Down vs Leitrim 9th July, Newry

[PAULD123]

We got out of jail on Saturday. The midfield problems have been well documented. It si true that Hughes and McGinn would have helped a lot to win break ball. In fact Fitzpatrick would have helped there too. So hopefully for our next game we will improve a bit.

It simply didn't work at the weekend and no surprise really. There were several occaisions where Kalum King jumped for the ball with 3-4 Clare players around him. He never really had a chance.

The main positive for me though is that there is really only one problem to worry about for the management. Everything else looks good enough. So they have two weekls t work on this one problem. Hopefully they can sort something out.

Leitrim beat Sligo so they are far from no-hopers and should not be taken lightly. Though after Clare I doubt anyone will be doing that. But we have to be honest, to get a fixture at home agianst another divsion 4 side was definately a bonus.

[waitingforsam]

How did Doyle play Saturday?

Had a wedding on Sat eve, fair play to those who travelled down.

[NP 76]

Doyle was very good on saturday always seems to have alot of time on the ball and his distribution was first class . The only thing is that he doesnt actually mark anyone . This was evident and caused probelms on sat because both the Clare wing backs pushed high up the field . We already have Mc Kernan who cant mark cant afford many more like this . Doyle in fairness will only get better and is a class act

[PAULD123]

Doyle definitely had a good return but like NP76 says, he allowed the wing back to push forward. I'd like to see if he was back in a defensive role would he then start to defend because as I remember he was pretty good at dispossessing forwards. His passes were useful.

Basically there were no problems with any of the players on Saturday except midfield. To a certain extent then you could say Mooney and Doyle while very good going forward did little to help in the midfield battle for the ball. McGinn and Hughes would have turned over significantly more ball.

In fact it is no joke to say that if we had withdrawn midfield totally and just played two extra half back defenders we probably would have fared better. We could have booted the ball to Clare midfield then put up a wall of half backs to stop them in their tracks and dispossess them. That would have been better than what we had, which was two neutralised midfielders and 4-5 Clare players attacking our half back line. That sounds like a crazy plan but no joke, that is how ineffective our midfield was.

By teh way NP, made it home in 2hours 50 mins, the road was amazingly good, glad we don't have to drive to Leitrim

[Fear Boirche]

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/2706111458-times-and-venues-for-round-2-qualifiers-confirmed/

3pm throw-in. Will suit some, but not others who have to work on Saturday - should still be a decent crowd and lets hope we can get the momentum going.
The guts of two weeks to get things right after the Clare match and get a few back from injury. Laverty can't have done his chances any harm, but still don't see him starting when all other forwards are fit.

Is it time to bring Dan back into midfield? If it meant putting McKernan in at FB, I wouldn't like to see it, but I think we need to change it at midfield, especially if Ambrose is still struggling for fitness.

[bonzo]

Down will be glad to be back in Newry I'd say. They need to play their own game and impose it on the opposition. In Ennis, they allowed Clare to dictate the pace of the game and when there was trouble getting hands on the ball around the middle, they found themselves on the back foot. Too many Clare men were coming forward and not being picked up as they spread the ball across the field to find a shooting position from 40 yards. 
It has to be said that when the pressure was on, they played away and ground out the result. The errors that led to Clare's goal and near goal can be prevented with work and tightening up, especially in the middle sector.
Leitrim will be up for it with nothing to lose. Hope the weather is good too. there are increasing signs that we perform better on a dry day when the nifty forwards can control the ball and turn in the same movement. Slipping and sliding only suits the bigger defenders.

[Blowitupref]

I see Martin Sludden will be the ref of this game.

[NP 76]

Sludden wont help Down blows everything up which will slow things up . Never was fussed on him at all