Down Club Hurling & Football

[superblues]

is Rori MC ardle  from castlewellan not on the panel also

[Mourne Rover]

Any result from the minor hurling final at Cherryvale, if it went ahead ?

[Square Ball]

Was at the game and The Cran were unstoppable, it was a fine display by them dispite the conditions, some great scores and the Acadamy can be proud of the way they played. there were one from each side sent off, and dont actuall know the correct final score, something like 4-12 to 1-6

[No1]

  As far as I know there has been a Senior football panel of 40 odd lads picked and after the McKenna Cup a rake of boys will get the heave-ho.  The McKenna Cup should see some interesting line-ups! 

  Ricky Kerr, Ciaran Sloan from Kilclief and Magic Johnson were taking part in an in-house game in Downpatrick yesterday.  DJ and Ross can hardly be accused of not looking at all possibles. 

[MadMick007]

I see the Ulster council are looking for entrants for this years Ulster Hurling league. Will all Down Hurling teams enter? Do you feel this league structure is of benefit?

[5 Sams]

Any update on the managerial merry go round lads...

[johnneycool]

I see the Ulster council are looking for entrants for this years Ulster Hurling league. Will all Down Hurling teams enter? Do you feel this league structure is of benefit?

With the Antrim hurling leagues very uncertain, the three senior teams should definitely join up again.

I'm not too sure what other clubs didn't participate last year but hopefully Kilclief, Liatroim, Castlewellan, Ballyvarley, Ballela and Clonduff join along with Bredagh, Warrenpoint and the shamrocks. I know it can be a big ask for dual clubs, but the other clubs in Tyrone, Fermanagh etc seem to be able to manage it

[6th sam]

Has anybody any opinions on the club playoffs in Down--despite coming from a club with an excellent play-off record,I despise them.
They were introduced for the benefit of clubs with county players,but If we look at promotion/relegation over the past few years,the playoffs appear unnecessary,as I can think of few,if any instances where they have helped clubs with county players.Yet they have painfully prolonged the season,often to the detriment of our county players,and our club representatives in the Ulster series.
A few examples:
Annaclone finished 2nd bottom,but had to endure an 8 week extension to their season to go down anyway.
In Division 2 and 3 similarly ,the Bottom 2 clubs ended up going down anyway.
Promotion wise -Darragh and Clanna Banna  finished 1st and 2nd and ended up going up.
Drumgath probably found it difficult to lift themseves for the Ulster series ,following their playoff defeat.
Only Attical benifitted  from the playoffs this year (and they had no county men),as they finished 3rd,just 1 point behind Warrenpoint.Though who can begrudge Attical as those same playoffs robbed them of promotion 2 years ago ,in ridiculous circumstances.
Last year,if my memory serves me correctly(Wobbler can clarify),Ballyholland with a number of county men,had a good season in Division 1 ,but got dragged into the bottom 4,and ended up going down--How did the playoffs benefit them?
Darragh cross last year got dragged into the bottom 4,on ?22 points ,and ended up going down despite their impressive season.

In a 12 team league,it's easy to see how a team on the verge of the Top 4 can get dragged into the bottom 4--how can that be a fair reflection of a club's consistency over a season.

Do we need these playoffs??
The old argument that it keeps the league competitive to the last day,is ridiculous, as the lack of playoffs in "The Premiership" doesn't exactly make that league uncompetitive towards the end of the season.

If we dropped the playoffs ,it would give us a specific end-point to the season,and give all clubs a meaningful off-season to rest and revitalise players and pitches,and allow county management time to prepare for the forthcoming season.
A league should be a representation of season long consistency,and since most games have to be played without county players anyway,league position should be a reflection of a given clubs overall ability with and without their county men.The last few years have shown that league positions after round 22 are a fairer and more accurate reflection of the "league status" of each club,than a winner-takes-all playoff ,in the muck in late November.

The Championship in GAA,however is the real McCoy,and alot of clubs feel that the  importance of league playoffs  has had a negative effect on the championship.Dropping the playoffs would make the Championship a fitting finale to the club season!

[goldenyears]

Saw the following post on hoganstand, and it made me want to comment...

atticall
How you think aticall will do next season? I think we'll do very well. Well have as strong enuf panel, and dont be suprised to see us finish mid table anyway. With injured players back and he suspended players well be a match for most teams.
aticall gael , tullyframe Ireland , 05/12/2006 at 18:31

I honestly believe they will come straight back down and attain maybe 5 points at the max. This isnt sour grapes as they fully deserved to beat us in the play offs, but really their enthusiasm and style of football will win them friends, but they dont have a strong panel, and dont have enough real quality match winners....

The jump from 2nd to 1st is huge, with every game a championship final for the promoted team. They will benefit from not havng any county players (unless miceal sloan gets a call, and if he does they r fcked!), but their big pitch will suit a lot of div1 teams, and i fear they will really struggle. The gap between 1 and 2 really is too much right now....

[full back]

Had them in Armagh this year, only brought in, and they are brutal.
In the 2nd division the finalists of the play-off arent even known yet and it is the 6th Dec which means that they will be lucky to get them cleared up before Xmas

[thewobbler]

6th Sam - I'm a big fan of the play-off system.

It's occasionally cruel on teams who deserved to stay up/go up on league performances, but I've always been of the opinion that if, for example, you aren't fit to come out on top against the 3 other best teams in Division II, well then you aren't fit for Division I and in fact would only bring the standard down if you went up.

The normal league system puts an order on things, but it's the play-offs that really sort the wheat from the chaff. Everybody wants the reward of promotion, but in my opinion teams are better off playing at their natural level.

Secondly, it does keep things interesting right up to the end of the league. In Division II, only Ballymartin had nothing to play for in the last fortnight, and at that they still pulled off a great result in beating Downpatrick. If teams have nothing to play for, the league falls apart. Teams don't show, and when they do show, they've nothing to play for, so games turn into poor challenge games. Without play-offs, a team could quite conceivably be midtable all season, but with the luck of the draw could meet six teams in their last six games with nothing to play for, and storm to the top as a result. This doesn't make them the best team in the league. It doesn't make them deserving of promotion.

Thirdly, there is simply no way Down football could ever function properly again without play-offs. Teams have now got used to fielding without their county players and are prepared to do so in the knowledge that they will not be penalised too heavily for doing so. To reverse this commonsense approach, which allows club football to proceed amicably throughout the summer months, would be sheer madness.


Re the Championship. Let's be honest - in any given year, there are less than a handful of clubs in each of the Championships that can actually win the thing. This is just common sense talking. Don't get me wrong, as it approaches, everyone gets pumped up for the Championship and minds start to wander towards throughts of glory -  but for the majority of clubs, it is only a distraction, and deep down (in many cases, very much up front) they know it's just not going to be their year. This isn't county football, where the league is pigeonholed into the shitty weather months. League football is played on summer's days and for most clubs, improving league peformances is what really counts.

[off the laces]

For once i agree with the wobbler. we must remember we in down would have been finished much earlier if it had not been for that stupid FIVE week break before the last run off 5 matches.We all remember kicking around at training actually looking to arrange challange matches to allow the teams a match.

[charlie stubbs]

doubt attical will finish mid table

[charlie stubbs]

how is ur man lavery playing from down minors playing or ur man mccomiskey was impressed a few years ago

[Lecale2]

Attical will be straight back down again. No doubt about it.
On the Ulster League, Kilclief and Liatroim really have to enter this. The games won't clash with football. They can't complain about the small number of games in Down Div 1 and then do nothing about it. Bredagh, Warrenpoint and Shamrocks all have positive things to say about their involvement this year. Clubs need games and the Ulster league was well organised & provided games on dates when you weren't getting anything else.