Down Club Hurling & Football

[Mourne Red]

With Kilcoo now All Ireland Champions the question is can anyone realistically expect to beat these men or are we set for another decade of dominance from Kilcoo? Personally can't see any team stopping them in Down for the foreseeable and not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It has to be said they have taken the whole approach to club football up to a serious level and I'm not sure many teams have the appetite to compete with it.

They definitely can be beat they've a glaring weakness in defence that if management teams planned properly could expose with good free-takers and the exploitation of the Mark Rule. The full back line doesn't have the legs and sit quite narrow so using the mark to get the ball out wide would allow teams to tip over points providing they've reliable scorers from the dead ball

I remembered today I messaged on here about using the mark to exploit Kilcoo and replies weren't to favourable - just thought I'd give this a bump after Scotstowns score to level

[Johnnysboys]

I personaly thought Dabs was brilliant today
[/quote]Thought he had good game as well.
[/quote]

Watch the game lads please. No matter how bad he is everyone just sees him touch the ball twice and their mind thinks he was class - Kicked a good point - was out muscled for the ball time and time again particularly by Darren Hughes and was missing in the last ten minutes when they needed him badly to just grab a ball and get them out - be a leader. I'm not saying he's not a good player but he is not and has never been county standard. Don't get blinded by fact he has medals galore - so did many players in the past but were not county standard. What we have at present is Doherty - I would much prefer him to be honest - not the tallest but some player.

[SHEEDY]

I personaly thought Dabs was brilliant today

Thought he had good game as well.
[/quote]

Watch the game lads please. No matter how bad he is everyone just sees him touch the ball twice and their mind thinks he was class - Kicked a good point - was out muscled for the ball time and time again particularly by Darren Hughes and was missing in the last ten minutes when they needed him badly to just grab a ball and get them out - be a leader. I'm not saying he's not a good player but he is not and has never been county standard. Don't get blinded by fact he has medals galore - so did many players in the past but were not county standard. What we have at present is Doherty - I would much prefer him to be honest - not the tallest but some player.
[/quote]didn't think Ceilum Doherty had a great game compared to his high standards, neither did Shealan Johnson. Jerome was a big loss for Kilcoo.

[ck]

Kilcoo were poor. They sat back after the penalty and invited Scotstown on to them. Deserved to loose. Credit to Scotstown, they looked good and have big game players. They'll take some stopping.

[Leftmidfield]

I personaly thought Dabs was brilliant today

Thought he had good game as well.

Watch the game lads please. No matter how bad he is everyone just sees him touch the ball twice and their mind thinks he was class - Kicked a good point - was out muscled for the ball time and time again particularly by Darren Hughes and was missing in the last ten minutes when they needed him badly to just grab a ball and get them out - be a leader. I'm not saying he's not a good player but he is not and has never been county standard. Don't get blinded by fact he has medals galore - so did many players in the past but were not county standard. What we have at present is Doherty - I would much prefer him to be honest - not the tallest but some player.
[/quote]didn't think Ceilum Doherty had a great game compared to his high standards, neither did Shealan Johnson. Jerome was a big loss for Kilcoo.
[/quote]
He may have been outmuscled by two physically stronger players, but McCarron and Hughes didn't/can't do what Dabs does like getting up and down the pitch, soloing forward with the ball, taking on men breaking lines and getting some good intercepting tackles in. He did a lot of that yesterday.

[thewobbler]

Kilcoo were poor. They sat back after the penalty and invited Scotstown on to them. Deserved to loose. Credit to Scotstown, they looked good and have big game players. They'll take some stopping.

Was it poor from Kilcoo so much as they ran into a team with bigger, stronger county-standard players, who were capable of making Kilcoo doubt their own ways of playing?

Scotstown were clever in how they went about it. By hanging full forwards right on the end line, they were able to stretch Kilcoo's defensive lines; especially so as Beggan was the quarter back. By being comfortable with 15m kick passes, they were able to open opportunities for easy marks. By virtue of Kieran Hughes patrolling the left half forward flank (second half), they were able to force Kilcoo long from restarts, where they would always struggle to match Scotstown in the air - indeed Dylan Ward was probably a greater loss to Kilcoo than Jerome yesterday. And of course Scotstown never allowed the game to become a running 3-way battle of wits between them, Kilcoo and the ref. They hit hard, fouled clinically, then got up and walked away.

But for all that, the reality is that Scotstown won because - as outstanding as Kilcoo's sum-of-all-parts is - when county standard players hit top gear in club football, they're just better at the game. And all of Scotstown's star players delivered.

[toby47]

Has Jerome Johnston been injured? Was taken off early in the county final I recall, never played since?

[redandblackareback]

All not well in the camp pre game set the tone for a poor performance. Kilcoo physio who Lacey brought into the set up decided to go to the Naomh Conaill game and it did not go down well with Laverty and Choc. Lacey 100% heading back to Donegal and word is he struggled to deal with a few big egos over the last few weeks.

[upandwin]

As we sat and watched the game in St Mary's club rooms, the echoes of the cheers to Rory Beggan's free boomed throughout the parish. What a time to be alive, still the only club in down with 2 All Irelands. You'll never catch us and we absolutely love every single second of it. Thank you Rory Beggan and Thank you Scotstown. Hughes will never have to put his hand in his pocket in Burren club either, great lads. Now we can rest easy as the aristocrats remain on 🔝

[thebar]

As we sat and watched the game in St Mary's club rooms, the echoes of the cheers to Rory Beggan's free boomed throughout the parish. What a time to be alive, still the only club in down with 2 All Irelands. You'll never catch us and we absolutely love every single second of it. Thank you Rory Beggan and Thank you Scotstown. Hughes will never have to put his hand in his pocket in Burren club either, great lads. Now we can rest easy as the aristocrats remain on 🔝

Wouldn't it be great if St Marys didn't have to rely on others now. That's what its come to sadly.

[ck]

All not well in the camp pre game set the tone for a poor performance. Kilcoo physio who Lacey brought into the set up decided to go to the Naomh Conaill game and it did not go down well with Laverty and Choc. Lacey 100% heading back to Donegal and word is he struggled to deal with a few big egos over the last few weeks.

Maybe they heard they money Lacey was on? 

[Truth hurts]

I've always supported Down sides when they've played in Ulster. Sad to see.

[elk]

As we sat and watched the game in St Mary's club rooms, the echoes of the cheers to Rory Beggan's free boomed throughout the parish. What a time to be alive, still the only club in down with 2 All Irelands. You'll never catch us and we absolutely love every single second of it. Thank you Rory Beggan and Thank you Scotstown. Hughes will never have to put his hand in his pocket in Burren club either, great lads. Now we can rest easy as the aristocrats remain on 🔝

genie didn't know what part of himself to hold after Hughes bumped into him, wasn't sure where his head was

[Mournenan82]

The great burren club relying on other clubs for their success sums them up these days. Here's to the next 10 years of them shitting the nest when they see black and white

[downtothecore]

  brilliant. The mighty burren