Down Club Hurling & Football

[umpire]

The under 21 competition! Is reaching the business end now quarter finals fixed for next weekend! Any idea when the draw will be made? Any predictions as to who will win?

I have noticed that the management have been in attendance at a number of matches!

g

Warrenpoint v Burren
Clonduff v Downpatrick
Longstone v Mayobridge
Kilcoo v Carryduff

[Oglach]

The Castlewellan guys have already been celebrating winning the division 1 title that they haven't won.
In fairness, it's not their fault and I'm sure they wouldn't want a league simply handed to them.
Kilcoo have topped the league most of the year but are a victim of their own success regarding representing Down in the Ulster championship campaign. A campaign no Down team have won since the 80s.
Just because we've won the championship doesn't mean we don't give a toss about the league, to do the double would be a great achievement for the club.
However it does seem higher powers do seem to be putting obstacles in the way, putting on an U21 match on the same night as the league final is another example.
Wobbler mentioned, we do this to suit ourselves, absolutely, no different to any other clubs.
Darragh O'Hanlon received a very dangerous tackle during the glenswilly game, a similar injury killed a young rugby player in Belfast last year.
We would love to have a decent selection of players to choose from to play in a league final but the county board are making this impossible, and in doing so also belittling the whole league.
Most people I think would agree whoever finishes top should win the league, problem solved, keep play offs for the bottom of the league so teams like Longstone get a fair shot.
Big changes needed.

[OgraAnDun]

I doubt the league final will be done away with while the county board can still pocket the gate from it.

[gaaman2016]

If Co Board do award the fixture to Castlewellan, which is really their only option given their previous decisions this year, that will be the Div 1 and Div 2 champions decided by the CCC and not on the field of play. Complete farce

[Down Follower]

You could also say it was decided by the teams who decided not to turn up.
Depends on what side way you look at it.
I do have sympathy for both teams involved but the county board do need to take a strong hand on fixtures.  It would benefit all though if they did it during the year to stop teams moving games for stags/holidays etc.

[oileain blues]

It would benefit all if the ccc applied the rules impartially across the board.What we have now is a situation whereby the ccc expected Kilcoo to play a league final and an u21 match the same night, that's as careless as having someone on the ccc disciplinary committee from the same club as the referee who sent of a player, mind boggles as to how these people think.
Kilcoo will win their case and it will prove the Island were shafted last year.

[Smurfy123]

Kilcoo were in a very hard position last week and can really see where they are coming from but ultimately they did not show up for the fixture so they will lose the game
Ballymartin notified the county board this year that the were not playing against Ballyholland as they played a game 2 nights before and lost the game
Loughinisland failed to play Kingdom and lost the game
It will be very interesting tonight to see do they also take the same stance
If not you can guarantee a lot of Loughinisland and Ballymartin people will be disgusted
But yes I can see why Kilcoo failed to field

[RadioGAAGAA]

What we have now is a situation whereby the ccc expected Kilcoo to play a league final and an u21 match the same night,

Exactly.

Leaving aside the Ulster Championship for a moment, how could anyone involved with football not realise that there is an overlap in the squads?

I can't wrap my head around the idea that no one on the CCC could see a potential problem with fixing the two games for the same night. When they make up a fixture, do they not look at what else is on in the days preceeding, the day of, and a few days after, any fixture?


edit: Even more to the point - when it was brought to their attention, why did they not reschedule? (either the U-21 match, or the seniors)

[Down Follower]

To be fair that is quite ridiculous.  I dont know of any club who could have that - simply because almost every club has a number of u21 players who play seniors.  Did that genuinely just happen like that or did the u21 teams involved move their game to that particular night?

[gaaman2016]

Kilcoo were in a very hard position last week and can really see where they are coming from but ultimately they did not show up for the fixture so they will lose the game
Ballymartin notified the county board this year that the were not playing against Ballyholland as they played a game 2 nights before and lost the game
Loughinisland failed to play Kingdom and lost the game
It will be very interesting tonight to see do they also take the same stance
If not you can guarantee a lot of Loughinisland and Ballymartin people will be disgusted
But yes I can see why Kilcoo failed to field

Kilcoo are chancing their arm. The match should have been played on the weekend of 22/23 October as stated in the Co Board statement last Thursady and Kilcoo shouldn't have been allowed any additional preparation time for the Ulster Quarter Final. CCC in 2015 refused the same request by Loughinisland and in doing so this should have been the precedent going forward. It seems that it is one rule for some clubs and another for others. What explanation can the CCC provide as to why even their own decisions aren't consistent?

[Mourne man]

Looks like kilcoo will have the same problem this weekend they are down to play an under 21 match 2 hours before their Ulster semi final! Madness!

[EagleLord]

Looks like kilcoo will have the same problem this weekend they are down to play an under 21 match 2 hours before their Ulster semi final! Madness!

Kilcoo are such a nuisance to our county board.

If ye didn't laugh ye'd cry. We are all sort of used to Down co board doing these strange things at this stage, Are there any other boards in the country with such a catalog of 'errors'/bad rep?

[RadioGAAGAA]

Are there any other boards in the country with such a catalog of 'errors'/bad rep?

I believe the Down board are... or at least were, one of the better ones.


I know its a difficult, often thankless task at times, but really... they'd save themselves an awful lot of heartache if they would:
- post on the website clear rationale for any fixture conflicts, explaining why the obvious alternatives cannot be used.
- post on the website immediately any requests for postponements from any clubs and their reasons.
- putting a bit of thought into their scheduling. Look at this next dilemma - as per Mourne Man above, why is the Kilcoo U21 match on at virtually the same time as the Ulster Championship game? Why not have it under lights the next night? How can anyone think its a good idea to have it 2 hrs before the SFC game? Maybe there are good reasons, but by f**k they are eluding me!

[5 Sams]

Just wondering...do any of you lads giving out about our County Board have any experience of scheduling fixtures or juggling multiple requests from awkward club secretaries and even more awkward club managers. I have worked with 4 fixtures secretaries in Down over the last 15 years or so and everyone of them have been nothing but obliging and decent. Sometimes they'll tell you to wise up and take a run and jump if you request something unrealistic....which is fair enough. Mistakes can be made ...no problem with that but in my experience the Down lads looking after fixtures get things right most of the time and do their best to accommodate sensible fixture changes where possible. No need to run them down on here....

[supersub]

The two pages of back and forward on the issue on here should highlight in itself what a hard job it is to arrange fixtures to suit everyone.