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Rumour flying around Ryan Scullion and Martin Bradley both left squad to go play for Screen, big pressure from the club to try and keep them in Div 1?

Personally think a good few of extended squad who haven't seen any game time yet should have been released to clubs this weekend.

Both playing today for Screen and along with Carlus McWilliams they were the 3 most influential players on the pitch. Bradley gave a masterclass in full back play and Scud scored maybe 5/6 points including a monster 2 pointer free and a couple of quality 45's.

Sargent wasn't listed in the 24 in the match program on the Ulster GAA website. And not mentioned in the twitter commentary.
Good wins for both the minors and the under 20s.
Minor team and squad seems to be a secret. haven't seen any information about them except scores.

The minors got out of jail yesterday. A poor enough game with not much quality on both sides. A howler from the Donegal keeper gifting us a goal near the end. Could have won by more if we had been more efficient and taken better options but have to remember most of these lads are still only 16. Some big units in the squad though for the age of them.

U20 Championship result

Derry 5-20
Fermanagh 0-03

Didn't Fermanagh beat Donegal last week? Seems a strange result, unless Donegal are very poor

Derry kicking into gear, favourites to win Ulster and will be hard stopped in the All-Ireland series should they win Ulster.

A totally dominant display with some stand out performances for Derry. I was expecting more from Fermanagh, especially after they scored a cracking 2 pointer in the first couple of minutes but it went downhill for them very quickly after that. Derry played some quality football in brutal conditions.

Derry came back from 0-12 to 1-3 down with 15 minutes left to beat Donegal 2-9 to 0-12 in the minors.

Quite often a strong wind straight down the field at Owenbeg. Im guessing Donegal had it in the first half.

Was thinking that must have been a factor.

There was a wind but not the only factor. Donegal lost one of their midfielders to injury in the first half and their keeper, for a reason only he knows won a free in the last couple of minutes and decided to solo and go. He gets dispossessed and the ball ends up in the back of the net.
Derry were camped in Donegal half in the second half but the forwards took a few wrong options and the shooting was very wayward otherwise the result could have been clearer.
In summary I don't think either team have the quality to win Ulster or compete later, though from a Derry perspective I'd like to be proved wrwong.

At times I see so many similarities to the issues in Derry the last number of years. Really good underage teams with an expectation of more quickly, internal issues, good individuals but lack of cohesion as a team.
Whatever you guys think the championship and a rattle at Armagh should bring the best out of them. If it doesn't then nothing will and it may be a back to the drawing board job.
Derry and Tyrone both taking a bit of stick after the league campaign. Would be nice to see a Derry  v Tyrone Ulster final to shut a lot of people up across the country.
One thing lads. If you get a rattle at Donegal beat the lining out of them in all aspects.

Good luck in Armagh.

GAA Director General, Tom Ryan says Casement Park "will be redeveloped", that the cost of the project "will be met from committed funding and without residual borrowings" and that it will be "financially self-sufficient" when completed.

That sounds pretty much an admission that the current version is dead in the water.

Even if the inflation-adjusted money is approved by Stormont the funding gap means that there is no way the current 34.5k version can be afforded.

The bit about no borrowings plus the bit about it having to be financially self-sufficient is a clear warning that Croke Park aren't going to facilitate a bailout down the road. It looks like some people in Croke Park have learned some lessons from PuC.

It's to be hoped a few people in Ulster take heed from the PUC mess as well. A stadium circa 10k more than sufficient for Antrim's purpose. It's the rest of Ulster, Armagh maybe aside need funding for their grounds as well. Surely Munster and their multiple massive stadia are an example of how not to do things.
Only a ground of the size I suggest for Antrim would be self sufficient. The 34.5k version is not and when built Ulster will hand over the running costs to Antrim and in this day and age I would suggest they would struggle to manage, as would any county. Just bite the bullet and build a ground fit for Antrim's purpose.

Good result for the senior hurlers at the weekend and a more than decent performance by the U.20 hurlers against Antrim. A shame for the minors and hopefully only an early season blip against Wicklow. Pity there's no chat about hurling, but only talk about Derry City and Limavady United over the last few days.   

Great win for Éire Óg beat Glenariffe in the Ulster Intermediate hurling semi-final. 3-16 to 2-18. Looks like it was quite a game. One point win!

And good value for it as well. Played very well, especially in the second half to come back. Éire Óg manager on the sideline was worth the admission fee alone. A candidate for the heart ward if ever I saw one.

[the Newbridge player hits and the ball spills and the ref penalises s'neil]

https://x.com/McCoyNiall/status/1977687674904510799

Should have been a 2 pointer. As I say the ref needs to be absolutely sure it is, or is not. The evidence supports it should have a been a two pointer. The balance of probability is in S'neils favour here.

The ref doesn't even point what way the foul was on the infraction is given. That is such an incredible penalty for S'neil to have suffered. The ball broke, a s'neil player gets the break, the Newbridge player hits and the ball spills and the ref penalises s'neil, and as I said no hand signal to indicate his decision. The s'neil player who won the break concentration was on getting the ball. A brilliant example of such a terrible rule never mind the ref not signalling clearly

Patsy dropped it / placed it on the ground instead of handing it back.

I'd disagree. Looked very much like he had it knocked out of his hands. Add it to Shane McGuigans 2 pointer that wasn't given Slaughtneil have every right to be unhappy with the referee with how the game ended.

And correctly so as well.

Some line to be coming onto a fball board with, catch a grip u clown!

Agreed

As a referee he was a disgrace today but that post is so uncalled for on a public forum. If you have anything about you then you will take that post down.

Cahair isn't far off the mark with his latest article, a quarter full owenbeg does nothing for the atmosphere. There shouldn't be a game played there before the SF stage.

Is Owenbeg really the reason for the atmosphere? Perhaps if some of the clubs decided to play a bit of decent football it would help. Not a lot at the minute to enthuse the supporters.

People talk about how great Glen is. How many on here were at the Ballinderry v Banagher league play off? A big crowd but the atmosphere was shocking. Why? Not Watty Graham Park's fault? It was because the game was so one sided, the game as a whole was poor and nothing more. Have we heard that this season? Nearly every Derry senior game this season. Wouldn't have mattered where you would have watched the Senior games last weekend the atmosphere would have been dismal. A team of dancing cheerleaders with a firework show wouldn't have brightened up the games, particularly the Kilrea and Loup games.

The atmosphere is poor because the games are poor!!! As for Cahair how would he know how full Owenbeg is? Sure he spends most of his time in his beloved County Down. He would write anything for a few clicks and likes.

[What's Ballinascreen excuse for bottom of the league/championship more times than enough. Takes in 3 places, massive townland and always near the bottom.]

Every club has the same issue, that's crap, I seen Kilrea Reserve game one nite with 25+ players. Drumsurn a small place, they were never strong enough to play senior football. Derry football only strong enough for a top 12 club system but teams at the lower end of the league wouldnt go for that. What's Ballinascreen excuse for bottom of the league/championship more times than enough. Takes in 3 places, massive townland and always near the bottom.

The old "huge parish/massive townland" argument doesn't stack up in my book. I would contend the opposite is true. Look at the likes of Kilcoo, Slaughtneil, Trillick, Errigal in recent years and historically Ballinderry. All relatively small parishes (I haven't researched the square mileage) and have been hugely successful. These are places where the GAA club is the absolute heart of the community. Most children's past times are GAA. Larger towns/townlands have other activities like soccer, rallying, bars etc which definitely impacts interest in GAA. There is hurling too, but that's a whole different argument.....

Slaughtneil aren't small at all. from up the Five Mile straight, to near Dungiven out to Garvagh and right into the top of Maghera is not a small catchment area.
Added into the equation that some have left the area are happy to take their children back to play.
TBH thats why I happy to see Newbridge winning a championship, now theres a club with a tight catchment area.

Surely Ryan out to Garvagh would be Swatragh territory would it not?

Kilcoo genuinely is a small parish. The football club is surrounded by Bryansford, Clonduff, Castlewellan, Laitroim and Drumgath, it's remarkable what they achieve.

It sure is remarkable. To be so small and disliked by so many is some achievement.

On Ciaran Hendry of Lavey, Derry aren't short of half backs so it would be hard to force your way onto the team. But definitely a good footballer. If the new rules are adopted Derry will need some added size and two-point scorers in the team / squad. Maybe our new management with a longer prep time will adapt better than last year when we only seemed to get a grip on things as the curtain came down.

Would agree with this on Ciaran Hendry. He plays in a line that Derry seem to be fairly well equipped as it stands but still think he could add something. I think we all realise that the forward areas are where we need the reinforcements and apart from the players named already in the forum ( Kearney, McMonagle and Moore ) no one else has stood out. Anyone showing any potential in Intermediate or even Junior that might be worth a punt on?

Watched Galbally and Donaghmore last night and the scoring and forward play was miles ahead of anything on show in the Derry championship so far.