Down Club Hurling & Football

Started by Lecale2, November 10, 2006, 12:06:55 AM

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6th sam

#24240
Quote from: T O Hare on June 09, 2015, 11:34:20 PM
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?

Would agree that there is an issue with fewer teams playing 15 a side.
The game is 15 a side at senior level, and underage football should equip players for senior football.
Amalgamations have their problems with no clubs in Down or elsewhere being able to replicate the successful model for amalgamation which has been achieved by "Sean stinsons" in Antrim. In this amalgamation, two small lower league clubs , aghoghill and portglenone both developing into strong senior sides playing in many county finals on the way. Aghoghill in fact we're in danger of extinction but are now div 1 in football and hurling , and have hosted county senior finals and NFL matches in their impressive grounds. In Down , by comparison, amalgamations tend to be temporary and haphazard.
I fear that The recent introduction of 11 and 9 a side leagues at u14/16/18 could be detrimental to clubs , as their players don't get exposed to 15 a side football, instead learning their skills in a looser , less pressured environment .
The go-games concept is well meaning , and involving and developing ALL players at this level is a positive development, as you can't predict which players are going to develop into senior players. However I feel the introduction of go games has contributed to there being less clubs able to field at 15 a side from u14 onwards. Clubs only have to field 9 or 11 a side for go games, but they are then looking to get a squad of 20 together at u14 level. At 9 a side for example mentors either leave players along the line, as only 9 can play, or be happy to go with a smaller squad, rather than working to get all available players out.
Gaa needs to respond to demographic changes such as smaller families and dwindling rural populations and decreasing physical activity, by making the game 13 a side overall , and encouraging clubs to prepare to field 13 a side teams at all levels .
I think divisional senior teams , as per Kerry , is a development that Downgaa need to facilitate and promote, at minor and senior level, to allow any player in Down , with the ability and attitude to potentially play county football , the opportunity to showcase their strengths in an enhanced MFC and SFC.

rosskarr

Quote from: snoopdog on June 10, 2015, 11:09:35 AM
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."
He certainly has moved with the times--Managing in Down Div 3. What Football would he have seen in Down as generally
Div 1 and 2 are playing at the same time as Div 3 fixtures?

Leonardo

Might have been discussed before, apologies if it has, but how many of Sundays team would have made the 91 Team for example. For what it's worth, I think Darren O Hagan and Kevin McKernan would have started in any of the teams we have produced in last 25 years

Mourne Rover

It's notoriously difficult to compare players from different eras, and the team spirit from 1991 would be even harder to replicate. However, for hypotherical discussion purposes, Darren O'Hagan and Kevin McKernan might edge out Brendan McKernan and John Kelly.

sdg

Not one player would have got on 91 or 94 team. Fact!!!

thebar

not one player would get on the 91/94 Down team

outback

  My posts about Sunday's alleged Minor Football misbehaviour have been removed.
I can't understand why?  These allegations are more than just rumour and have every
right to be posted on here.

TooLongRef

Quote from: outback on June 12, 2015, 10:14:40 AM
  My posts about Sunday's alleged Minor Football misbehaviour have been removed.
I can't understand why?  These allegations are more than just rumour and have every
right to be posted on here.

You're a real yap outback, did ur poor wee fella not get on the minor panel?

snoopdog

Mullholland may just be unlucky in that the quality just isnt there the last 2 years. end off

outback

Quote from: TooLongRef on June 12, 2015, 12:23:55 PM
Quote from: outback on June 12, 2015, 10:14:40 AM
  My posts about Sunday's alleged Minor Football misbehaviour have been removed.
I can't understand why?  These allegations are more than just rumour and have every
right to be posted on here.

You're a real yap outback, did ur poor wee fella not get on the minor panel?
i wasn't blessed with boys.

OgraAnDun

Quote from: snoopdog on June 12, 2015, 12:35:19 PM
Mullholland may just be unlucky in that the quality just isnt there the last 2 years. end off

The removed posts had nothing to do with what happened on the pitch.

SHEEDY

half way through the league in division 1 it looks like leitrim, clan na banna are gone and longstone and downpatrick look like joining them in division 2. any 2 from 4 or 5 clubs for the last relegation places.
nil satis nisi optimum

T O Hare

We put in our best performance of the year last night beating the point. Our experienced players were key to the victory. It was great to see Conor Garvey play and he was outstanding at full back before moving out the field and scoring two fine points. He will be a miss to us next week when we travel to Kilcoo.
"2008 Gaaboard Cheltenham fantasy league winner"

OgraAnDun

Saw a bit of an U10 tournament today and I noticed Kilcoo were playing with the packed defence/midfield like their seniors and Down do. I think it's absolutely crazy playing a blanket defence at U10 level. The only justification I can think for it is that they're trying to get the players used to playing a system early so they fit seamlessly into it when they're older, which is still stupid. By the time those lads are playing senior or even minor, tactics could well have moved on. I can't imagine how boring it is for natural forwards at that age being told to drop back and defend en masse instead of expressing themselves as forwards. The opposition's two full backs just stood beside each other talking for half the game. Surely Kilcoo and other clubs that try this would be better served trying to produce good players so that the need to play defensive tactics is negated in the future?

Highlander3

Quote from: Mourne Rover on June 10, 2015, 09:34:52 PM
It's notoriously difficult to compare players from different eras, and the team spirit from 1991 would be even harder to replicate. However, for hypotherical discussion purposes, Darren O'Hagan and Kevin McKernan might edge out Brendan McKernan and John Kelly.

Don't agree with the john kelly comment, I thought kelly was a great player, and as hard as rocks