Believe me Antrim supporters and i hope players do not believe we will walk the group now.

Two very difficult away games, prob more so the westmeath game to be fair as carlow could be out of the running by the time its played.

However, I would not be surprised at all to see 3 teams all end up on 4 points.

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 07/05/2015 10:40:10    1721092

Disaster for Antrim today losing heavily in Mullingar. We can forget about qualifying now, our next game is effectively a relegation play-off. Lose to Carlow next week and we are in the Christy Ring Cup in 2016.

M Lyster (Antrim) - Posts: 463 - 10/05/2015 17:12:54    1722088

Leinster SHC Qualifiers Round 2 Results:
Laois 1-17 Carlow 1-14
westmeath 1-21 Antrim 0-7

Westmeath are guaranteed McCarthy status at least. If they lose to Laois in the final game and Antrim beat Carlow, it will go down to points difference. Westmeath's points difference is healthy after two wins.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7857 - 10/05/2015 17:15:51    1722091

Wow, that's a heavy defeat for Antrim. I really feel for the frustration of Antrim hurling fans, if Antrim can beat Laois last week, there's no excuse for shipping a beating like that.

Do head-2-head results count in this group? If they do, I believe Antrim cannot finish in 3rd place. If they beat Carlow, they'd finish in 2nd place, regardless of what happens in the Laois v Westmeath game, as Antrim beat Laois. But if they lose to Carlow, they're relegated.

All that said, what a week for Westmeath hurling. Beating Wexford yesterday in the MHC, and a massive win today. Whoever tops this group is going to be well prepared for that Leinster quarter-final.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 10/05/2015 17:30:02    1722101

Westmeath - 2 wins and +19 difference.
Antrim - 1 win and -16 point difference.
Laois - 1 win and +2 point difference.
Carlow - 0 wins and -5 point difference.

Westmeath should be guaranteed a top 2 place.

Carlow can still avoid the drop. A win over Antrim will see Carlow finish above Antrim on either head-to-head or point difference, whichever comes into play on the day. A 7 point win for Carlow and any kind of a win for Westmeath would even see Carlow claim a top 2 spot.

If Westmeath lose to Laois by 9 points, Antrim will need a 27 point win to make the top 2.

Westmeath are in the driving seat. It's all to play for behind them.

Laois seem safe in the McCarthy at least. A 1 point win for Carlow over Antrim for example would need Laois to lose by 19 points for them to be relegated below Antrim.

Realistically in a nutshell:
* It's either Laois or Antrim to join Westmeath in the Leinster quarter-finals.
* It's either Antrim or Carlow to be relegated to the Christy Ring.

Reminder:
Group winner takes on Offaly.
Group runner-up takes on Wexford.

Can Westmeath, barring a collapse, beat Offaly and earn a seeded Leinster championship place for next year?

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7857 - 10/05/2015 18:11:45    1722119

Westmeath were fairly slick today despite the horrible weather. Antrim were appalling - no spirit, no plan...

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 10/05/2015 19:03:22    1722147

Carlow hurling will need to rally the troops on Sunday May 24th. They only lost by 2 points to Westmeath and 3 points to Laois. They are not all that far away. In the league, it was a gallant effort by Kerry that knocked them out of the 2A final places.

Over a year ago, a Carlow club were in the All-Ireland final. Carlow currently occupy the relegation position to Christy Ring hurling. Carlow will be at home to Antrim on May 24th. They'll need to have everyone on board and a good support behind them. Any win at all will see them finish above Antrim. It should be some game. The winner could even find themselves in a Leinster quarter-final with a bit of luck.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7857 - 10/05/2015 20:09:43    1722208

Carlow have lost four games this year by a combined total of seven points. In the league to Kerry by a last gasp injury time point when a draw would have put us in the final and then to Westmeath by a point after conceding a quick fire 1-2 in the closing couple of minutes. Then two defeats in the past fortnight by two points and three points respectively although in neither case did we deserve to win it should be said.

This qualifier group is extremely tight and it all comes down to our game v Antrim to see if we can survive. Obviously I hope we do but particularly so as I fear that relegation to the Ring Cup could knock the stuffing out of us as I'm not sure many of the current panel, which itself is already weakened by several defections of better players who have their eye on the club championship, will return next year i.e. Unfortunately the Ring Cup won't be seen as a big enough of an incentive to train all year for and that will therefore set us back further and leave falling further behind the likes of Wesmeath and Leix who are two counties we have beaten in a champonship hurling in recent years. A lot riding on the Antrim game for the short to medium term future of Carlow hurling in my opinion but at least it's all in our own hands.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1412 - 10/05/2015 21:45:19    1722279

Embarassing AGAIN!!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 11/05/2015 12:27:13    1722395

Shocking performance. Gutted and bemused. Week on week, the difference between night and day.

Glensboy (Antrim) - Posts: 290 - 11/05/2015 14:42:35    1722470

Two huge games in a fortnight.

Think Laois will sneak past Westmeath and ive no idea who will win between Carlow and Antrim.

Depends which Antrim team turn up.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 11/05/2015 15:34:00    1722494

Dont know what happened to us yesterday we had 10 wides in the first half, we were 11 points up midway through the second half and coasting and we just seemed to relax we should have won that game by 15 or 20 points becasuse we have beaten Carlow easy enough over the years but now were in a tricky situation with all to play for.

Thebigbite (Laois) - Posts: 13 - 11/05/2015 15:34:05    1722495

Westmeath are a cracking little side on form...very skillful hurlers...great management team.. Traditon....More talent coming through...they will be mixing it with the big boys soon enough if they keep up the good work. They have been unlucky too in the last two u21s in Leinster too.

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 738 - 11/05/2015 15:35:41    1722497

Westmeath are a cracking little side on form...very skillful hurlers...great management team.. Traditon....More talent coming through...they will be mixing it with the big boys soon enough if they keep up the good work. They have been unlucky too in the last two u21s in Leinster too.

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 738 - 11/05/2015 15:36:26    1722498

Congratulations to both Laois and Westmeath on their qualification for the Leinster Championship proper. Westmeath would have been most peoples favourites for the drop to Ring hurling. Commiserations to Antrim on their relegation. Fair play to Carlow in getting the result they required to preserve their McCarthy Cup status. They weren't too far off Westmeath and Laois in their first two games.

It's wrong that the summer hurling of Carlow and Antrim is over. I still maintain the that while the bottom team is relegated, the 3rd and 4th placed teams along with the Ring finalists should be allowed enter the qualifiers. These counties need more games at the higher level. Drawing the 4 of them to take on the 4 provincial quarter-final losers isn't going to harm anyone. Linking the Ring to the McCarthy Cup expands the field to 22 counties: 10 provincial seeded counties, 4 round robin counties and 8 Ring level counties.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7857 - 26/05/2015 19:17:04    1728806

Don't forget that Antrim now also play in the ulster championship. You couldn't make it up.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 26/05/2015 20:53:10    1728847

legendzxix
County: Kerry
It's wrong that the summer hurling of Carlow and Antrim is over. I still maintain the that while the bottom team is relegated, the 3rd and 4th placed teams along with the Ring finalists should be allowed enter the qualifiers. These counties need more games at the higher level. Drawing the 4 of them to take on the 4 provincial quarter-final losers isn't going to harm anyone. Linking the Ring to the McCarthy Cup expands the field to 22 counties: 10 provincial seeded counties, 4 round robin counties and 8 Ring level counties.

I agree that the 3rd place team should get a run in the qualifiers, but not the 4th placed team. They've already been relegated from the Liam McCarthy, it wouldn't make sense for them to progress in the competition after they've been relegated from it.
But I do agree that the Ring champions should get a run in the qualifiers. They're going to be playing in the competition the next year anyway.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 26/05/2015 21:02:20    1728854

s goldrick,

"Don't forget that Antrim now also play in the ulster championship. You couldn't make it up."

The Ulster Hurling Championship nowadays is outside of the McCarthy Cup which Antrim were competing in but the other Ulster counties are also competing in the Ring, Rackard & Meagher Cups....so no big deal, eh?

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 27/05/2015 12:09:34    1728980

s goldrick,

"Don't forget that Antrim now also play in the ulster championship. You couldn't make it up."

The Ulster Hurling Championship nowadays is outside of the McCarthy Cup which Antrim were competing in but the other Ulster counties are also competing in the Ring, Rackard & Meagher Cups....so no big deal, eh?

Exactly. And what does it matter to Cavan anyway - it's not like they even put forward a team in to the Ulster Championship but are happy to comment on the fact that we do. You couldn't make it up.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 27/05/2015 12:35:56    1729010

Offside_Rule
County: Antrim
Posts: 2222

And what does it matter to Cavan anyway - it's not like they even put forward a team in to the Ulster Championship but are happy to comment on the fact that we do. You couldn't make it up.


Hurling snobbery at its absolute finest!

It is well known that the reason Cavan have disbanded out Senior hurling team is so that we can build from u16 up and be in a position to compete in the Ulster Championship in years to come. The efforts being made to stop the rot in what is a 99.99% football county are huge and a comment like that really is a big put-down to the people giving their time and effort to that cause. Shame!

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5012 - 27/05/2015 12:44:40    1729025