Boys and Girls of North Antrim, it's great to be back in Hoganstand North Antrim. To say I had a astonishing Christmas would be a colossal underestimation of an unconditionally fulfilled North Antrim inhabitant. I spent four splendor filled weeks in the highlands of Scotland with the spouse & caman (the dog). The highlands are a home away from home for me, it's not as majestic or handsome as my beloved Glens, but it's not too unpleasant either. I spent most days taking long saunters with Caman through the forests and an immense feeling of dignity struck me. I asked myself, how lucky am I to be a North Antrim man? As tears flooded my eyes I pulled out a long forgotten picture I keep sheltered in my wallet. It's a picture of the Antrim 1989 team cut from a copy of the Irish News. The picture illustrates fifteen humble North Antrim men standing side by side awaiting a clash with the might of Tipperary. It's a portrait that speaks a thousand words and one that is entrenched into my mind eternally. These fifteen North Antrim men showed true bravery for the saffron and made North Antrim proud. It is with this tone I desire Antrim under new management a hearty blessing, may you serve North Antrim well and bring new silverware to all the villages throughout the glens. So good luck and remember that North Antrim blood is thicker than cement. I'm off to grab some turf from out the back, swallow a lungful of unsullied Glens air and enthuse over a DVD of Antrim vs Offaly 89'. Is this cloud nine, no, its North Antrim.

Happy New Year.

Glensman125 (Antrim) - Posts: 17 - 17/01/2010 21:37:04    535543

I'm a proud north antrim man too but that post is a pile of rubbish. Catch yourself on and there were 14 north antrim men, Donal Armstrong started both the game against offaly and the final against tipp and he is from rossa.

jesusjones (Antrim) - Posts: 385 - 18/01/2010 08:29:13    535580

And so was Ciaran Barr.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 18/01/2010 10:13:08    535645

bricktop cheers for the correction, I hate people who can't get past the north antrim/ south antrim divide, its small minded in the extreme, we are all antrim men at the end of the day.

jesusjones (Antrim) - Posts: 385 - 18/01/2010 13:34:07    535909

No bother jesus, but go easy on him, he couldn't see past those tear filled eyes but how could anyone miss big Ciaran's boatrace is beyond me.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 18/01/2010 14:22:03    536003

it wasnt 15 NA men at all! team was
N Patterson - Lgiel
G O; Kane - Dunloy
T Donnelly - Ballycastle
D Donnelly - Ballycastle
L Mc Keegan - Cushendall
D Mckinley - Lgiel
J McNaughton - Cdall
P McKillen - Ballycastle
D Mullan - Lgiel
Brain Donnelly - Ballycastle
T McNaughton - Cdall
D Amstrong - Rossa
A McCarry - Lgiel
C Barr - Rossa
O McFetrigh - Lgiel/Armoy

2 rossa men in starting line up

Dunloyrealist (Antrim) - Posts: 498 - 18/01/2010 14:48:39    536046

Dunloyrealist you have the right 15 but in the wrong order, it was:
1. Nial Patterson
2. Gary O Kane
3. Terence Donnelly
4. Dessie Donnelly
5. James Mc Naughton
6. Dominic Mc Kinley
7. Lenard Mc Keegan
8. Paul Mc Killen
9. Dominic Mc Mullan
10. Brian Donnelly
11. Aidan Mc Carry
12. Olcan Mc Fetridge
13. Donal Armstrong
14. Ciaran Barr
15. Terence Mc Naughton

jesusjones (Antrim) - Posts: 385 - 18/01/2010 17:20:44    536286

Naomh Gall will be playing the intermed semi final v Tynagh/Abbey Duniry this Saturday at Parnell Park instead of the Sunday. games is fixed for 2.30.

Dublin have a game for the Sunday at Parnell!!!

milltown row (Antrim) - Posts: 14 - 18/01/2010 20:32:55    536507

Dunloy are playing Dublin in a friendly down in Ashbourne i think on sat, not sure if the full county team is out or its a development squad

Dunloyrealist (Antrim) - Posts: 498 - 19/01/2010 09:28:46    536683

jesusjones your spot on, i couldnt rem the foward line right there. mind you i was at both games that year in 89 so i should be able to rem them. i rem thinking beaver mc carry was the dogs balls back then as a forward.

Dunloyrealist (Antrim) - Posts: 498 - 19/01/2010 09:30:26    536685

Dunloyrealist I was at all the games that year including beating Down in the first revived Ulster Final, your rite Beaver was some hurler, him and Clute scoring 2-3 each against offaly was sensational. What a year. I think what threw you off in the forwards was that very often Sambo and Clute swapped and Ciaran Barr and Brian Donnelly swapped positions usually early in the game. I think the size and strength of that team in 89 was brilliant, you had Hippy, James Mc Naughton, Humpy, Dominic Mc Mullan, Sambo, Beaver, Ciaran Barr and Brian Donnelly all big physically imposing men who could win their own ball (as Joe Brolly talks about, men with real strength, not built in a gym but built on building sites and farms) and the smaller lads like Pappy, Dessie Donnelly and Clute were brilliant as well.

jesusjones (Antrim) - Posts: 385 - 19/01/2010 10:05:24    536707

i went the following year to all the games up to the cork match in the semi. it was disappointing that we never built on the previous years sucess and gave them a better game, tho mind you that final in 90 was a cracker with them and Galway. think it ended up 5-15 to 2-21. but 91 was an even bigger gunking against kilkenny

Dunloyrealist (Antrim) - Posts: 498 - 19/01/2010 10:55:06    536759

yeah in 1991 we really should have taken kilkenny, sucker punch rite at the finish however I think that was the best performance i've ever seen from Antrim considering in 1989 we beat offaly in the league and in a relegation playoff so our victory in the all ireland semi wasn't such a massive shock, imagine if we had have done kilkenny in the championship.

jesusjones (Antrim) - Posts: 385 - 19/01/2010 11:46:04    536822

the semi against limerick, in 93 maybe was it? that we got hammered in was truely the most dissappointing for me. i was on the hill that day for it and to be honest we thought we would stuff limerick and be in the final with offaly. i dont know what possessed us t think that. took me a while before i was back again to watch us in croke after that stuffing. mind you i didn see kilkenny put something like 5-20 on us, after antrim leading at halftime by a point!

Dunloyrealist (Antrim) - Posts: 498 - 20/01/2010 09:21:44    537653

that antrim team of the late 80s and early 90s was a joy to watch, team of stars.
I always felt that antrim under dinny's first reign were only one victory away from becoming a serious side. nearly caught wexford and tip.
the 1991 match against KK was a total sickener and reminds of the time in the 90s (i forget which year) that laois nearly caught KK. If those two games had ended differently we might be looking at a different hurling landscape today.

Anyway, best of luck for the year ahead. It's fantastic to see hurling alive and well in the glens and in south antrim. I hope ye join dublin on going on to the next level of competitiveness, the rest of the hurling country has nothing but respect for ye and the way ye play the beautiful game!

hurlinspuds (Cork) - Posts: 1494 - 23/01/2010 17:20:32    540651