festinog - the clue is in the term Mythology my friend. I heard he had the foresight to see how the people of Ireland would desert the most Irish part of their land in exchange for English favour which is why he became defender of the people of Ulster. I also heard that the people of Connacht were so useless that he was able to defeat their armies single handed while only a pup himself and after dirty tactics had been employed by those from Connacht in using the black arts to disable the rest of the Ulster army - bit like Kerry in the football I suppose. I also heard then that the rest of the Provinces ganged up on the poor chap to lead to his downfall and death. Ah how history repeats itself.
I believe Funding was an issue in them days also. Leinster kings had all the best spears and chariots. Sure how could anyone be expected to compete. Rumour has it that Leinster got to fight all their battles at home also. Ok the odd trip up to Emain Macha or over to Queen Maeve , but they didnt have to travel like the others ;)
I believe Funding was an issue in them days also. Leinster kings had all the best spears and chariots. Sure how could anyone be expected to compete. Rumour has it that Leinster got to fight all their battles at home also. Ok the odd trip up to Emain Macha or over to Queen Maeve , but they didnt have to travel like the others ;)
I have to say this forum would be substantially quieter and more boring if Ulsterman wasnt appoint.
He does raise some valid points particularly those financial related. However, we do need to get our own house in order in so many ways. For instance as some of the Dubs have pointed out, when their u17 development side came up last weekend along with kilkenny (who brought their U14s,15s and 16s as well) they did indeed have to play on a rugby pitch. However, the most ridiculous and embarassing part of the story hasnt been mentioned, which was Antrim players having to swap jerseys with their substitutes as their wasnt enough jerseys to go around. Now these kids are not only representing their county this year but you would imagine will be further down the line in years to come. So what sort of message is that sending them, when the county board cannot supply a full rig for each team participating in those games last weekend. So yes funding is quite obviously a major issue iro coaching, however, ulsterman we need to address the real problem here and it starts with an inept county board who continually get re-elected every year because no-one else wants to do it. There are many other problems with antrim and indeed ulster hurling as you know but for me there is no point in giving a substantial amount of funding to a county board who havent a clue how to address the issues facing our county.
For the record our U16s beat Kilkenny 4-11 to 1-14 or something like that at the weekend, I think we drew with dublin u17s and lost to kilkenny u17s,14s and 15s, others may confirm the correct results. So as offside pointed out there is no doubting our hurling credentials and ability at times. The solution required is a new, young,vibrant county board which has the proper support of all the clubs and which will lead the way both on the pitch and off it. It is essential we address the lack of a strategy iro schools hurling particularly primary schools(in belfast anyway), poor coaching methods in quite a few clubs and of course instilling some pride back into the county jersey. This coupled with a rather large cheque from croke to help start and fund it all may turn things around!