Messages

i see.would he not join st pauls anyway,its not that far out the road?

i thought bredagh did well to show up for this match and compete for the whole game.ardglass deserved the win,no question,but maybe not by that margin.
   imagine,you seem very interested in the bredagh setup.howcome?

i can see the merits in your proposals DF,but it would never get passed as too many clubs would be voting to put themselves down a division for it to come into effect.for example,could you see anyone fom saul being hyappy about playing div 5 football,when they were in div 2 only a few years ago?

down fanatic,not sure if bredagh are entering a thirds team or not,but as far as i am aware they won the east down reserve league and would presumably go up.

if you can find a local bookmakers taking odds on the jhc final,which is unlikely i know,take the belfast men by a dozen!

what is this hidden agenda?

what seems to have happened up in carryduff?they havnt seemed competitive in their last two games.

heres how i see friday night going.

div3

bright v tullylish-tullylish
teconnaught v saul-teconnaught
glenn v bredagh-draw
dundrum v bosco-bosco
st pauls v drumgath-drumgath
ardglass v mitchells-ardglass

div 4

ballykinlar v aghaderg-aghaderg
dromara v st johns-st johns
st michaels v aughlisnafin-st michaels

good win for st johns the other night away to aghaderg,and also for drumaness to beat st michaels.its a shame there has to be a team sit out every week.div 3 seems to be shaping up well with bosco showing good form.drumgath are proving everybodies expectations correct,while mitchells seem to be proving everyone wrong.ardglass seem slow to start,but shouldnt take long to get going.saul are finding it difficult in their new environment,as are st pauls.their excellent team spirit and organisation were instrumental in taking them up to div 3,but to survive in a higher division scoring forwards are essential.

ardglass are missing from that table.they have one point so far.

dundrum may rely on young mccomiskey alot,but he is a man you can rely on,especially for scores.plus they have a few other players well capable of turning games.my only concern for them is there defence,i don't rate it high enough.i'm wary of tipping bredagh for big things,like i said they had an easy run last year,winning everything they were expected to(i.e the antrim hurlers).but this year they are in a highly competitive division with teams who are equally ambitious as themselves.however,as i alluded to in my previous post,one of the middle pack will break away and chase for the playoffs and i wouldnt rule the belfast men out of it.though i think they might take a year to sttle into competitive football after so long in the wilderness.
  the games between bosco,teconnaught,mitchells,bredagh,dundrum and st pauls will i imagine take on a heat close to championship football,and whoever rises to this will be the team to get to the play offs.i'll tell you this now lads,boys are talking about the closest div 2 in years,but div 3 is so tight that the teams tipped for the drop could be in the promotion playoffs and vice versa,every week will provide a drama.
   my main concern however is div 4.any views on it?who will be the next mayobridge?

thought i'd get the ball rolling on previews for the lower divisions lads.in division four i expect the bottom two places to be filled by aughlisnafin and ballykinlar respectively,with the 'fin taking bottom spot.dromara will i beleive lie just above them,however themselves and possibly ballykinlar could upset one or two teams along the way.as for the rest,st michaels would appear to be the best equipped in terms of personnel with the two sweeneys and declan lavery.they are a strong outfit who could well compete in div 3.so i believe it will be a strong league campaign for the magheralin men culminating in first place and promotion.second place could well be a real dogfight between aghaderg,st johns and drumaness.all are even enough,however i predict aghaderg to remain in the bottom tier along with st johns.in saying that,i wouldnt be surprised to see any of the three take second spot.
     the third division is extremely close this year.i don't see any teams that cant be beaten by any of the other teams,if you know what i mean,so i'm not even going to bother trying to predict places.drumgath will probably be favourites to go up,and deservedly so after their amazing performances in the intermediate championship last year.ardglass have been knocking on the door for a few years now and should be there or there abouts for the playoffs.tullylish have the experience also to keep consistent during what should be a long season for all squads.the two clubs who took the drop may find it a big wake up call this season,both having had a tough time last year.however it should be remembered that saul took points off some very strong established div 2 teams.glenn are likewise a strong unit with some very able footballers and will prove a match for most teams.as for the rest,where to begin.dundrum are a very organised squad with a serious asset in paul mccomiskey up front,meaning the scores will come,if they can hold teams at the back they too could take a play-off place.bredagh might possibly be considered in the chasing pack,but it must be remembered that they had a clear run at the league last year,resulting in an easier season and less chances to pick up injuries.this will be a more gruelling year,and so teams they dispatched of in the junior will not necessarily be despatched of this time round.i will put them in with teconnaught,bosco and mitchells as the mid table grouping,with one maybe breaking off to chase at the play-offs,while another could fall behind into the relegation battle.whichever of the teams does fall behind i expect will be joined by bright,who struggled last year in a less competitive division,and st pauls who may suffer from a lack of experience and the loss of their manager to tullylish.
     but as i have said,this division is wide open,noone will run away with it,and it should go to the wire.
        also lads,i've noticed abit of touchyness on the board,so if i've offended anybody or any club please accept my apologies as this was not my intention.

i have never posted on this forum outside the down section,but this is a subject i feel strongly enough to do so.i read this article in the star(which i buy to read some of the articles written by former players such as mchugh,liston etc and happen to be insightful and interesting).this man dervan seems to write just to provoke gaa people,so we come off with anti soccer/rugby statements which justify the kind of opinions he has.
   I wont get into the fact that the irfu and the fai are homeless of their own fault,because as it stands that cannot be changed,and we as a country have to deal with the situation we are in.if an international game had to be played in britain it would be disastrous.however,it is not the gaa who made this situation arise.so why are we the ones who have to rectify the problems of others, who have then went on to abuse the hospitality our organisation has offered them.the problem lies in what we as an association do from here.if we let the deal to use headquarters continue into 2008,then we open ourselves to digging our competitors out of their own mess forever more.i believe we should allow the current arrangement run its course,find out what the irfu/fai have done to further their own development of match facilities,and if it is inadequate,let them play in britain.it is not our job/obligation as an amatuer association to help two other professional organisations promote games in direct competition to our own.it is not their tax that paid for our stadium,for contrary to one previous post,gaelic games are by far the most played,most participated,and most watched in this island.and these people pay the tax that funded PART of our stadium,the rest paid for by our own association.
   

i am not the east down gael posting on dundrums website or any other for that matter.