Down Club Hurling & Football

[OgraAnDun]

with regards to the minor set up, arguably the best team in down at this level for the past few years and again this year have been burren. they had 1 player on the team!!

Two to be fair, the other didn't get playing at all in a game I believe was probably set up for him to come on as a sub in the second half. I agree with the rest of the post Sheedy, I think Mulholland is out of his depth at this level, the massed defence didn't work at all and leaving one small forward up as a target man for most of the match didn't work. He still hasn't won a knockout match at four attempts (if you include league semi finals).

[A man from Down]

Well then, I know its early days but is anyone excited about the qualifiers yet?

I'm not.

Anyway, watched the match back last night and boys a dear it wasn't any easier the 2nd time. We should have won being the completely dominant team in the 2nd half. Theres a certain irony that the best player on the pitch was facilitated by his manager all year so that he could make some kind of difference on the day. and he did, he was the difference. O'Hagan did well on him though as did most of our defenders on their men but Bradley just always looked a threat in the inside forward line which unfortunately we did'nt have.

I loathe to criticise our players they gave everything, 110% as they have all year, but they are small and light as we all know but surely theres a better gameplan?. An interesting point I noticed was that in the 2nd half down to 14 men the boys looked dangerous when kicking some fine balls into the Derry backline, most of which produced scoring opportunities or scorable frees. The sideways handpassing was abandoned for a time (I know unbelievable). Its very disheartening that we go another year without an Ulster but we have at least a decent draw for the qualifiers even though its a joke that its another away fixture.

But the question are, is it only delaying the inevitable ? or will our team of wee men with their fighting spirit punch above their weight and do some damage during the summer?

The manager is the right man for the job and no doubt will stick to his guns but I/ we'd love to see some old faces back, it surely can't do much damage to what Jim is building for the future.

[Brick Tamlin]

Some people are completely delusional not to mention infatuated with the notion that Clarke (and some cases Mooney) are the second coming and will fix all Down's problems.
Its cringeworthy to be honest.

[redandblackareback]

Some people are completely delusional not to mention infatuated with the notion that Clarke (and some cases Mooney) are the second coming and will fix all Down's problems.
Its cringeworthy to be honest.

So what do you see as Down's problems?

[whitegoodman]

Dont think Clarke alone would make much difference but add Rooney, Gordon, Mallon, Clarke and Coulter to the spine of that team and it adds a lot of quality ( never mind height, power and strength......something that was severely missing from the under 12 team sent out on Sunday)

All but Clarke from the above list are excluded from the panel not by their own choice (mallon left because of a lack of game time not because of a new job as far as I am aware)

[Brick Tamlin]

Downs problems in my view are deeper rooted than adult level.
Too much money and resources are being spent on the top of the pyramid when really the investment should be made at the developmental level. Underage and schools infrastructure needs improving with the appointing of qualified, appropriate personnel in place at all levels, with a proper plan/strategy or process in place. If a professional approach is not taken and a serious look at how we do things then we are on a road to nowhere. We will continue to do things the Down Way and results from sundays games will probably continue.
Down are miles behind what other counties are doing at underage and development level.
But that's only my view.

[redandblackareback]

Downs problems in my view are deeper rooted than adult level.
Too much money and resources are being spent on the top of the pyramid when really the investment should be made at the developmental level. Underage and schools infrastructure needs improving with the appointing of qualified, appropriate personnel in place at all levels, with a proper plan/strategy or process in place. If a professional approach is not taken and a serious look at how we do things then we are on a road to nowhere. We will continue to do things the Down Way and results from sundays games will probably continue.
Down are miles behind what other counties are doing at underage and development level.
But that's only my view.

we have someone in place getting a yearly wage to sort this out, our games and development manager and his team of coaches?

[Brick Tamlin]

Downs problems in my view are deeper rooted than adult level.
Too much money and resources are being spent on the top of the pyramid when really the investment should be made at the developmental level. Underage and schools infrastructure needs improving with the appointing of qualified, appropriate personnel in place at all levels, with a proper plan/strategy or process in place. If a professional approach is not taken and a serious look at how we do things then we are on a road to nowhere. We will continue to do things the Down Way and results from sundays games will probably continue.
Down are miles behind what other counties are doing at underage and development level.
But that's only my view.

we have someone in place getting a yearly wage to sort this out, our games and development manager and his team of coaches?

Can you name them all please. Out of curiosity

[downup]

Just picking up on the point of the development squads - we employ coaches to go round our schools to coach the young children the basics of football, now whilst this is admirable can we not also utilise some of these (paid) coaches in coaching our development squads or at least oversee the coaching that is being done so that there is a plan in place and a development plan and timeline adhered to in respect of these (above average) players to enable them to improve. Just a thought.

[fairplay]

  Quiet times these days and looking through various other County Websites
and I must say the Down one is up there with the best of them.

When I said this a couple of weeks ago. I was joking.
Not a thing  in the News section since April 30th.  Not good enough.

Well done whoever for the new Down Website. Excellent.
Sunday was disappointing for both Senior and Minor games but
we've a good first chance in the Qualifiers.

[redandblackareback]

Downs problems in my view are deeper rooted than adult level.
Too much money and resources are being spent on the top of the pyramid when really the investment should be made at the developmental level. Underage and schools infrastructure needs improving with the appointing of qualified, appropriate personnel in place at all levels, with a proper plan/strategy or process in place. If a professional approach is not taken and a serious look at how we do things then we are on a road to nowhere. We will continue to do things the Down Way and results from sundays games will probably continue.
Down are miles behind what other counties are doing at underage and development level.
But that's only my view.

we have someone in place getting a yearly wage to sort this out, our games and development manager and his team of coaches?

Can you name them all please. Out of curiosity

Conor O Toole, Hardy (one of them from Cstlwellan), Ambrose Rogers, Brendan Coulter, Mark Polnd, Kylie Trainor

not sure anyone else? Who are n charge of all the Development squads. anyone know?

[5 Sams]

  Quiet times these days and looking through various other County Websites
and I must say the Down one is up there with the best of them.

When I said this a couple of weeks ago. I was joking.
Not a thing  in the News section since April 30th.  Not good enough.

Well done whoever for the new Down Website. Excellent.
Sunday was disappointing for both Senior and Minor games but
we've a good first chance in the Qualifiers.

Agreed...looks much better. However still a bit of work to be done...according to the senior footballers profiles they all went to the same school, they are all teachers and  all of them have  Muhammad Ali as their sporting heroes ...early days it'll be grand. Good work so far.

[T O Hare]

A few thoughts on improving Down football:

More amalgamations at underage level to increase 15 a side leagues .

Try the divisional model again for the  senior championship.  its its good enough for Kerry.......

Go games: I believe this holds back the best kids we have. Kids strive on competition! Surely there is a better model?

[johnneycool]

A few thoughts on improving Down football:

More amalgamations at underage level to increase 15 a side leagues .

Try the divisional model again for the  senior championship.  its its good enough for Kerry.......

Go games: I believe this holds back the best kids we have. Kids strive on competition! Surely there is a better model?

The Go games thing;
AFAIK its up to U12 that it runs which in my mind is right, but in saying that our best U12's play U14 and get as much competition as they want, no conscious decision, just lack of numbers.

As for competition, kids are inherently competitive and I've heard the 'holding the best kids back' argument as well, but it doesn't hold water as why does it matter if the referee keeps the score or not, the kids themselves will tell you if they won or not.

In hurling the rules are tapered to prevent kids solo running (to an extent) so the big kids don't run riot and have to adapt their game accordingly and I think thats right to ensure everyone gets a go at it, plus there's plenty other skills for them to master at an age appropriate time.


I'm sure there's also certain restrictions in football accordingly, but its madness when you see some big kids just dominate a game, taking every side line, every free, even kick/puck outs at times.

I don't see how that benefits anyone short term or long term.

One thing that does get on my wick is there's no concerted plan coming out of Castlewellan, go to one underage blitz on a saturday and it'll be one set of rules, go to another one somewhere else and its different again depending on the host club!

[snoopdog]

not sure if this wasposted already. but Conor Deegans view on Down football
This time last year, double All-Ireland winner Conor Deegan caused something of a flap prior to Down's preliminary round opener against Tyrone when he suggested that survival in Division Two was as good as James McCartan could have hoped for with the players available, and he hadn't much hope for them in the Championship either.


Deegan has since moved home after 16 years spent living, playing and managing in Dublin.

He sees more Down football than ever and one incident in particular has left him considering the root cause of what may be the issue with the Mournemen.

Managing Aughlisnafin in Division Three, Deegan's side have won eight of their 10 games so far this season and are on course for promotion.

During a recent game against St Paul's, he was about to tend to an injured player when a member of the opposition told him to get off the pitch.

Deegan recalled: "I turned around to him and said, 'You look after yourself, don't worry about it'.

"And his response to me was, 'You don't know how to play football. All you do is kick it long into your full-forward line'.

"Now, he was only a young lad, but has the perception of football changed to such a degree that now if you kick the ball you are seen to be doing something wrong?

"I actually walked off the pitch smiling to myself, thinking, 'This game has changed to such an extent that I don't even know if I can deal with it anymore'."

The intermittent period has done nothing to convince Deegan that he was wrong last year, as Down seek to land a win over Derry in Celtic Park tomorrow, 21 years after he and his colleagues won what is held up as one of the greatest games of all-time between the sides, before they went on to capture Sam Maguire.

"I think the resources in Down at the moment are quite sparse," he commented.


"I have only been back in Down for six or seven months now, but I have seen enough matches to realise that the standard of football isn't as good as it should be. The quality definitely isn't there."

Deegan also feels that Down should tap into their traditions and realise that a defensive system does not need to subjugate every other aspect of their play.

He explained: "I have moved with the times, but I do believe, and it is not just a romantic notion, that Down did play a certain style of football.

"Now, they try to play a running game and they are not big enough. They are a very small side and they struggle because of this."

He also expressed his fears for the future of the game, adding: "Football in general is losing its way. Gaelic was the only game in the world where it wasn't about containment.

"Unfortunately it has become exactly that. The horse has bolted, and it will probably never change."