Antrim Hurling

[the colonel]

Yesterday after a slow enough first few minutes due to stoppages we got going but over complicated things. If we had kept it simple we would have been out of sight in first half. Instead of popping the ball over the bar we took too many touches and let St Galls get a few openings from the turnovers (penalty and a point).

As regards to any physical stuff I would say we weren't bad, just letting St Galls know they were in a game. All the wild strokes in the game came from St Galls as far as I could see- Karl Stewart on Karl McKeegan at the start, CJ On Sean Delargy which was very early, and also the one on the keeper from Anto Healy. I am glad we have came out unscathed and were able to use a few off the bench. I am not sure what happened Kevin McGourty as I never seen it. Himself and CJ gave all the officials serious abuse and were reported several times to the referee without any real action.

Went to the game in Loughgiel. Ballycastle looked sharp at the start and the two corner forwards looked as if they were going to cause serious damage. McLister started very well. He was starved of ball in the second half and all the ball went to Saul McCaughan who struggled as the game went on as Paudie Shivers got to grips with him. Strange from Ballycastle. The two Cunnings coming on helped Dunloy in the half forward line. Hopefully Conor is ok as he looked to be in discomfort as he was stretchered off. Big Paddy still has the touch of class even if the legs can't take him any more. Ballycastle missed some opportunities from frees as Cossie was off form. Serious one sided. Milltown if you want to see jabs in the ribs etc then you should have seen Cossie and Kevin McKeague who completely bullied Cossie. James McLister was lucky to stay on the pitch after a very wild pull when a Dunloy player was on the deck and also for a slap back when he was bottled up. Very stange decisions by Herbie who gave a hop ball for the first and done James for over carrying for the second.

I thought Neil McAuley was quite good but performance of the weekend for me had to be Karl Stewart who was immense again.

[Milltown Row2]

Yesterday after a slow enough first few minutes due to stoppages we got going but over complicated things. If we had kept it simple we would have been out of sight in first half. Instead of popping the ball over the bar we took too many touches and let St Galls get a few openings from the turnovers (penalty and a point).

As regards to any physical stuff I would say we weren't bad, just letting St Galls know they were in a game. All the wild strokes in the game came from St Galls as far as I could see- Karl Stewart on Karl McKeegan at the start, CJ On Sean Delargy which was very early, and also the one on the keeper from Anto Healy. I am glad we have came out unscathed and were able to use a few off the bench. I am not sure what happened Kevin McGourty as I never seen it. Himself and CJ gave all the officials serious abuse and were reported several times to the referee without any real action.

Went to the game in Loughgiel. Ballycastle looked sharp at the start and the two corner forwards looked as if they were going to cause serious damage. McLister started very well. He was starved of ball in the second half and all the ball went to Saul McCaughan who struggled as the game went on as Paudie Shivers got to grips with him. Strange from Ballycastle. The two Cunnings coming on helped Dunloy in the half forward line. Hopefully Conor is ok as he looked to be in discomfort as he was stretchered off. Big Paddy still has the touch of class even if the legs can't take him any more. Ballycastle missed some opportunities from frees as Cossie was off form. Serious one sided. Milltown if you want to see jabs in the ribs etc then you should have seen Cossie and Kevin McKeague who completely bullied Cossie. James McLister was lucky to stay on the pitch after a very wild pull when a Dunloy player was on the deck and also for a slap back when he was bottled up. Very stange decisions by Herbie who gave a hop ball for the first and done James for over carrying for the second.

I thought Neil McAuley was quite good but performance of the weekend for me had to be Karl Stewart who was immense again.

Very Arsène Wenger like   Spoke to Kevin club after match, he claimed that Carson smacked him through helmet, as for letting us know we are in a game, well we knew that at the final whistle. Jabbing is not part of the game, can be put down as a deliberate stroke, if going by the rules  

Fair to say that a team that trains properly will have a better chance than a team that puts in 3 training sessions before championship!!

[north_antrim_hound]

Congrats to Dunloy and hard luck to our boys. Neil McAuley was man of the match. Both defences on top really and that made it low scoring and squeeky bum time all the way. Guessing P Dallat must be injured and wonder how him or other injured boys like Clark or Jennings would have made a difference or M dallat. As well as them S McGarry and young Laverty still injured too so fingers crossed mebbe next year a lot of them will be back. Would'nt complain too much about our forwards tho cos McAfee and McLister and Pinky gave the Dunloy defence plenty to do Odd seein Neil in midfeild and Hippy in centre half too. Season over  now but whole squad worked hard and had some bad luck. Be hard for them to take today but they're better than they were last year.
Game was played in good way by both teams. Don't think there was any dirty slaps. Ref blew a lot for too many steps but was pretty much ok.
Can't see St Johns beatin Loughgeil. Dunloy will give Cushendall plenty to do but think the Dall will lose to the Shams in the final.

Any word on the Dunloy boy that got stretchered off?

it was connor cunning, looks like his cruciate is gone again

[Milltown Row2]

Congrats to Dunloy and hard luck to our boys. Neil McAuley was man of the match. Both defences on top really and that made it low scoring and squeeky bum time all the way. Guessing P Dallat must be injured and wonder how him or other injured boys like Clark or Jennings would have made a difference or M dallat. As well as them S McGarry and young Laverty still injured too so fingers crossed mebbe next year a lot of them will be back. Would'nt complain too much about our forwards tho cos McAfee and McLister and Pinky gave the Dunloy defence plenty to do Odd seein Neil in midfeild and Hippy in centre half too. Season over  now but whole squad worked hard and had some bad luck. Be hard for them to take today but they're better than they were last year.
Game was played in good way by both teams. Don't think there was any dirty slaps. Ref blew a lot for too many steps but was pretty much ok.
Can't see St Johns beatin Loughgeil. Dunloy will give Cushendall plenty to do but think the Dall will lose to the Shams in the final.

Any word on the Dunloy boy that got stretchered off?

it was connor cunning, looks like his cruciate is gone again

That is crap, hope it's not as bad NAH

[BlackandAmber]

he claimed that Carson smacked him through helmet, as for letting us know we are in a game, well we knew that at the final whistle. Jabbing is not part of the game, can be put down as a deliberate stroke, if going by the rules  

ach MR2 shure is'nt that just good manly stuff? 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2012/0820/334230-cody-its-a-very-satisfying-win/

[north aontroim gael]

Good win for Loughgiel.

I know a few people have flagged up about us conceding four goals.  Blessing in my opinion.  There will no doubt be a big emphasis from DD & the 6 backs to address this and aim for a shut out against St. Johns + hopefully continue that through to the final if they get the right result. JC was a bit sloppy and lucky to stay on pitch.  No doubt there will be an improvement from the whole team the next day.

Cushendall workman-like. Agree they could of been out of sight in 1st half if they were a bit sharper.  Shane McNaughton as always brings a touch of class.  Will be hard for any team to work with him.

Ballycastle will be sick today, if they had someone to help young McCaughan they would of got over the line.  He tried his heart out but wasn't enough.  Neal McAuley was immense, great hurler.
KB McShane wasted few good chances for BC, he struggled to have any impact on game.

Dunloy will be happy with the win but similar to LG will see penty of things to work on going forward.

Didn't get to St Johns v Lamhs.

Does anybody know what weekends the Semi-Final / Final is pencilled in for?

[Antrim Coaster]

Semi Finals fixed for 16th Sept. Final 30th Sept according to the county website.

[theskull1]

The Dunloy vs Ballycastle was a 50/50 game lads. No team deserved to lose it but thats what happens in one point victories.

We played very nervous and lacked composure and it looked like the hangover from the last two years championship performances seemed to be lurking. I'm really glad we ground out the victory even if we didnt set the world on fire because they've played alot better than that in in the league so the potential to up our game is there.

Conor coming on made a massive impact. Brought a cool head into the proceedings when it was all a bit frantic up front and took two fantastic scores. Gutted for him if he's buggered his knee again as I doubt there'd be any way back for him at his age. A great servant to the club and hope he's not as bad as it looked.

[NAG1]

No one any the wiser after the weekends games, still going to be all on the day between Cushendall and Dunloy. LG win the other semi final handy enough so it's as you were really.

MR2 I think maybe there is a perceived lack of respect to the hurling championship by your boys from other clubs, might explain some of the rougher treatment handed out.

[winker3716]

No one any the wiser after the weekends games, still going to be all on the day between Cushendall and Dunloy. LG win the other semi final handy enough so it's as you were really.

MR2 I think maybe there is a perceived lack of respect to the hurling championship by your boys from other clubs, might explain some of the rougher treatment handed out.

To even suggest there is a "perceived lack of respect to the hurling championship! by a dual Belfast club, is really a bit rich coming from clubs whose primary focus is on hurling.  i.e Loughgeil, Dunloy, Ballycastle, Cushedall etc.

It may be difficult for you to appreciate and comprehend how a dual club like St.Galls encounters difficulties of a severe magnitude by participating in both codes.  Football is clearly their main focus and where they are mostly likely to achieve success.  However, they are facing up to their responsibilities of promoting and participating in both codes.  Does this give any individual or opposing club to criticise any club or use it as an excuse for" dishing out rough treatment" as you put it?  Catch yourself on man!   

In support of your comments though, I would think their would be a sizable queue forming in St. Galls to get a lash at two of the McGourtys anytime. 

[Fairhead]

That was a tight game last night, maybe not top drawer hurling but 2 evenly match teams. Ballycastle settled well after a shaky start and the half back line turned a lot of ball from about the 10th min on. However they didn't get the scores and ended up going in a point down at half time. Thought there were points for the taking throughout the game for Ballycastle but the game plan seemed to be get the ball in low to the full forward line instead. Its good to have a game plan but in a tight game like that when the points are there they need to be taken.

As the game got near the end I thought it was going to be a draw which would have been fair enough although I believe extra time would have been played in that case. Dunloy worked the indirect free very well to get the winning point so fair play to them for that.

We had 7 u21s and 1 minor starting last night so hopefully they can learn from it and improve over the next couple of years.

[johnneycool]

That was a tight game last night, maybe not top drawer hurling but 2 evenly match teams. Ballycastle settled well after a shaky start and the half back line turned a lot of ball from about the 10th min on. However they didn't get the scores and ended up going in a point down at half time. Thought there were points for the taking throughout the game for Ballycastle but the game plan seemed to be get the ball in low to the full forward line instead. Its good to have a game plan but in a tight game like that when the points are there they need to be taken.

As the game got near the end I thought it was going to be a draw which would have been fair enough although I believe extra time would have been played in that case. Dunloy worked the indirect free very well to get the winning point so fair play to them for that.

We had 7 u21s and 1 minor starting last night so hopefully they can learn from it and improve over the next couple of years.

Did the bould Ronan get a run out? He must be pushing 40 or there abouts.

[NAG1]

That was a tight game last night, maybe not top drawer hurling but 2 evenly match teams. Ballycastle settled well after a shaky start and the half back line turned a lot of ball from about the 10th min on. However they didn't get the scores and ended up going in a point down at half time. Thought there were points for the taking throughout the game for Ballycastle but the game plan seemed to be get the ball in low to the full forward line instead. Its good to have a game plan but in a tight game like that when the points are there they need to be taken.

As the game got near the end I thought it was going to be a draw which would have been fair enough although I believe extra time would have been played in that case. Dunloy worked the indirect free very well to get the winning point so fair play to them for that.

We had 7 u21s and 1 minor starting last night so hopefully they can learn from it and improve over the next couple of years.

Where did you see me criticise?
Merely an observation on my part, three training sessions freely admitted by MR2, to me is a lack of respect to Cushendall and the competition. Totally get the reasons behind it but doesn't change my opinion.

[BlackandAmber]

That was a tight game last night, maybe not top drawer hurling but 2 evenly match teams. Ballycastle settled well after a shaky start and the half back line turned a lot of ball from about the 10th min on. However they didn't get the scores and ended up going in a point down at half time. Thought there were points for the taking throughout the game for Ballycastle but the game plan seemed to be get the ball in low to the full forward line instead. Its good to have a game plan but in a tight game like that when the points are there they need to be taken.

As the game got near the end I thought it was going to be a draw which would have been fair enough although I believe extra time would have been played in that case. Dunloy worked the indirect free very well to get the winning point so fair play to them for that.

We had 7 u21s and 1 minor starting last night so hopefully they can learn from it and improve over the next couple of years.

I did'nt know about that was wonderin what that was about. Had a hoke there after reading that and found this

If in exceptional circumstances play is stopped
by the Referee to enable a seriously injured
player to be treated on the field or removed
from the field of play, play shall resume in one
of the following manners:-
(i) If a Team is in possession when the play
is stopped, the play shall resume with a
free puck to that Team from the position
at which the play was stopped, unless the
play was stopped inside the opponents'
20m line in which case the free shall be
awarded from the 20m line opposite the
point where the play was stopped. A score
may not be made directly from such free.

johnney Ronan did'nt play

[NAG1]

Maybe if they had done ten sessions they might have won HS?

Point being that when they don't put the effort in and now they are looking for excuses, that they got roughly treated by Cushendall, there wont be any quarter asked or given next week in the football, but then again they have something to lose in that match!