So the Ulster SHC starts this weekend, with Down v Armagh kicking things off (I think). With Down winning the Christy Ring, it certainly seems to make this competition much more interesting, do people think Down have a good chance of dethroning Antrim this year? They'll certainly have greater confidence going into this years championship, as well as some impressive momentum.

On another note, is there any chance that Donegal's fantastic Nicky Rackard win might prompt the powers that be to include all the Ulster counties in the Ulster SHC? Still having the bigger teams seeded, but give the rest a chance in pre-lim rounds. I would have liked to seen how Donegal would have fared in the competition this year. Thoughts?

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 13/06/2013 18:51:16    1406032

I think they seeded it 2 or 3 years ago & had 8 or 9 counties in it!

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4105 - 13/06/2013 19:58:12    1406095

We will give it a fair rattle and won't be looking ahead of the Armagh match this weekend. Up until a few years ago all 9 Ulster counties competed with the addition of London. We played Donegal a couple of years ago in Letterkenny and want to say that it was close, in the end we won by 9 point. Donegal will be included next year I'm sure with their Rackard success.

The standard of Hurling is improving in Ulster, Tyrone are getting better, Armagh have made huge strides recently, and Donegal are also making big progress. Antrim are still the benchmark followed by Down, Derry, Armagh, Donegal, Tyrone, Fermangha, Monaghan and Cavan.

saulgael (Down) - Posts: 553 - 13/06/2013 20:08:46    1406101

Perhaps a 'West of Ulster' team for those counties that don't compete in the Championship (Donegal, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Cavan).

muffin (Antrim) - Posts: 128 - 13/06/2013 20:52:02    1406131

saulgael
County: Down
The standard of Hurling is improving in Ulster, Tyrone are getting better, Armagh have made huge strides recently, and Donegal are also making big progress. Antrim are still the benchmark followed by Down, Derry, Armagh, Donegal, Tyrone, Fermangha, Monaghan and Cavan.

Yeah, that seems to be the case. The Ring/Rackard/Meaghar finals were a great day for Ulster hurling, with Down and Donegal coming away as Ring and Rackard champions respectively. Also worth bearing in mind that as well as having 3 Ulster counties competing well at Christy Ring level, 3 of the 4 teams in the Rackard semi-finals were Ulster teams. So I think an expanded Ulster SHC would be pretty competitive and entertaining, and a great extension to the hurling summer for these great teams.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 13/06/2013 21:01:47    1406143

"The Ring/Rackard/Meaghar finals were a great day for Ulster hurling, with Down and Donegal coming away as Ring and Rackard champions respectively. Also worth bearing in mind that as well as having 3 Ulster counties competing well at Christy Ring level, 3 of the 4 teams in the Rackard semi-finals were Ulster teams. So I think an expanded Ulster SHC would be pretty competitive and entertaining, and a great extension to the hurling summer for these great teams."

Might be more feasible than establishing an Ulster or West Ulster team in the short run & more worthwhile for Ulster hurling in the long run.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4105 - 13/06/2013 21:49:15    1406188

i dont see why the shield isn't applied to the SHC as it is at U21 level. On Wednesday night Tyrone beat Monaghan and Donegal overcame Fermanagh. Tyrone and donegal meet in the Shield final nxt Wednesday.

I believe the winner should go on to compete in the Ulster SHC. I dont knw if it's the same for the U21 competition as it's impossible to find any information on this!

Antrim for me hasn't made any progress in Leinster and for me the rest should really be pushing more towards an Ulster title.

WillieFrazer (Armagh) - Posts: 38 - 14/06/2013 10:00:37    1406260

Antrim should'nt be allowed in this competition. Firstly because their certs to win it and secondly they are in the Leinster Championship. If London applied to play in both would they be let. When Antrim got into the LSHC and Westmeath did'nt i did'nt see the Ulster counsil inviting Westmeath or any other county into their Provence.

kikfada (Louth) - Posts: 2091 - 14/06/2013 17:03:34    1406811

2008 marked the first tournament since the resumption of the championship to feature all the Ulster counties, with the addition of London bringing the total to ten. The stronger teams (Antrim, Down, Derry, Armagh) have received byes to the later stages to prevent mismatches. Ulster was the only one of the four provinces where all counties entered the Senior Hurling Championship.

The Ulster championship has cut down on team since then. I can only imagine lower tier hurling county boards weren't for it?

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9800 - 14/06/2013 17:14:17    1406824

kikfada
County: Louth

I wouldn't have Antrim down as certs to win it, I'd imagine Downs Christy Ring success will set them up to have a good crack at Ulster this year.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 14/06/2013 17:23:09    1406839

2008 marked the first tournament since the resumption of the championship to feature all the Ulster counties, with the addition of London bringing the total to ten. The stronger teams (Antrim, Down, Derry, Armagh) have received byes to the later stages to prevent mismatches. Ulster was the only one of the four provinces where all counties entered the Senior Hurling Championship.

The Ulster championship has cut down on team since then. I can only imagine lower tier hurling county boards weren't for it?

It's very hard to get any information on the championship. I see it is as follows:
Quater-final
Armagh v Down
Semi-final
Derry v Armagh/Down
Final
Antrim v Derry/(Armagh/Down)

Coming from a lower tier hurling county, I'm envious of these counties that they at least get one more competitive game this summer.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9800 - 14/06/2013 17:25:21    1406842

Marlon_JD
I wouldn't have Antrim down as certs to win it, I'd imagine Downs Christy Ring success will set them up to have a good crack at Ulster this year.

They'll have a good summer of hurling if they make the final. Getting 3 games of hurling at the time of years players should want to be getting games. It's a real flaw in the system that either the lower tier better players through combined teams or the better Ring teams in a B championship don't get more game time in the summer.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9800 - 15/06/2013 10:31:24    1407124

legendzxix
County: Kerry

When was the last time Kerry played in the Munster Intermediate hurling championship, is there any chance that Kerry could enter that Championship again? I think you mentioned before that Kerry were seeking to enter the Intermediate championship after the Christy Ring finishes up, is that still on the table? It would be a good interim step to prepare Kerry to eventually compete in the Munster SHC.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 15/06/2013 16:47:52    1407312

My understanding is Kerry cannot play in the Munster Intermediate championship. I've yet to find out why they can't. As I mentioned before, our senior hurling champions enter the Munster Intermediate club championship. I think counties outside the top tier should get that option to enter the Intermediate championships.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9800 - 15/06/2013 17:11:05    1407323

Does anyone know what the rationale was for reducing the number of teams in the Ulster SHC? Was it because of lopsided games? I remember Derry beating Tyrone by a good score in 2011, but teams like Tyrone appear to have come on since then, and it would be still great experience for the Rackard and Meaghar teams to play the better teams in Ulster, regardless of scorelines. This year, you could have had a situation where Donegal might have gotten to play Down, a clash of this years champions, that would have been interesting. I'd imaging an expanded championship could look like this (I've left out Cavan as I'm not sure whats happening with their inter-county hurlers)
Round1
Tyrone v Fermanagh, Donegal v Monaghan
Quarter-finals
Armagh v (Tyrone v Fermanagh), Derry v (Donegal v Monaghan)
Semi-finals
Antrim v QF winner, Down v QF winner

I notice that this years Ulster SHC is being played off in the next few weeks, I don't see why it has to be played off so quickly.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 15/06/2013 17:30:29    1407334