Antrim chairman slams arrogant McNamara

Antrim County Board chairman John McSparran has condemned Mike McNamara's damning assessment of Division Two hurling.

After seeing his side demoted to the second tier on Sunday, the Clare manager threatened to field a development side in the NHL in 2010 as he feels his Banner County stars won't be tested sufficiently against Division Two opposition.

McSparran is outraged by what he perceives as an attack on the counties playing in Division Two:

"If Mike Mac means what he says, then I would say that is incredible arrogance.

"Clare have been relegated because they have not been good enough and the results show that. By removing Wexford and Offaly, he's saying the rest aren't worthy of their presence in the division.

"Maybe Mike is angry at the uncertainty over Cork and the fact that Clare had to play a near full-strength Cork team. But Galway, Dublin and Tipperary, who all beat Gerald McCarthy's league team, are too far ahead of them anyway.

"In our own case, Division Two hasn't gone as well as we would have liked but we have been close to Dublin in recent years and they have made progress this year, including a draw against Clare. So maybe the other teams are not as far off as Mike thinks."