All Ireland Club Hurling Championship

[mouview]

watched a re-run last night. Better team won- portumna's first touch was awful all day. All the ballyhale lads showed up. Reids were excellent especially. Ballyhale are a much better team than Portumna really. When all of Ballyhale's players how up no-one will beat them. Too many county players spread throughout the team. Hard to find a weakness in thier team.


I wonder will some kilkenny people have the good grace to accept how good Canning is. Thats as good an individual performance as I've ever seen on a badly beaten team. Without him Ballyhale would have won by a cricket score.

Frighteningly talented. IF he stays injury free the sky is the limit.

Absolute rubbish Indiana. Port' gave Ballyhale a worse beating last Spring than the one they received yesterday. They just didn't / weren't let play on the day, simple as, and Ballyhale did. Match sharpness helped a great deal too.

Wonder what John McIntyre will make of the game. County panelists Lynch, Chunky, Andy Smith were neither awfully bad or great yesterday; McEntee was better but time is against him. Even Ollie looked leaden at times, though was never beaten.

[Reillers]

Sorry now I've said nothing about the team, their team is unreal, and it's some achievment. But their fans are a joke, and it's not a minority of them. If you saw the shite that they were on about, even before the Newtown game all they were on about the final, presuming that Newtown would be a walkover, because really they had no talent and the twins were well past it and never really that great anyway, the amount of arrogance they came out with around the time of the Newtown match was disgraceful and by a mile the worst crap, they've no respect for anyone, whatsoever. And it's the same with the IC team. Don't believe me, go on over to that Kilkennycats place and read some of the bile that they come out with about the Cork players. I'd almost join and say something but I don't have the stomach for that shite.

[AZOffaly]

Maybe they just don't like Cork. Hard to believe, isn't it?

[imtommygunn]

Reillers to be fair to them you don't speak too highly of anyone outside your own county. You constantly put teams like Kilkenny and players like Joe Canning etc down.

If you are reflective of the majority of Cork fans, I'm too far away to know, then you wouldn't be expecting them to be too favourable towards you!

If the players adopt the "everyone's against us mentality" you seem to have then you'll be ok for hunger this year anyway...

[bottlethrower7]

go on over to that Kilkennycats place and read some of the bile that they come out....

like this you mean?

http://www.kilkennycats.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6633

[Reillers]

Reillers to be fair to them you don't speak too highly of anyone outside your own county. You constantly put teams like Kilkenny and players like Joe Canning etc down.

If you are reflective of the majority of Cork fans, I'm too far away to know, then you wouldn't be expecting them to be too favourable towards you!

If the players adopt the "everyone's against us mentality" you seem to have then you'll be ok for hunger this year anyway...

Don't remember ever putting Joe Canning down, I don't like Kilkenny, I don't like their style of play, but I've never thought anything other then the fact that they are an incredible team. Not the best team ever seen but an excellent team.

I don't go around saying that they have zero talent or that top class players who were neve really good anyway, are totally passed it. Or that they don't have any great players.
I don't go around showing no respect to teams or players that deserve it. Their arrogance is a step and above.

[imtommygunn]

You have an awful persecution complex man...

Roughly how many people spoke like this?

Anyone who says Cork have no talent or Ben O'Connor is crap wouldn't be someone who knows very much about hurling so I would say their opinion isn't worth much value.

I wasn't aware you had called Kilkenny an incredible team before. You have been known to put them down and questioned their opposition.

Anyway, I unlike some, have no problems with you. However I think what you have said here about Ballyhale / Kilkenny is a very broad generalisation.

[seafoid]

Reillers is actually from Kilkenny and uses the board as therapy to deal with some of his personal issues revolving around what some Ballyhale lads must have said to him as a teenager outside Dunnes in Kilkenny town.   

[bottlethrower7]

'city', seafoid, 'city'.

[awfulynice]

I wouldn't agree that Ballyhale are much better than Portumna to be honest. If they were they wouldn't have been completely blitzed by them last year. Port just didn't really turn up to play yesterday until the 2nd half and just when it seemed they were getting a run on Ballyhale the keeper dropped one in the goalmouth and it was game over. Without the goal I think it would have been a tight enough finish. Port are a long time on the road and the hunger just didn't seem there yesterday. Their play was sloppy with a lot of misplaced passes and fumbling which is very unlike them. TJ Reid was very good for Ballyhale but he was quietened when Port finally put Eoin Lynch back on him but he had done most of his damage by then. Cuddihy also played really well at the back but Joe Canning was undoubtably the man of the match. Might have turned out a different day had he scored that early goal. Port will probably be back but they are not a young team anymore and haven't been doing much at underage in Galway. Joe Canning alone will keep them up there but they may even be vulnerable in the Galway county championship in the next year or two.

Portumna will be back, perhaps with a bit more humility, they were often playing county teams rather than club teams, and seemed to feel they were "too good" for any other club team in the country, in fact it was widely believed that portumna would beat a lot of county teams such was the esteem they were held in, I think Ballyhale may have banished that myth yesterday

Not sure I understand any of this. I can't remember Portumna coming out with anything of the sort.

No and I dont mean that they came out of anything of the sort. What I mean is that there was a perception in the country that Portumna were better than county teams, and even if the Portumna players didnt believe it at first, if everyone is saying it for two years, its bound  to affect them eventually. This coupled with playing intercounty teams (all year round) in challenges rather than club teams meant that they were getting the best preparation possible yes, but also possibly starting to believe a little of the hype.

Not saying anything bad against Portumna, just saying that if you are hyped up for a couple of years, you will subconciously start to believe it, they are only human.

AZOffaly,

There are an awful lot of teams that would give Portumna a game in late autumn or early spring. Most senior championships in the country go until october, and most teams are back training by January. There are easily 4 - 5 teams that wouldnt be anymore than 5-6 points off Portumna most days.

[AZOffaly]

awfuly,

If you are a good team, and still in the championship, why would you want to play Portumna, as you are obviously going to be a possible opponent shortly afterwards. For example, if you are Newtown, or Thurles, or Birr, or Ballyhale, why would you play Portumna? All good club teams schedule county teams for challenge matches at that stage.

[Farrandeelin]

Reillers to be fair to them you don't speak too highly of anyone outside your own county. You constantly put teams like Kilkenny and players like Joe Canning etc down.

If you are reflective of the majority of Cork fans, I'm too far away to know, then you wouldn't be expecting them to be too favourable towards you!

If the players adopt the "everyone's against us mentality" you seem to have then you'll be ok for hunger this year anyway...

Don't remember ever putting Joe Canning down, I don't like Kilkenny, I don't like their style of play, but I've never thought anything other then the fact that they are an incredible team. Not the best team ever seen but an excellent team.

I don't go around saying that they have zero talent or that top class players who were neve really good anyway, are totally passed it. Or that they don't have any great players.
I don't go around showing no respect to teams or players that deserve it. Their arrogance is a step and above.

Who is then Reillers?

[johnneycool]

Reillers to be fair to them you don't speak too highly of anyone outside your own county. You constantly put teams like Kilkenny and players like Joe Canning etc down.

If you are reflective of the majority of Cork fans, I'm too far away to know, then you wouldn't be expecting them to be too favourable towards you!

If the players adopt the "everyone's against us mentality" you seem to have then you'll be ok for hunger this year anyway...

Don't remember ever putting Joe Canning down, I don't like Kilkenny, I don't like their style of play, but I've never thought anything other then the fact that they are an incredible team. Not the best team ever seen but an excellent team.

I don't go around saying that they have zero talent or that top class players who were neve really good anyway, are totally passed it. Or that they don't have any great players.
I don't go around showing no respect to teams or players that deserve it. Their arrogance is a step and above.

Who is then Reillers?

Its all a bit subjective but they're certainly the best team I've seen in my lifetime but I'm only in my mid thirties.

[INDIANA]

Reillers to be fair to them you don't speak too highly of anyone outside your own county. You constantly put teams like Kilkenny and players like Joe Canning etc down.

If you are reflective of the majority of Cork fans, I'm too far away to know, then you wouldn't be expecting them to be too favourable towards you!

If the players adopt the "everyone's against us mentality" you seem to have then you'll be ok for hunger this year anyway...

Don't remember ever putting Joe Canning down, I don't like Kilkenny, I don't like their style of play, but I've never thought anything other then the fact that they are an incredible team. Not the best team ever seen but an excellent team.

I don't go around saying that they have zero talent or that top class players who were neve really good anyway, are totally passed it. Or that they don't have any great players.
I don't go around showing no respect to teams or players that deserve it. Their arrogance is a step and above.

Who is then Reillers?

Cork of 2005/2006. Seriously Reillers actually believes they are superior to the current kilkenny team. He's not alone in Cork in thinking this. There are elements of the kilkenny support that are beyond arrogant- ran into a few on the Hill last year during the leinster final but all counties have their share of idiots. We've enough of them as well.
Ironic though as Corks fans are very hard to wear at times. But they aren't all bad. Know some bang on Cork fans but have met more idiots though. Tipps used to be pretty bad at one time but they've mellowed a lot since then. Corks can be hard to wear when they are on top.
In general kilkenny fans have been reasonably complementary about Dublin's semi resurgence. Your average kilkenny hurling fan is genuinely interested in the state of the game nationally rather than just their own county.

[awfulynice]

awfuly,

If you are a good team, and still in the championship, why would you want to play Portumna, as you are obviously going to be a possible opponent shortly afterwards. For example, if you are Newtown, or Thurles, or Birr, or Ballyhale, why would you play Portumna? All good club teams schedule county teams for challenge matches at that stage.

Sure everyone is "in" the championship in spring, granted there may not be as many in it come october but there are still plenty available, for example the offaly semi finals were only played in october last year as were tipp's if memory serves me right, toomevara, borrisoleigh or drom & inch arent a million miles off thurles and there are a few teams in offaly close to birr so I dont think your point is really valid, how about Oulart the Ballagh from Wexford, Ballyboden from Dublin, or Ballygunner from Waterford to name but a few. Anyway youre missing the point, portumna were playing county teams in challenges all year round, not that I think there is anything wrong with that, I just think that there was a belief out there held by most hurling people reillers aside that portumna were 10 - 15 points better than any other club team in the country, this I believe lead to portumna being a bit overconfident whether they said it or not.