, but the tight council pitch will suit them.

Ports won't be too concerned about the defeat yesterday, they'd a wedding in the parish this weekend so a few players preparation was less than ideal.

Didn't think there was much between Ballycran and Port last year and it doesn't seem like one has pulled away this year, either. Any word how Sheehan is getting on with Ballycran? Heard he scored a late goal yesterday to secure the win.

Thought this could be the year Ballygalget came back as strong as ever. Heard great things about them at the start of the year and they were flying in Antrim. What's happened them in the past few years where they've ended up a wee bit off Ballycran and Portaferry?

Heard Bredagh really were struggling with injuries, lads away etc. From what I've seen of Bredagh this year think Ballygalget will have too much for them to cope with.

Not much to say about Liatroim other than they are a very well oiled machine atm. Transfers will obviously be a great help this year, McCusker a top, top player, but even without all that, they have a very good group right now.

Could be a bleak year for Newry Shamrocks. You have to wonder how much they relied on Paul Sheehan. Would be a pity to see all the work they've put in over the past few years suddenly come undone. 

Good to see the Senior Championship growing and being competitive- can only benefit Down hurling in the long run.

All eyes on the bottom half of Division 2 now with all other leagues settled.

Carryduff win Div 1 with Longstone & Bryansford down. A new era for the Ford to try and rebuild. They lost alot of games through small margins though and will be back

Div 2 sees Ballyholland win the league and as expected go straight back up along with The Town. The bottom half is very interesting, any one of Rostrevor, Newry Shamrocks, Glenn or Liatroim can still go down (without checking head to heads etc) be worried for Glenn and Shamrocks. Is there an issue in Glenn? Is it starred games? McParland, Miller etc very strong players, imagine they would be straight back up if went down

Div 3 looked to be going St Johns way when An Riocht dropped a point but it all comes down to an effective league final Friday night. Both teams going up so Silverware is now the prize I cant see either holding back for championship. St Pauls and Drumaness go down to div 4. St Pauls had a tough year, Tullylish and Darragh both looked like they could go down a few weeks back but Tullylish had a great run over a few weeks and Darragh picked up just enough along the way, nobody would have expected either to be in a fight for relegation.

Div 4: Finn and Bosco up. Bosco as predicated, fair play to the Finn, many wrote them off when players left and went to the town after last season

Glenn have had a couple of issues this year.
County players were a big miss; had a lot of players involved with Down- more than you would expect from a Division 2 side. McParland, for example, is a big, big loss alone, let alone missing the likes of O'Hare as well.
Lot of lads suffering with injuries, couple lads in America or off travelling,  few lads focused on hurling with Ballyvarley.
The big thing has been the struggle to maintain numbers. 
Wasn't too many fellas coming through from underage this year to compensate for the loss of key names.
   
Glenn are more than capable of staying in the Senior Championship, and will be interesting to see if they retain Senior status whilst playing in Division 3.
You would expect it to be a straight down/straight back up job, but I wouldn't be resting on my laurels, either. A full Glenn squad with some of those top names would be well fit to come back up, but who knows what way the situation will be next year.

Ballycran laying down a marker with a good scalp over Portaferry.

Be interesting to see if Bredagh just has an off day against Liatroim last week and if  they're able to pick up against Ballygalget where they left off last year. Might be looking like the work they've put in over the last few years is coming to a bit of a halt for a while.

Also be interesting to see the difference in Newry Shamrocks and Liatroim tomorrow; wasn't much between them in the Intermediate Championship over the past few years, but feels like Liatroim really have come on whilst Shamrocks have sort of froze. Not outside the realms of possibility for Liatroim to reach a Senior Championship Final. Not bad for a South Down team.