JOHNNY McINTOSH: Same old, same old in Antrim

WE stand on the cusp of another Antrim Senior Championship hurling final and to be honest I think this year’s showing has been fairly disappointing to date.

I think we’re at the stage now where it needs a total revamp – some sort of rethink. The big problem this year in Antrim was that one team pulled out, leaving seven teams in it. You had a group of four and a group of three and all three of that group went through, which was a bit of a farce.

Seven teams played across four or five weeks and at the end of it, six still remained. There was very little jeopardy in the group stages and the quarters weren’t particularly exciting affairs either.

The semi-finals were better, particularly Cushendall’s win over an impressive St John’s, that game probably should’ve gone the way of the underdogs. But Cushendall do what they’re best at and battled their way back into the game and got through to the final, leaving the familiar scenario where it’s two out of Cushendall, Dunloy and Loughgiel set to meet in the final yet again. I suppose people would argue that the best teams deserve to be in the final and that that’s what’s happening, but it’s not very exciting to be honest.

If you look back, Rossa reached the final in 2021 but it was a bit of a non-contest – Dunloy won very easily. Then you have to go back to 2014 where St Gall’s made the final and 2015 where it was Ballycastle, but on the whole it happens very very rarely. Once in a blue moon there’s a curveball but that team never tends to compete at the highest level over a period of years.

I understand why group stages are a thing. It’s good for teams to get more matches and brings more money into the county board, but I think the sense of excitement has gone out of it. Dunloy lost a match and still ended up in the quarter-final, and if anything it’s only benefitted them in the long run.

I’m not sure topping your respective group is actually a good thing. Cushendall had a four-week break before they played their semi-final and were very flat against St John’s. I can’t imagine the month-long break helped matters. It was the same with Loughgiel, they topped the other group and looked out of sorts in the first 20 minutes in particular against Dunloy. The other semi-final teams, meanwhile, had a quarter-final under their belts a fortnight prior and looked much sharper and livelier.

Personally I’d love to see the system changed so there’s more room for upsets and other teams emerging from the pack. Maybe if you had one single group stage and the top two teams reached the final, I’m not sure. Back in my day it was straight knock-out and it was much more common for teams to upset the applecart.

As for how I think it’ll go this Sunday – a month or so ago, Cushendall virtually dismantled Dunloy in the groups, Dunloy were poor, and I think the bookies and everyone else would’ve tipped Cushendall for the championship.

You nearly would’ve fancied Cushendall to win the championship at a canter, but then a couple of weeks ago they were pretty poor against St John’s. Their forward line didn’t function as well and St John’s poked a lot of holes in their defence. They should’ve lost, really.

Dunloy, by contrast, played well against Loughgiel in their last-four match. They probably had a bit of a point to prove after losing last year’s semi-final to Loughgiel and all of a sudden it’s flipped around and Dunloy could be going in as slight favourites. Personally from what I’ve seen this year, I’m still leaning towards Cushendall. The way they set up defensively makes them so hard to beat. I wouldn’t say they’re guaranteed to win, but Dunloy will have to play exceptionally well to beat them.

Two years ago it looked like Cushendall didn’t have any forwards coming through and Neil McManus and co were starting to near the end, but they’ve this great knack to be able to produce players like Joseph McLaughlin, and they’ve a few elder statesmen still playing well. They just always seem to be able to produce it when it really matters. They’re just a championship team and that’s the bottom line with them.