Messages

A journalist should. A web developer can enjoy a bit of leeway 

a) Martin Buchan
b) Clemence, Botham and Keegan.

Whoa Slim, I'm only going on what I've been told! I dinnae follow the Antrim football.

Nice to see I've got a reader! I've been led to believe (and this is all hearsay, I can't prove or disprove) that Hugh took Creggan out of Division II and kept them in Division I throughout his time there - something which they hadn't done in recent memory. Is this right?

Anyone know if information on this is available anywhere on the tinternet yet? The divisions were sorted last week, and the dates and venues were meant to arranged last night.

I hear we've drawn Clontibret, Loup, Aghyaran and Silverbridge. I hope to God we pulled Aghyaran at home.

1 Les Ferdinand
2 Andy Cole
3 Stan Collymore
4 Benito Carbone
5 Ashley Ward
6 Mark Hughes
7 Teddy Sheringham

All definites

Possibly Brian Deane, Darren Huckerby, Nicky Barmby?

Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Stan Collymore, Benito Carbone, Ashley Ward and Mark Hughes.

The huge one from the right was Fintan McGreevey. The earlier one was Kevin Gracey.

McGourty kooks atheltic and he saw a lot of ball, but he used it well very rarely. But then again, who would want to play centre-forward on a day like that? It really is impossible to pass judgement on anything that happened yesterday.

I had a bit of a row with one of the gatemen on the way in. I wanted to know how he had the nerve to ask £7 into an uncovered muckpile to watch two 'b' teams playing in the pissing rain. He just kept pointing at the sign. He then tried to charge my disabled cousin for entry, but backed off when the foul language came on the scene.

Seriously though, £7 is an absolute disgrace and the Ulster Council should be ashamed of themselves. They should be encouraging attendances at these games, not trying to screw those who come along.  If it wasn't for the aforementioned cousin's love of all things Down I don't think I'd bother again this year.     

As for the game, well it just wasn't football. Proof once again that Gaelic football should only be played in the summer months. As you would expect, considering they had an experienced enough core in place, Antrim looked the better organised and the more clinical in front of the posts. Even with their plethora of six-footers Down struggled for long periods to gain possession at midfield, and for some reason continually refused to play direct football, even though the conditions were crying out for it, second half with the wind especially. But given that it's the first time most of these lads have been on the field together it was understandable, and like other posters, I'm fully behind what Ross is doing here. If he uncovers just 1 six-foot tall athlete from this experiment, it'll be worthwhile.

I'm still not 100% sure of who some of the fellas were, but of the Down side, Stepen Kearney looked bright before getting injured, Stephen Toner caught they eye at corner-back, Peter Telford and Decky Rooney had their moments, and Aidan Burns and Eoin Henry both brought something to the game when introduced.

It's a fact of life An Gaeilgoir that if you play a contact sport, there is a fair chance you are going to get injured.

Your point is mute. Even had there been a team of surgeons on the sideline, that same fella would still have had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive before he could have been moved.


By the way, I've been involved in my club's committee for a number of years now and I've yet to hear of a parent stopping their children playing the game because of poor medical precautions. Yet I've heard more than a few complain about the fact that we charge £1 a week for the kids, even though some of them spend up to 8 hours a week effectively in our care.

The question back to you is, where do you draw the line? If an intermediate team deserves a doctor on the sideline for every game, surely do their reserves, minors, u-16s, u-14s, u-12s, u-10s and u-8s not deserve the same? We'd be fast on our way to becoming an elite sport for the rich if that's your answer.

Let's get this straight - you think doctors should be in attendance at intermediate club league games?

I would regard this as:
a) a waste of the club's money
b) a waste of medical practitioner's valuable time

Realistically (and thankfully) the number of incidents in Gaelic Games that require immediate medical attention are few and far between. Realistically as well though, incidents like this most of the time don't require a doctor - they require an ambulance to take the injured party to hospital.

There's nothing like a thread such as this to show how insecure so many Gaels are about their sports.

I couldn't give a damn if soccer is the highest participatory sport in Ireland, nor could I give a damn if there are more soccer clubs than GAA. I prefer Gaelic football, pure and simple, and that's where I'm going to spend my time.

Down's Squad for Sunday.

1 Bernard Connell Drumgath
2 Aidan Burns Castlewellan
3 Adrian Carville Bryansford
4 Martin Cole Rostrevor
5 Darren Cunningham Saval
6 Barry Doran Longstone
7 Kevin Gracey Downpatrick
8 Conor Gribben Bryansford
9 Eoin Henry Warrenpoint
10 Stephen Kearney Mitchels
11 Brendan Loughran Shamrocks
12 Jack Lynch Drumgath
13 Padraig Matthews Clonduff
14 Ruairi McArdle Castlewellan
15 Martin McClean Kilcoo
16 Michael McVeigh Castlewellan
17 Colin McCrickard Liatroim
18 Brendan McGourty Ballycran
19 Fintan McGreevy Castlewellan
20 Kevin McGuigan Shamrocks
21 Colm Murtagh Glenn
22 Brendan Rodgers Mayobridge
23 Brian Sweeney St Michaels
24 Peter Telford Downpatrick
25 Stephen Toner Bryansford
26 Kevin Duffin Castlewellan
27 Declan Rooney Burren
28 Peter Turley Downpatrick
29 Peter Turley Saval
30 Gareth Johnson Ballygalget


Looks like Ross is giving every big fella in the county a run out this weekend.

Ah, the annual trip to the first McKenna Cup game. Every year I get sucked in to travelling along to see who the new faces year, every year within 5 minutes of the throw-in I'm blue from the cold and questioning my sanity.

Downpatrick concerns me a little. Magnificent facilities, and I imagine the bank would be a wonderful place to sit with a six pack on a sunny summer's day watching football, but if the weather does what it's been doing, there'll be very few places to enjoy the the game on a firm foothold.

For the first time in over three years, I'm going to come down on Seanie's side here. Laoislad's sole contribution since joining the GAABoard is to post endless 'we' comments on the Liverpool supporters thread, each of them with that gaudy monstrosity of a banner appended to the end. This is one of his few soirees into the GAA discussion area, yet he still managed to talk up his beloved Liverpool on a Croke Park thread.

I've no problem with soccer now, not even close. But I do wonder why this fella subscribes to a GAA message board.