Louth and Down 1st March Newry

[western exile]

Down are unchanged from the Armagh game, although James does like the occasional late switch. Louth usually put it up to Down, and O'Rourke will bring a few insights to the process, so it should be a decent match.

1 Shane Harrison
2 Daniel McCartan
3 Brendan McArdle
4 Darren O'Hagan
5 Ryan Boyle
6 Aidan Carr
7 Conor Garvey
8 Peter Turley
9 Ryan Mallon
10 Kevin McKernan
11 Mark Poland
12 Conor Maginn
13 Donal O'Hare
14 Niall Madine
15 Jerome Johnston

hope im wrong, but I'd be worried were the scores are going to come from in that team. mckernan, maginn, Johnston and even madine aren't exactly prolific scorers. O'Hare hasn't scored from play yet and the midfield or defence aren't chipping in with many scores either. down are lacking that marquee forward that seperates the top teams from the rest. v worried about tonights game, don't think it will be the easyish win a lot down fans are thinking.

Scorers for Down: D O'Hare 1-10 (9f), B Coulter 2-0, C Maginn 1-0, N Madine 0-2, K McKernan 0-1, M Poland 0-1, J Johnston 0-1 (f), P Fitzpatrick 0-1

[western exile]

Hard to believe that Louth were nine points up against Armagh who then won in Meath tonight so this is a bit of a strange division. Down only needed to be reasonable this evening as Louth were poor and could conceivably have lost by more in the end as it turned into a training exercise

The main pluses for Down were Harrison, who apart from one dodgy kick out followed by a brilliant save, is looking good, Carr who cruised throughout the match and particularly O'Hare who finished with 1-11 and Madine up front. No one had a bad game and Benny came off the bench to get two kicks and two goals.

Tuam is always a tough place to go, but if we get a result there next week we will be very much in the frame for promotion.

Mourne Rover, is it definitely Tuam, and not Salthill?

[armaghniac]

Hard to believe that Louth were nine points up against Armagh who then won in Meath tonight so this is a bit of a strange division.

Armagh were pure rank in the first half against Louth, Grimley must have made them push the bus from Dunleer. Against Down, Armagh played much better and would have beaten Louth on that form and were unlucky enough not to get something from the Down game.

[All of a Sludden]

Darren Clarke was Louth's only scorer in the first half and was immediately replaced??? No point in trying to look for any positives tonight, the only positive thing that can come from tonights shambles is O'Rourkes long over due resignation/sacking.

[babarino]

Darren Clarke was Louth's only scorer in the first half and was immediately replaced??? No point in trying to look for any positives tonight, the only positive thing that can come from tonights shambles is O'Rourkes long over due resignation/sacking.

Don't understand how you (Down supporters who are quick to bash an Armagh man) can put that performance down to O'Rourke. The basics that you expect at this level were absent - discipline in the tackle, the quality of passing, accuracy shooting for scores, were the most obvious. And it's not as if Down are that good.

[Mourne Rover]

Western Exile, the official website of the association at gaa.ie lists it for Tuam. Salthill is marginally closer for Down fans travelling via Dublin but it is a long trip regardless of the venue. Galway's results have been surprisingly poor to date, so they will probably throw everything at us next Sunday.

[babarino]

He's the man that's in charge, the man that's responsible for preparing them, so yes the buck stops with him.

Write to O'Rourke and ask for it back.

Ok so we're in bainisteoir bashing mode. Mc Cartan and one of his backroom staff heaped abuse at the ref and linesman in the Monaghan game. No action taken.

Tonight he didn't have to lose his cool, maybe O'Rourke should have, but we had to wait an extra five minutes for the 2nd half for the Down side to come out. The Louth players had to do a warm up (not that they did it in the first half) before they eventually made it out. How long is Mc Cartan going to get away with this?

[John o connor]

As flat as Louth looked as a down man I was very impressed with our tackling intensity and even more so with the lads fitness levels , that's the third game now and in each nearing the end we have looked the fitter side which is an area in which had room for improvement . Hopefully we can carry this through the league into the Tyrone match .
On a side note , someone should start a thread on this topic , has there been a more clinical goal scorer in the last 20 years in our sport as Benny Coulter . I was at that end of the ground and when his second sailed in you could see young Jerome J glance over , nearly in awe . Great example for his young team mates coming through .

[SHEEDY]

you can only beat what's put it in front of you. louth were woeful, down weren't great either but didn't need to be. the 2nd half was more like a challenge match, down didn't need to get out of 2nd gear. 2pts against galway next week will set us up nicely for a promotion push.

[babarino]

Why are you ORourke's number one fan?

Ulster title first year in charge, acknowledged the groundwork of his predecessors, tactically astute, bringing in new players, broadening the panel...

[All of a Sludden]

Why are you ORourke's number one fan?

Ulster title first year in charge, acknowledged the groundwork of his predecessors, tactically astute, bringing in new players, broadening the panel...

You seem to be getting your O'Rourkes mixed up.

[Brick Tamlin]

The game on Saturday night was a strange one.
I was genuinely apprehensive about playing Louth and was thinkin it was a definite banana skin. How wrong could I have been?
Louth were absolutely bloody woeful. They actually made Down look brilliant at times. Down wouldn't learn too much from that performance at all and yeah they can only bate whats put in front of them but I never expected the opposition to roll over so easy.
The no12 kicked some great scores but he only started to do this the last 5 mins. The no14 was an eejit to put it simply. Kicking balls away in petulance and acting the wag.
The naivety in the tackle astounded me too. As Down men were bending to collect a ball on the floor the Louth men were all too happy to tackle them carelessly rather than stand off. Also at times 3 men would be bating the head off a Down man in the tackle (Madine in the 1st half) and somehow expect not to give away a free. The 2 O'Rourkes looked pretty lost to be fair and from what I was hearing around me the Louth faithful don't take to them too fondly.

Down players performed as they had to, without being overly impressive. Their movement and sharpness really wont the game. wouldn't be picking out any one player for exceptional performance. Its another win and we roll on into what will be a defining 2 games for us in this league. If we can get a win at Galway we would be doing well.

On a side note, the parking or lack of it around the ground now is a nightmare.

[Aristo 60]

As flat as Louth looked as a down man I was very impressed with our tackling intensity and even more so with the lads fitness levels , that's the third game now and in each nearing the end we have looked the fitter side which is an area in which had room for improvement . Hopefully we can carry this through the league into the Tyrone match .
On a side note , someone should start a thread on this topic , has there been a more clinical goal scorer in the last 20 years in our sport as Benny Coulter . I was at that end of the ground and when his second sailed in you could see young Jerome J glance over , nearly in awe . Great example for his young team mates coming through .

I enjoyed this insight when I read it last week. Unfortunately it sounds like young Jerome didn't learn from what he saw when he had his chance(s) in Galway.

[John o connor]

Look the lad missed a few chances down in Galway alright but he's young and situations like that will only improve him , we ve plenty of good youth coming through but we need to give them time

[Aristo 60]

Agreed.