Down Club Hurling & Football

[supersub]

carryduff have the biggest pick in down
laverty a huge miss for saul , they just missed out on promotion again
havern a huge miss for saval
downpatrick down players that would see them in promotion mix
glenn down players that would see them safe
longstone down players that would have seen them safe
clonduff down players
mayobridge down players
burren huge squad and depth
kilcoo huge squad and depth

yes players were released but take any top players out of training and the level drops across the board. take them out consistently for 7 months and the level of clubs will drop. the old rule was 5 starred games , teams didnt have their players back in training this year until gameweek 14 . county board need to push the start of the league back and have end of July and august for league games with the 9 second half of league games being played in 7 weeks . that allows 6 weeks to run the championship off to have a fortnight before the ulster campaign

So we are pushing the start of the leagues back for 3% of the Senior footballers in the county? What about the other 97%? The club players. Split season is there for a reason.

[skat man]

pushing the season back 3/4 weeks has lots of advantages for club players

they get a proper break rather than starting pre season before christmas like in alot of cases , players would love to start in may rather than march/april
the pitches will be in better shape for everyone with a month later start
all club players get a proper crack at their season because they would rather have their county players playing for them so they could be more competitive
teams get more competitive games together after county season ends to rejig the squad with county players involved making for a better championship.

i dont see a down side but surely someone will find one 

[Nanderson]

pushing the season back 3/4 weeks has lots of advantages for club players

they get a proper break rather than starting pre season before christmas like in alot of cases , players would love to start in may rather than march/april
the pitches will be in better shape for everyone with a month later start
all club players get a proper crack at their season because they would rather have their county players playing for them so they could be more competitive
teams get more competitive games together after county season ends to rejig the squad with county players involved making for a better championship.

i dont see a down side but surely someone will find one

what about those players that now drop to the bench and get little to no game time because a team has their county players back? do you think they'd be happy too?

[skat man]

pushing the season back 3/4 weeks has lots of advantages for club players

they get a proper break rather than starting pre season before christmas like in alot of cases , players would love to start in may rather than march/april
the pitches will be in better shape for everyone with a month later start
all club players get a proper crack at their season because they would rather have their county players playing for them so they could be more competitive
teams get more competitive games together after county season ends to rejig the squad with county players involved making for a better championship.

i dont see a down side but surely someone will find one

what about those players that now drop to the bench and get little to no game time because a team has their county players back? do you think they'd be happy too?

the team would be happier and the mentioned individuals would have had half a season by the stage of county return to seal their spot, thats time enough for anyone . win/win

[supersub]

pushing the season back 3/4 weeks has lots of advantages for club players

they get a proper break rather than starting pre season before christmas like in alot of cases , players would love to start in may rather than march/april
the pitches will be in better shape for everyone with a month later start
all club players get a proper crack at their season because they would rather have their county players playing for them so they could be more competitive
teams get more competitive games together after county season ends to rejig the squad with county players involved making for a better championship.

i dont see a down side but surely someone will find one

The league never starts in March. April is ample time/break. It doesn't matter when pre season starts, by the time April and the brighter nights come, club players are ready to get back at it. Cramming the second half of the season into 7 weeks is unnecessary upheaval to suit a minority of players. It also isn't practical. It leaves very little flexibility for postponements, match day/date changes as all of the games would be so close together. There would be no room for a July break. The Championship wouldn't start until mid September and would need to be run off consecutively until the final and even then it is tight for Ulster. Just all too crammed together. Fine as it is. One of the best fixture setups of any county.

[Gaelforce123]

All eyes on the bottom half of Division 2 now with all other leagues settled.

Carryduff win Div 1 with Longstone & Bryansford down. A new era for the Ford to try and rebuild. They lost alot of games through small margins though and will be back

Div 2 sees Ballyholland win the league and as expected go straight back up along with The Town. The bottom half is very interesting, any one of Rostrevor, Newry Shamrocks, Glenn or Liatroim can still go down (without checking head to heads etc) be worried for Glenn and Shamrocks. Is there an issue in Glenn? Is it starred games? McParland, Miller etc very strong players, imagine they would be straight back up if went down

Div 3 looked to be going St Johns way when An Riocht dropped a point but it all comes down to an effective league final Friday night. Both teams going up so Silverware is now the prize I cant see either holding back for championship. St Pauls and Drumaness go down to div 4. St Pauls had a tough year, Tullylish and Darragh both looked like they could go down a few weeks back but Tullylish had a great run over a few weeks and Darragh picked up just enough along the way, nobody would have expected either to be in a fight for relegation.

Div 4: Finn and Bosco up. Bosco as predicated, fair play to the Finn, many wrote them off when players left and went to the town after last season

[Truth hurts]

Another weekend of reserve conceding's.

[manwithnoplan]

Another weekend of reserve conceding's.

Nearly time you got over this.

[Truth hurts]

On the 26th June Clonduff went to Bredagh as league contenders, since then they have only beaten Longstone and suffered 4 defeats and drew with Bryansford.
Bredagh will fancy their chances.

[Johnnysboys]

On the 26th June Clonduff went to Bredagh as league contenders, since then they have only beaten Longstone and suffered 4 defeats and drew with Bryansford.
Bredagh will fancy their chances.

They must have a lot of injuries at present. They won't be far away in the championship. It's impossible to predict but you could nearly write the quarter final teams on a page now for senior championship. Carryduff, Loughinisland, CPN, Burren, Kilcoo, Mayobridge, Clonduff and Ballyholland. Unless Downpatrick or Castlewellan can edge out Ballyholland - I can only see the other 7 being certs.

[Town Gael]

Why have the Senior Championship Fixtures been removed from the Down website? Anyone know where I can get them?

[TakeTheMark]

Why have the Senior Championship Fixtures been removed from the Down website? Anyone know where I can get them?

Fixtures are on the website


2023 Morgan Fuels Down GAA Senior Football Championship
TIME   VENUE   TEAM 1       TEAM 2   REFEREE
Thursday 24th Aug 2023
7 15 PM   Darragh Cross   SAUL   vs   RGU DOWNPATRICK   TBC
Friday 25th Aug 2023
7 15 PM   Downpatrick   BREDAGH   vs   CLONDUFF   TBC
7 15 PM   Castlewellan   BALLYHOLLAND   vs   LOUGHINISLAND   TBC
Saturday 26th Aug 2023
5 00 PM   Kilcoo   MAYOBRIDGE   vs   BRYANSFORD   TBC
Sunday 27th Aug 2023
2 00 PM   Burren   GLENN   vs   SAVAL   TBC
4 30 PM   Bryansford   LONGSTONE   vs   CASTLEWELLAN   TBC
7 00 PM   Páirc Esler, Newry   CUMANN PHEADAIR NAOFA   vs   BURREN   TBC
Monday 28th Aug 2023
7 30 PM   Páirc Esler, Newry   CARRYDUFF   vs   KILCOO   TBC

[Truth hurts]

On the 26th June Clonduff went to Bredagh as league contenders, since then they have only beaten Longstone and suffered 4 defeats and drew with Bryansford.
Bredagh will fancy their chances.

They must have a lot of injuries at present. They won't be far away in the championship. It's impossible to predict but you could nearly write the quarter final teams on a page now for senior championship. Carryduff, Loughinisland, CPN, Burren, Kilcoo, Mayobridge, Clonduff and Ballyholland. Unless Downpatrick or Castlewellan can edge out Ballyholland - I can only see the other 7 being certs.

It depends on the draw but I agree that the first seven teams named are ahead of the others. I  believe that Carryduff has joined Burren as Kilcoo's biggest contender .

[Truth hurts]

On a different side, the Underage Championships season drives people insane. Mentors and parents should be restricted from entering the wire. You don't need ten people yelling and confusing directions to children.

[County Star]

On a different side, the Underage Championships season drives people insane. Mentors and parents should be restricted from entering the wire. You don't need ten people yelling and confusing directions to children.

Current rules only allow the manager along the line and everyone else behind the fence line or in the Dug out zone