Down County Football Discussion Thread

Started by Don Johnson, April 10, 2012, 10:23:41 AM

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Don Johnson


SHEEDY

just back from what was really a glorified challenge match. really poor from down who seemed to lose their way completly in the 2nd half. basic errors at the back again gifted them goals and they won pulling up. the attendance was 11500 don.
nil satis nisi optimum

NedFlanders

One of the most open games of football ive seen in a brave while, hardly any tackles or pressure when kickers went to take their scores. Cork never had to get outta 3rd gear, Kerrigan ran the show, no doubting it, the lad is a cracking football, but the down defence still needs some addressing. Dont understand how Daniel McCartan expects to mark a man when he's 5 bloody yards away, must be the family ties again!! Thought big McConvillie did very well, kept working hard especially for the goal and was unlucky to be taken off.

Dubh driocht

Maybe I'm on my own but I don't think it was very poor from Down; this was probably our best performance against Cork since the AI final and , looking back, we played well against the best panel of players in the country by a mile. Look at the two teams- give each player a mark out of ten and out of 150,we would be 30 plus less then than them. James is getting a good return from some middling players- I doubt if even the most biased Down fan expected a win today.
Brendy has had a good league and probably should have cleared his lines against the big Cork men so when that goal went in it really was game over .Dan does stand off the attacker and you can't do that when it is someone with the ability of Colm O'Neill- he is still a crafty defender which we don't have many of. Benny Mc Ardle had a good game- scored a VG point but his misplaced pass led to the first goal.D Turley,Niall Mc Partland and particularly Garvey were good.I have defended Mc Kernan but he needs to raise his game. Kalum was his usual effective self, either in MF or FF-and because pace and mobility are not his strengths, it puts more responsibility on Ambrose- clearly still on the road back to his best but still our leader in the middle. One thing James needs to sort are his fifties- Aidan Carr from the deck would be a better bet. Peter Turley did his job and brings a bit of physicality while Poly and Benny were great- this was the first time that Benny got the better of Shields. Arthur is worth his place while let's hope Laverty is OK as he along with the two injured Dans have been our top men in the league .
Keith Quinn, Mc Comiskey,Doyle, Rafferty and Rooney would be good to have for Enniskillen Anyway, a good league campaign- with going for goals in the last 5 minutes we missed out on the chance to narrow the gap but we would need our top 15 with a championship momentum behind them to match those big hallions from Cork

Pangurban

Reasonably good performance against top quality opposition, marred only by the fact that our defence gave a lot of ball away when under no pressure. Lavery our MOTM until his replacement, Coulter,Carr and Mc Conville excellent, others shone in patches. Brannigan staked a claim for starting position in championship, D. Mc Cartan had a bad day at the office. First Cork goal a giveaway, second goalkeeper blunder with contribution from defence, D. Gordon on edge off square would have caught and cleared. All in all a heartening performance from a weakened team, we are in a good place going into the serious business of the summer

No1

Some decent individual performances and a couple of awful ones but it is very hard to judge how good or bad we are in a match with so little intensity.

Most worrying thing looking ahead is our complete lack of any strategy for our own kick outs, there doesn't even seem to be a Plan A. 

I agree with Dubh Driocht about the fifties, what is big McVeigh like without the tee?! 

A lot of players looked unfit today, maybe they are training particularly hard and are gearing towards the frst weekend in June but some of them looked bursted after 10 minutes!


Mourne Rover

It was an ordinary enough Down performance, and Cork are obviously still a fair bit ahead of us. However, with an understrength side we managed to reduce our normal double figure margin of defeat against them to something a little more manageable.

The most disappointing aspect was that our recent defensive improvement, with only one goal conceded from play in our last five, came to an end, with two goals gifted through individual errors and Cork getting the chance to kick a range of points without being put under any real pressure.

At the same time, they have a serious squad, big, fast and physically powerful with backs and midfielders as well as forwards who can take scores readily. They will take a lot of stopping in the summer, while we can say that a decent league programme is out of the way and we have six weeks to prepare for Enniskillen and crucially work on the fitness of our missing players.

McVeigh has been in excellent form all year, and his kick-outs, even to a struggling midfield, were decent, so no one should lose too much sleep over a hanging ball which he should have punched but slipped out of his hands leaving O'Connor with an empty net.

Garvey was as solid as ever, and the only question is whether he should start in the championship at full back, corner back or wing half. Dan McCartan, apart from one fine interception, had an off-day, could never get close enough to his man and conceded a needless free in front of the posts at the start of the second half when we were just beginning to believe in ourselves. McArdle was generally impressive, getting his tackles in and breaking forward confidently, but one misplaced pass led directly to their first goal.

McKernan looked far happier in the half forwards last week than he did at the back today. He worked hard but another careless pass cost us a point at a stage when the match was pretty tight. Damien Turley seldom seemed comfortable and. although he will improve from the experience of a run at Croke Park, did not justify his surprising selection ahead of Quinn. McParland was much steadier, used the ball well and has the makings of a long-term centre half.

Our midfield was patchy at best, although they were up against outstanding opponents. Ambrose has his moments, but is yet to really get into his stride, and both his distribution and his 45s were below par. King was regularly switched up front, where he made an impact several times and won the penalty as well. The suspicion is that our management have doubts about his pace against top class midfielders, but it is not a position where we have many options.

Peter Turley tried his heart out in an unusual role where he had to drop deep and support the midfield, but he had run out of steam before the end. Carr had a mixed day, with a brilliant penalty and a fine point from play but some questionable decision-making when in possession. Poland popped up everywhere, and his long-range point from Benny's crossfield pass was our highlight of the day.

It was important for Benny to display that he can cope with Shields, who had his measure in the past, and he delivered three brilliant points, a host of assists and might even have got in for a goal. Laverty looked as through he would run riot early on, hit three quick points and might also have taken a goal, so we have to hope that his injury, which clearly set us back, clears up quickly. McConville put in a more than reasonable shift, is strong in the air, helped to create the penalty and is close to a nailing down a championship debut.

Of the subs, Maginn hit a good point and is also in contention for a championship start where he might well be joined by Quinn. The two Branagans were OK, although Niall is light for a defender at this level, while O'Hare, although he can finish, is also on the small side.

We really need Hughes and Gordon back as soon as possible, and, with the latter on crutches along the sideline today, he must be doubtful for the Fermanagh game. A fit Doyle would also be a huge bonus, and McComiskey has to be part of the mix as well.

All in all, we can be more than pleased with our league campaign and the real business kicks off now. 

The Real Gael

Its a sad day for down football when we are happy with an 8 point defeat  ::)

PAULD123

Yesterday I see four issues that cost us so dearly:

1) We had to start without Rafferty, Rooney, G McCartan, Doyle, Gordon, Hughes, Mccomiskey

2) Laverty getting injured was pivotal. We were competing well up to then and we could at least have been close enough to challenge late in the game. After he went off, and without Hughes, we had no one to carry the ball through and had to resort to thumping it up to Benny as in days of old. In addition with no Laverty and Hughes we started losing a lot more break-ball in midfield

3) Cork were allowed to continuously cynically foul by holding players back. Admittedly, the referee did at least give frees but they were 50-60m out. The Cork players were not carded which meant they could just keep doing it. Cork, Kerry and Dublin are the three most talented sides in Ireland but are also the most cynical. If a few of their half backs had been on yellows then we may have seen a totally different level of success from our half forward line.

4) Two very bad mistakes cost us dearly - Sh*t happens. But we must not get too despondent. The second goal was the key moment in the match. Down players heads went down after this, the passing went astray and the energy level dropped off. It became a slow march to the inevitable defeat.

Cork are simply a better team than us. Their physical presence is something we struggle badly to deal with which is why other teams that we can beat are able to beat them but we can't seem to get close. But we will get close if we can play our strongest side, and in championship football you only have to be close at the end to have a chance.

Leo

The most frustrating issue is McKernan, undoubtedly very talented but, of late, so often missing for long periods, indecisive on the ball and with no defensive contribution.
Still I do rate hime and would love to see him  given a free role from corner forward where he can bring his dynamism to better effect.
We also need to keep big Kalum in midfield and if a team try to run the legs off him, like Cork have done a couple of times now, then allow Ambrose - or a player dropping back- to do the following and keep the middle strong. Again yesterday when Kalum went chasing his man the whole middle opened up and Cork came streaming through.
With the likes of Gordon, Hughes and hopefully Rooney/Rafferty into the starting team and options of Doyle & McComiskey on the bench I would be more hopeful for the summer.
To me the biggest plus yesterday was Brendan McArdle who proved he can play at this level although I would use his athleticsm in half back line.
Fierce tame altogether

PAULD123

Lads we have an over 35s team. we played a few challenge matches last year against An Riocht and Bosco. It is just for a bit of fun for the lads that want another we turn out in their club colours. Generally we have a match and then a bite to eat in the hosting club and a bit of a drink/craic.

Would anyone here from another club be interested in getting an over 35s team together for a friendly match? Would be great to get a few more games going.

whitegoodman

Positives from wkend;

- Garvey & McArdle performed admirably against difficult oppostion.
- 2 Brannigans were decent when coming on.
- Benny was as sharp as Ive seen him in 18 mths.
- Laverty followed up his general play with scores, great to see, hope his injury isnt too bad.

Negatives from wkend;

- McKernan and McCartan were poor, McCartan should have been replaced earlier and McKernan at some stage.
- Midfield overran not for the first time against Cork.  Changes should have been made here.  Anton may not be anywhere near the finished article but the Cork midfield wouldnt have ran away from him like they did to Ambrose/King/Turley.
- Turley not knowing what he was doing.  He is a player with more brawn that brain on the football pitch (not meaning any disrespect) and shouldnt have been asked to perform such a role.  If they wanted to play that way why not put McKernan there, move mcparland to wing back and put Turley at CHB.  Once again we were split open right up the middle yesterday, something that Turley may have helped stop.
- Lack of strength in depth.  McConville did ok in the first half but the second half was crying out for a murtagh/mccumisky to come on when the game was there for the taking.  Donal O Hare will be a good one but he not ready for that yet
- Silly individual errors costing us once again.  We must be one of the worst teams in the country for conceding stupid goals.
- Most concerningly, no settled team with no competitive games coming up before Fermanagh.  This is partly down to injuries but I dont think any of us could predict 13 of the starting line up for that game.

A few more negatives than positives but we should beat Fermanagh and this is the best chance we have had for a while to win an Ulster title so hopefully the injuries clear up and we get our act together.

outinfront

Heard Down beat Antrim by 5 today in a challenge game?  Anyone see it?

Mourne Rover

#28
It is disappointing that Keith Quinn has headed off to the States as he might well have started against Fermanagh in the USC. Our list of injured and unavailable players is growing, and it all makes life increasingly difficult for James. In addition to Quinn,  Marty Clarke, Caolan Mooney, Peter Fitzpatrick, James Colgan and Luke Howard have all left the country. The injured include Dan Gordon, Danny Hughes, Dee Rafferty, Declan Rooney, Liam Doyle and Anton McArdle, while Paul McComiskey opted out of the entire NFL programme. The strength of our squad is certainly going to be tested in the run-up to Enniskillen.

EDChief

Quote from: Mourne Rover on April 22, 2012, 09:37:18 PM
It is disappointing that Keith Quinn has headed off to the States as he might well have started against Fermangh in the USC. Our list of injured and unavailable players is growing, and it all makes life increasingly difficult for James. In addition to Quinn,  Marty Clarke, Caolan Mooney, Peter Fitzpatrick, James Colgan and Luke Howard have all left the country. The injured include Dan Goirdon, Danny Hughes, Dee Rafferty, Declan Rooney, Liam Doyle and Anton McArdle, while Paul McComiskey opted out of the entire NFL programme. The strength of our squad is certainly going to be tested in the run-up to Enniskillen.

What is the story with McComiskey??  We need him back on board for the Fermanagh match.  He at least needs to be an option from
the bench, if not starting.  I know he is back playing with Dundrum and playing well.  Is he going to opt back in??
Can any of the Dundrum posters shed light on this??