Great result for Antrim .. Got burnt at bookies but Galway got me back in hurling .
Can I ask why did the boys get dropped ? The co board in Antrim are a renowned joke but they didn't drop them ..Fair play to the 3 of them for playing for their club it was the absolute correct thing to do. If I was a manager I would have more respect for their perspective .

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 21/06/2015 09:40:44    1740100

Congratulations to Antrim.

Was listening in patches during a days work & couldn't believe the final score.

Huge respect to the management who made the brave call & then got 110% from the other players for the result.

As for St Galls, I have nothing but contempt for them. This won't be forgotten for a long time by GAA folk.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 21/06/2015 09:53:19    1740104

The bogus of referring to Dublin as a source of this defeat is baffling. Laois actually have lots of quality players some of whom played at the highest level in Dublin clubs and universities. They arguably have at least the best midfield in Leinster.

It's a pathetic result for Laois football, there's no excuse for them to lose at home to Antrim. Granted they may of been deflated after last week but it's a terrible way to exit the championship. No disrespect to Antrim intended but they are a poor team. It's also hard to argue Laois are not the same after that.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1658 - 21/06/2015 10:09:11    1740113

Pretty astonishing result given all the odds seemed to weighed so heavily against Antrim! My own county Wicklow and Antrim have had some good duels in recent years and I'm delighted to see them taking such a big scalp! Antrim always seem to be a bit of an enigma, that and their gorgeous jersey are why I've always had a soft spot for them!

Really hope we'll get to see more than 2 minutes of highlights from this game tonight!

stanley (None) - Posts: 434 - 21/06/2015 10:23:57    1740118

Great result for Antrim maybe it's good for them to play outside Ulster and even since 2009 their best results have been in the back door such as beating Galway.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 21/06/2015 10:25:42    1740119

Great result for Antrim, it's tough trying to follow a county or even a club being pulled in different directions by certain people who seem to be only concerned with themselves. I would expect Antrim to persevere with the same team now regardless of who is available and get the most they can out of it this season without regard to anyone who did not contribute to yesterday's win (injuries aside).

Very tough one for Laois to deal with, they must have had some hope of a good year. Laois did the same to Monaghan in the qualifiers a few years ago and mostly the same group of Monaghan players turned it round, so all is not lost. Monaghan's first step in the right direction was getting a good manager in.

rcarragh (Dublin) - Posts: 305 - 21/06/2015 10:59:22    1740123

I was too hasty to empty both barrels into St Galls and their players last night without establishing the facts. I still do not know the facts but if they were forced to play the hurling fixture then the players were put in a position they should not have been in. This would actually be the worst possible scenario as this would be the county board rather than an individual club treating All Ireland competition with contempt. I actually believe that the county board and/or the club owe us an explanation. Why should supporters travel the lenght of the country if those around the team have decided it is hardly worth it?

Unfortunately this has overshadowed a fantastic effort from the manager to players and a big well done to all in raising our spirits after what has been a difficult year so far in both codes. It is a while since I have been so happy at the final whistle of a county game though I am under no illusions and know that we will start as big underdogs the next day but hopefully we again start with players who are fighting hard for our colours and take it from there.

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 21/06/2015 11:44:32    1740142

Glensboy
Dont mind me, im just shooting my mouth off, congratulations on the win, a great show, we might send up a few million, weve 5.5 lying around somewhere from the stadium

flack (Dublin) - Posts: 1054 - 21/06/2015 12:01:54    1740151

The club fixture was arranged 4 or 5 weeks ago for the Friday night at the request of the other club (other fixtures in the Division were for the Sat) and St Galls agreed. This fixture was a relegation playoff in essence. When it was known that the Qualifier was on yesterday St Galls who had County footballers requested it be refixed but apparently the other club refused and the County CCC said it had to go ahead. So the 3 players were put in a position of representing the club in probably their most important game of the season (and where the 3 are prob their top or definitely among their top hurlers). Now, that's what info I have gathered over the last 24hrs but I am in no way saying this is the complete facts and there could be more revelations to come, but if it is a true picture then I kinda feel for the 3 players and again ask what the ffff is our County board doing in not refixing the game he moment it became apparent the situation that had manifested. This is the same people/person who sets club fixtures up in such a way that you could have weeks between games at this time of the year but still end up playing league games in November.

Anyway, again fair fecks to Fitzy and the lads who made the trip down yesterday and for restoring a bit of faith again among our long suffering Gaels. As Naysayer said though, we are under no illusions by yesterday and I agree that we will still be the team that most County managers will be looking for in the draw on Mon week. But at least we get another day out and you just never known when it comes to Antrim :-)

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 21/06/2015 13:18:45    1740189

Have to say I found myself thinking of our good friend patrique this morning. I hope you enjoyed that win from above buddy.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11236 - 21/06/2015 13:33:49    1740193

Oh, and just a point of note on the Hoganstand report on the game - unless we played in our old kit then the photo isn't of yesterday's games as the captions says.... ;-)

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 21/06/2015 14:15:04    1740206

Offside if that's the case then once again our county board have a lot to answer for, they couldn't organise a prayer in a chapel and if they could it would probably end in a row and legal action.

However, if this fixture had been on the cards for weeks and the 3 St.Galls players knew about it why didn't they tell Fitzy they needed to play and give him and their county team mates a chance to prepare without them? This lack of regard for the county has a history with certain players from St.Galls, last year 3 of them walked out right before the Championship forcing the manager to call up players who had no Championship preparation. Another group of them walked one year because they didn't want to play Tommy Murphy Cup games and lets face it, this years 'open door' training policy was designed to keep such players happy and it looks as though they still abuse such a casual rule.

At this stage I guess we don't know all the facts but one certain fact is that Antrim beat Laois and the players who showed great character yesterday should at the very least be given a shot at it again and if the other 3 lads come back they should be bench warmers at best. Its about time the tail stopped wagging the dog in Antrim.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2386 - 21/06/2015 15:43:06    1740249

Oh I agree with regards to the 3 still going on ahead and playing with an All-Ireland qualifier less than 24hrs later. The game should never have gone ahead in the first place but when it was then there should only have been one decision when it came to it and in my opinion and the wrong one was made.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 21/06/2015 17:48:22    1740324

Very surprised by the result. You have to admire Antrim. What has happened laois? they once were a very dogged team. Re comments about ulster/leinster championship, I think in this circumstance it is a bit of a nothing to throw this into the argument, as Antrim have no form in ulster, bar beating us in 2010. This is more down to some inspirational motivation on the day, as well as laois taking their eye off the ball.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 21/06/2015 18:12:57    1740351

100% agree

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2386 - 21/06/2015 18:14:15    1740353

Donegalman the one thing I'd say about Laois is they play man to man and have very little in the way of a defensive plan. This leaves them vulnerable to a lot of teams even teams that they should be beating given their own qualities. A team like Antrim will just be worn down in Ulster by teams who are defensively tuned in and know when to switch from defence to attack.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2386 - 21/06/2015 18:36:40    1740366

Again , why were the players dropped ? Why are they penalising dual players?
The blame lies squarely with Antrim ccc.. Why did the manager not request the hurling game to be postponed ? Fair play to the players who won despite the administration in Antrim

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 21/06/2015 19:53:40    1740436

They were dropped for playing a club game less than 24hrs before an All-Ireland match - do you know any other County who would have done differently? And I know that the situation probably wouldn't have came to be in most if not all Counties but if it did do you think the County team manager would have played them? I doubt it.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 21/06/2015 20:20:08    1740456

Oh, and just a point of note on the Hoganstand report on the game - unless we played in our old kit then the photo isn't of yesterday's games as the captions says....

Mea Culpa - seems the new kit was in the wash, being used for a kick around somewhere or something and in fact we did play in the old kit. Never doubted youse....

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 22/06/2015 08:08:02    1740560

Offside_Rule county board probably decided it was not worthwhile getting it dirty in Saturdays game.

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 22/06/2015 09:48:58    1740649