Down v Monaghan - Saturday 24th June at 7pm

[Aaron Boone]

Monaghan missed a few right at the start. It was 0-0 for a long time.

Tyrone will be thinking get a good first 20 minutes v Down.

[timmyot501]

1st thing that was a mighty game and a real battle. Fair play to down. Some supporters beside me felt down were much more up for the game after the pen. They were also biting their nails in injury time when monaghan should have dug out a Draw. But not to be. Over the 70+mins the better team won. They won the key battles. They kicked some wonderful scores too. I thought monaghan mixed a lot of good with too much bad. Wides cost us in the end. In the start actually, as we should have been 4 or 5 up early on.
2 weeks to recover is better than last years 1. But its always tough to get over a defeat in a tough game like tonight. Good luck to down in the final

[UlsterMan2]

Down deserved the win, it would have been an injustice should Monaghan snatched a draw, the only reason they came back into it was Harrison going off, an dun Abu

[The Subbie]

Fair play to Down, Monaghan reverted to type and swanned into that match not thinking about Down but wondering would it be hard to get the bus up the hill in Clones for the Ulster final.

Normal standard Monaghan.

[snoopdog]

Monaghan are miles ahead of Down. They should win pulling up. I travel to Armagh in the hope that we can put in a performance against a genuine all ireland contender.

Good man

As a Down man I went to Armagh last night hoping we would stay close. The post above was a bit tongue in cheek in reference to the media. No one gave Down a hope in hell. Recorded on bbc2 watched it last night Oisin said b4 the game it will be something similar to last year. Fantastic performance. Down showed a toughness I haven't seen for.many years in a Down team. For a long time we were too nice last night we were tough and a great performance. Yes Monaghan missed kickable scores. So did Down early on. 2 Johnsons and big Turley missed kickable scores. Fantastic performance.

[Owen Brannigan]

Monaghan were complacent and after shock of encountering Down's newly developing  backbone couldn't shift up a gear. Down almost blew it at the end. Check out M Harte laughing in the stands.

Did many more Down fans attend expecting a hiding than Monaghan fans who thought their team just needed a run out and shooting practice?

So, Armagh must be a fair team after all? 

[Gold]

Great game

Walsh dived in front of the down man for the penalty but then lifted both legs up in the air in an attempt to stop the Down man. It was soft....ish but a penalty in my book

Very few games you wouldnt flick over to another channel at some point but you couldnt take your eyes off this. It was class. One point to note though when monaghan were down by a point you get the ball to your go to man, even if its to walk up and hand it to him from  a yard away (obviously mcmanus). He would either wriggle and get fouled or work a shot....if he misses ....f it...the right thing was done.

I thought of the great Chicago Bulls team in the last few mins when they were 1 down. They would take a time out and and discuss how to get the ball to Jordan. Even without a time out they knew to do so. They didnt even let Scottie Pippen ( mccarron)  take that melting pot shot. And they CERTAINLY DID NOT LET DENNIS f**king RODMAN (Wylie) take that shot. Even if Rodman was free to shoot for a 3 ( wylie) he knew better (even when all helter skelter in last seconds) and would work it to the man Jordan ( mcmanus).

For all Downs quality and fantastic performance yesterday the ref rode them....because he did monaghan should have worked a draw. From mcmanus scored to leave just 2 in it (and then hughes scored to put 1 in it...Hughes is another pippen) they didnt work the ball to him again, not once. Chicago Bulls wouldnt have made that mistake. Game management (needed by all players, not just a few with their heads screwed on..hughes wouldve knew to work it to mcmanus). The Bulls went all the way, they were champions. Monaghan are not

[PAULD123]

Down deserved the win, it would have been an injustice should Monaghan snatched a draw, the only reason they came back into it was Harrison going off, an dun Abu

I would say that Coldrick going off was worse for us.

Being as fair as possible I thought the ref was only wrong about one free he gave Monaghan in the second half. There was one excellent tackle that was blown. But what he did do, was allow them to over-carry consistently. That hurt Down's ability to defend badly. Secondly he gave Jerome none of the frees that he was giving to Monaghan at the other end. During Monaghan's comeback we should have had at least two easy free kicks which would totally have taken the sting out of the comeback.

[mrdeeds]

It was more than one easy free. Darrem Hughes overcarried. Free in and point came of it. Also he gave a free to Monaghan when Down turned over at kick out. Beggan handled on ground not given. One time Darren Hughes went for mark but dropped it but ref blew for mark. One of the worst refs I've ever seen in terms of applying the rules.

[Denn Forever]

Enjoyable game for the neutral.  Down looked great for 50 minutes and then seemed to go into their shell and seemed to try and run down the clock.  Looked almost suicidal laying loads of lateral passes inside the 21.  Would not have liked be a Down supporter then.

And great credit to Monaghan (wash my mouth out with soap) they almost won it at the end.  Hate to get them in the qualifers.

[yellowcard]

Decent match to watch, good atmosphere and competitive football. Plenty of defensive stuff as well but that's modern football and it really could have gone either way, Monaghan dominated the first 10 and last 20 minutes whilst Down were the better side in between. Also a tale of 2 referees, Coldrick who gave Down everything and the sub ref who after he gave Down a softish penalty gave Monaghan several soft frees to bring them back into the match. Overall a Poor display by Monaghan though and I think Tyrone will be licking their lips at the prospect of playing an ordinary Down side in the final.

[Main Street]

I thought of the great Chicago Bulls team in the last few mins when they were 1 down. They would take a time out and and discuss how to get the ball to Jordan. Even without a time out they knew to do so. They didnt even let Scottie Pippen ( mccarron)  take that melting pot shot. And they CERTAINLY DID NOT LET DENNIS f**king RODMAN (Wylie) take that shot. Even if Rodman was free to shoot for a 3 ( wylie) he knew better (even when all helter skelter in last seconds) and would work it to the man Jordan ( mcmanus).

For all Downs quality and fantastic performance yesterday the ref rode them....because he did monaghan should have worked a draw. From mcmanus scored to leave just 2 in it (and then hughes scored to put 1 in it...Hughes is another pippen) they didnt work the ball to him again, not once. Chicago Bulls wouldnt have made that mistake. Game management (needed by all players, not just a few with their heads screwed on..hughes wouldve knew to work it to mcmanus). The Bulls went all the way, they were champions. Monaghan are not

The chances, the momentum and the time were there for Monaghan to score, they failed at that and  therefore didn't earn a chance of a replay or a win, had they done so, it would have been earned.
Football is not that complicated.
The crucial final free kick to recover a game, is missed just as often as it's converted.
We've missed a few and converted quite a few of our late chances in the championship, perhaps just often as other teams missed their last good chance against us.

But because Monaghan are not the great Chicago Bulls basketball team, therefore they're not champions?
I hadn't thought about that insightful piece of gold before 

[seafoid]

Monaghan were complacent and after shock of encountering Down's newly developing  backbone couldn't shift up a gear. Down almost blew it at the end. Check out M Harte laughing in the stands.

Did many more Down fans attend expecting a hiding than Monaghan fans who thought their team just needed a run out and shooting practice?

So, Armagh must be a fair team after all? 

Armagh are the people's champions

[SHEEDY]

If that happens again you'll know you're dreaming.
I remember the crowing on here from some Down fans about that facile victory in 2012.
A decade of revenge is in order.

how did that work out for ya???

[redhandofgod]

Monaghan are seriously overrated, sure Longford beat them in the championship last year ffs.