Down Club Hurling & Football

[Ed Hardy]

According to IN Down league campaign starts with a trip to Roscommon then at home to Cork.  Mentions these are the end of the Liam Kerr article on him heading off to Australia for the year. Big loss for Down.

Yeah massive loss. Only 24, so really only coming into his prime and the new rules would have suited him well..

See Aaron Mcclements in involved in the panel, was he there for a while back in Tallys 1st year? Always impressed for L.island, surprised he wasnt called back in sooner.

[Splash]

Is there a GAA club in, or near, Holywood?

St Paul's are in Holywood

Thank you. What division are they in, or what championship do they play in?

Division 4 and junior

Thanks

Do St Paul's not play in the Intermediate Championship? Think they beat Drumaness this year and stayed up.

Would love to see them kick on and make it to the next level some day.

[Splash]

Best of luck to Portaferry today in the Ulster Final.

10 years since they were last here, and that time, they won their only Ulster Title.

The last time Portaferry went up against Slaughtneil, it could only be described as a hiding. But Portaferry, without doubt, are a far better outfit now than they were in 2022.

Slaughtneil are still very justified favourites, but Portaferry as a team are older, wiser, bigger, stronger, fitter, and more dangerous now than any team to have come out of Down in the past few years.

Slaughtneil were unreal against Cushendall. The amount of one on one battles they won, the amount of things that came off for them, was amazing. No point saying otherwise, but Cushendall were very much kept in the game by McManus. Portaferry do not have a single star of the magnitude of McManus, but there is a strong argument that their forward line, on the whole, is stronger. Cushendall are of course a good side, but they depended far too much on McManus to keep the score board ticking over. Portaferry have a greater spread of higher quality forwards. The Sands, McGrattan, Turpin, etc., are all well capable of taking it to Slaughtneil. Portaferry's backs will also have to be performing well to deal with Rodgers, O'Doherty, Cassidy, etc., who were unmarkable in the last round.

Ultimately, Slaughtneil are a more physical team. They are bigger. But Portaferry will have put serious work into their strength and conditioning, and as they showed last year against Cushendall, they are well fit to take on bigger teams.

Last year would have been sickening for Portaferry. To have been so dominant over a team that went on to win Ulster and were unlucky not to make it to the All Ireland Final will have left a bad taste. All year, it had very much seemed like Portaferry were building to something bigger than a county championship. This is not to say they are expected to win Ulster, but they are clearly at a higher level than anyone else in Down at the moment.

The one area of the field you got the impression from watching the Ports this year was that their midfield presence was not always on par with other areas of the field. This is not to say their midfield was bad at all, but it perhaps is a chink in their armour, and Slaughtneil are very strong in the middle of the pitch. But, I have no doubt Gerard McGrattan will have a plan for all this.

It should be a good match. If anybody has little to be at, Armagh this evening isn't the hardest place to go to- probably a lot easier for some people in Down to get there than the Ards.

It will certainly be a challenge for Portaferry. Rumours of Slaughtneil's demise have been greatly exaggerated. They won't fear Portaferry one bit, and are far more comfortable with being in the Ulster Final than the Ports.

But you never know. Portaferry absolutely have the resources to go out and take a scalp. They probably had been preparing for
Cushendall, but I don't think the management would have slept on Slaughtneil.

If it is anything like the semi final, what an advertisement for Ulster Hurling that will be. If Portaferry can manage to bring a provincial title back to Down, it would be all the better.

Should be a good day of hurling. Looking forward to it.

[downtothecore]

Dissapointed for Portaferry. A great 50 mins hurling but momentum swung from them as it easily can in Hurling and in the last 10 minutes you felt once Slaughtneil got on top there was only going to be one winner. If ports could at least prevented 1 of the 2 goals they may have held on. Unfortunately they will look back on the last 2 ulster finals as games they should have won. Hopefully they can refocus and get over the line next year...

[Sheedy]

Gutted for portaferry, for 45/50 mins there looked only one winner but once the goals went in the momentum swung and portaferry just couldn't get a hold of the game again. That one will hurt over the winter.

[Sheedy]

Down national league football fixtures 2025

Roscommon away Sun 26th Jan 2pm

Cork home Sun 2nd Feb 2pm

Meath home Sat 15th Feb  6pm

Louth away Sun 23rd Feb 2pm

Cavan away Sat 1st Mar 6pm

Westmeath home Sat 15th Mar 6pm

Monaghan away Sun 23rd

[Aristo 60]

Thanks Sheedy. Not great options for a night away.

[Splash]

Heartbreaking for Portaferry in the Ulster Final.

I think this is one of those times where you can say the better team on the night didn't win. That is not to take away from Slaughtneil- managing to not only get back into it, but to then push on and finish the last 5 minutes as the better team really says something about them. There is not too many teams who could do what they did at the end of the second half, and I hope they go on and make an impact in the All Ireland series.

But that won't make it any easier to swallow for the Ports.

Right from the throw it, Portaferry were on top. They dominated the first half, overturning Slaughtneil and punishing their mistakes. Slaughtneil couldn't seem to get anything right, and Portaferry took their chance to go into a good lead.

Their puck outs were on point, and their shooting was mostly good across the pitch. Their defending was top notch. Slaughtneil did not have too many attacking chances, and the ones they did, Portaferry dealt with well. They also did well to take Slaughtneil's main danger men out of the game, I.e., they kept Brendan Rogers very quiet. 

There was not much went wrong in the first half, and the second half started well again. They just did not look like giving Slaughtneil an inch.

I am still not really sure how Slaughtneil managed to get their first goal. They really did make it out of nothing. Portaferry were 8 points up when Slaughtneil found the net. Just far too much space in the Slaughtneil full forward line, and far too much space for men. It really did stun Portaferry, but the real damage came when they conceded another goal immediately afterwards in the next play.  That really rocked them, and despite still being 2 points ahead, Portaferry could not find that form they had had for the majority of the game, and suddenly the points weren't flying over the way they had been for the previous 50 minutes. Even their own rocket of a goal didn't seem to spark much life back into them, and the game was still very much there for the taking right up until the final whistle. I said before the game, Portaferry don't have a Neil McManus, but they have better overall forwards than the Dall. I think the Ports forwards inflicted more damage on Slaughtneil that Cushendall did, but tbey didn't have a one of a kind player like McManus to rescue it for them in the last few seconds. Swings and roundabouts.

They really gave it a good lash. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

I'm sure a lot of Portaferry people are sickened, but there is A LOT of positives to take from that. Most importantly, Down clubs are realistically competing for Ulster Championships again. The past few years, really Down clubs couldn't compete with Slaughtneil/Cushendall/Dunloy in the championship. Look at the last beating Slaughtneil have Portaferry only a few years ago. But now, both last year and this year, Portaferry have shown they are will fit to compete once again. Granted, there is still no provincial silverware, but they have shown they are now serious contenders, and not there to make up the numbers.

Realistically, no one in Down looks like they can stop the Ports any time soon- the closest being Ballygalget who still have a couple years to go, in my opinion. Im not sure how long Portaferry can stay at the top of the county, but they should be aiming for bigger things going forward. This should also motivate the rest of the teams to raise their standards.

Gerard McGrattan is likely a shoe in for the next Down manager whenever Sheehan decides to go I would imagine. He's brought that team on well.

It is particularly disappointing, as with Ballygunner shockingly getting dumped out of Munster, Slaughtneil will now face Sarsfields of Cork in the semi final- a team who have never made it to this stage. The winner of that will face  Loughrea of Galway, or Na Fianna of Dublin in the final- two teams who have never won an All Ireland. I am not saying Portaferry would have won the All Ireland, but this is a great opportunity with no Ballyhale, no St Thomas, no Ballygunner, no Na Piarsaigh, no Cuala, etc., for whoever does go on to win it. None of the teams in the All Ireland series have won an All Ireland before, and what an opportunity for each of them.  But I am sure Portaferry are all but too aware of this.

It is a disappointing way for Portaferry to end their year, but they did the County proud. A few years ago, you wouldn't have expected them to get within arms reach of Slaughtneil, let alone dominate them the way they did. If the Ports come out of Down next year, barring a massive upset in Derry, Slaughtneil will be there waiting in the semi final. I have no doubt there will be many discussions held about this fact in the Fiddler's Green over the winter.

There was no one you could say didn't stand up and play to their very best on Sunday night. It's massively disappointing for the Ports, but they know now, that they're not too far away.

Looking forward to next year to see how everybody else tries to take them down.

All in all, another good year of hurling action. It is disappointing that none of our county champions lifted any provincial titles, but they were far more competitive this year than last.

The senior championship is continuing to develop which is great for us as a county. Portaferry are flying, Ballgalget are back, Ballycran are still able to compete, Liatorim are still very much on the hunt, Carryduff have shown they belong at this level, and Bredagh have a lot more potential to utilise.

Down hurling is going in the right direction. Fair play to everybody involved- whether you lifted a hurl or just took a run out to watch. Down hurling  is in the best place now it's been for a few years.

[Hard2Listen2]

Please fill in the Blanks for 2025 Senior mens Football managers.
Who is staying and who is going?
New appointments?

Kilcoo - K Lacy
Burren - E McCartan
CPN - J Boyle?
Clonduff - G Adams?
Mayobridge -
Carryduff - F Moriarty
Loughinisland - C O'Toole
Ballyholland - S Mulholland?
RGU -  K Duffin & C McCrickard
Saul - D Lynch?

Glenn - S Clarke?
Drumgath - P Hynes
Bredagh - 
Longstone - P Murray & SM Johnston
Bryansford - J Magorrian
Rostrevor - DJ Morgan
Saval -
Castlewellan -
An Riocht  - K Franklin?
St John's -

Annaclone-
Ballymartin-
Attical -
Tullylish - R McShane?
Darragh - B Mason
Banbridge-
Bosco - M McVeigh?
Dromara - J Fegan
Liatroim -
Shamrocks - A Rogers

St Paul's-
Bright - D Ritchie
Teconnaght - J Clarke?
Kilclief -
Ardglass -
Dundrum - E Devlin
East Belfast -
Aghaderg -
St Michael's -
Glasdrumman - H Toner
Drumaness - P Morgan?
Finn - M Copeland?

Any updates on this?

Most management teams should be in place by now.

[snoopdog]

Please fill in the Blanks for 2025 Senior mens Football managers.
Who is staying and who is going?
New appointments?

Kilcoo -
Burren -
CPN -
Clonduff -
Mayobridge -
Carryduff -
Loughinisland -
Ballyholland -
RGU -
Saul -

Glenn -
Drumgath -
Bredagh - 
Longstone -
Bryansford -
Rostrevor -
Saval -
Castlewellan -
An Riocht  -
St John's -

Annaclone-
Ballymartin-
Attical -
Tullylish -
Darragh -
Banbridge-
Bosco -
Dromara -
Liatroim -
Shamrocks -

St Paul's-
Bright -
Teconnaght -
Kilclief -
Ardglass -
Dundrum -
East Belfast -
Aghaderg -
St Michael's -
Glasdrumman -
Drumaness -
Finn -

Any updates on this?

Most management teams should be in place by now.

Fill it in yourself. 

[Square Ball]

Please fill in the Blanks for 2025 Senior mens Football managers.
Who is staying and who is going?
New appointments?

Kilcoo -
Burren -
CPN -
Clonduff -
Mayobridge -
Carryduff -
Loughinisland -
Ballyholland -
RGU -
Saul -

Glenn -
Drumgath -
Bredagh - McGourty and Bunting
Longstone -
Bryansford -
Rostrevor -
Saval -
Castlewellan -
An Riocht  -
St John's -

Annaclone-
Ballymartin-
Attical -
Tullylish -
Darragh -
Banbridge-
Bosco -
Dromara -
Liatroim -
Shamrocks -

St Paul's-
Bright -
Teconnaght -
Kilclief -
Ardglass -
Dundrum -
East Belfast -
Aghaderg -
St Michael's -
Glasdrumman -
Drumaness -
Finn -

Any updates on this?

Most management teams should be in place by now.

Fill it in yourself. 

[Hard2Listen2]

I've filled in the names I know.

Can anyone add more?