Down Club Hurling & Football

[Truth hurts]

A little Hurling on Down Gaelic football TV would be nice. Downpatrick is too big to be without camogie or hurling . This is a pressing concern that the new GDO needs to address. A few years ago, St Pats also won the Mageeann Cup.

[clonian]

The intermediate is not quite as exciting this week, but could still throw up a shock or two.

Shamrocks will travel to Kilclief, and Clonduff will host Warrenpoint.

Last year's Junior Champions, Kilclief, will want to make a statement win. However they don't seem as strong as they were last year, and whilst Shamrocks have also regressed from where they were a few years ago, it's still very hard to see past them as the best team in the Intermediate at the moment. The few years they  spent in the Senior Championship will probably serve them well.

Clonduff have been massively struggling this year. Understandable given the tragic circumstances around the club, recently. With low numbers and a poor league campaign, it is hard to see them doing much damage to a strong Point team who really want to target getting an Intermediate Championship.

Unfortunately, there's not too much more that can be said for this week's Intermediate action. Shamrocks and the Point are realistically a good bit ahead of Kiclief and Clonduff.

I think the problem with the intermediate is the lack of teams in it. There's only a few teams in the county, and there's a big enough gulf between teams going up from junior (like Kilclief) and meeting teams coming down from Senior (like Shamrocks).

I think the only real solution is we need more teams so we can expand the championships- although that is far easier said than done.

The intermediate championship should throw up some interesting clashes this year, with a mix of Div One, Div Two, and potentially Antrim league teams once the senior clubs come down later on in the championship. Realistically though, it is hard to see past whoever comes down from the senior championship meeting in the final.

Should be an interesting championship, all the same.

Thanks for this splash, what way would you like the county board to increase teams? Where would you target?

No bother Truth. Hope you found the read interesting.

It's of course very difficult to start hurling teams and takes a long time, and the County Board can't force clubs to field hurling teams. I think we should put the emphasis on offering football, hurling, and handball to everyone in the county and go from there.

There's a lot of areas I think could be targeted for hurling growth, and in different manners.

I think for a start we've a scope to promote hurling in our urban areas.

If you think of the major towns in the county- Newry, Downpatrick, Newcastle, Banbridge, Kilkeel etc., the only one that has a team is Newry. (I wouldn't count Kilclief, Castlewellan, and Ballyvarley as being hurling clubs in those towns, they are different clubs people from Downpatrick, Newcastle and Banbridge would have to travel to to play hurling).

Downpatrick in particular is a place with major potential I would say. A large, nationalist town, with a lot of Ards people attending school in the town.

I also think any club that fields a camogie team would be fit to field a junior hurling team. Others may disagree, but in my opinion, the resources, or at the very least, the foundations, are already there. Ballyholland, Mayobridge, Kilcoo, and An Riocht all compete in the Senior Camogie Championship. Surely it wouldn't be impossible to introduce underage hurling alongside underage camogie?

One example that comes to mind is St Kevin's. The club is exclusively a camogie club. No football, no hurling, purely camogie. Surely there should be a discussion about offering hurling? (I understand the situation surrounding St Kevin's and that it's not as simple as that, and it draws its players from Teconnaught and Drumaness etc., the run in with the county board a few years ago, but I still don't think any of that prevents the club offering hurling).

Resurrecting hurling in clubs where it used to be is also something I think should be looked at by the county board.

Darragh Cross had a particularly strong hurling team in the relative recent past. Glenn and Rostrevor had hurling teams around that time, too. There's others, but those are ones that spring to mind.

There's a lot that could be done to promote hurling in the county, and there's no quick fix, and it'll take a lot of persuasion, but it's possible.

If every club that offered camogie offered hurling, large urban clubs like RGU and Bryansford fielded clubs, and a few parishes resurrected the game, we would double the amount of hurling clubs in the county. This would be huge, and it would allow us to expand the championships to more than 4 teams, and would lead to more competitive and more interesting championships across all grades.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Im sure alot of people will say it's wishful thinking and I should give over and just let clubs focus on football, but I think it's a pragmatic way of thinking about it, and at the very least, it's discussions we should be having.

The same can be said of football in hurling clubs and handball. There's no reason we shouldn't be talking about offering Gaelic Games to everyone.

I wouldn't agree Downpatrick has any potential in terms of hurling. It could be easily argued that for such a large population the RGU have seriously underachieved in football for a very long time. I doubt there would be a strong enough interest for hurling or the playing numbers to sustain it.

They had a hurling team at junior level and underage teams for years. Only stopped in the last 20 years.

Darragh Cross stopped fielding after 2000 - I remember Ballela playing them in the junior quarter final in 2000 (then played RGU in the semi), Rostrevor stopped late 90s - same for Drumaness. St Johns, Kilcoo, Mayobridge & Glenn all played in the 80s.

[lfdown2]

I was at our game with Portaferry Sunday past, first game I had seen since last year's semi-final admittedly and it could have been 20 years since I had been to a club hurling game before that, so I'm no expert on club hurling in Down (but I won't let that stop me throwing in my opinion here).

Liatroim were changed from the named team due to injuries, however I'm unsure of how much that weakened the team, to me the gulf was in touch and stick work, we tried to play long balls, hoping for the break with Pearce Óg (and others) in around to pick off scores, when those breaks were getting swallowed up there was no plan B because the hurling wouldn't be at Portaferry's level.

Knowing that in the weeks leading up to the championship Portaferry had conceded the league game in Liatroim I had a look at the league as a whole, my reading is that johnnycool, yourselves were the only ards team to visit Liatroim, Ballycran had conceded the fixture also. Also, am I right in saying that when our lads head across the water they are likely playing a 2nd string at best?

To me unless we are playing a decent level of hurling we are going to struggle to progress, geographically Carryduff and Bredagh have a chance due to their proximity to Antrim but for us the distance to travel is prohibitive.
 

[johnnycool]

A little Hurling on Down Gaelic football TV would be nice. Downpatrick is too big to be without camogie or hurling . This is a pressing concern that the new GDO needs to address. A few years ago, St Pats also won the Mageeann Cup.

And not one lad from the Downpatrick area was on the team.

Mostly Liatroim, Castlewellan and the Ards lads on that team.

I was at our game with Portaferry Sunday past, first game I had seen since last year's semi-final admittedly and it could have been 20 years since I had been to a club hurling game before that, so I'm no expert on club hurling in Down (but I won't let that stop me throwing in my opinion here).

Liatroim were changed from the named team due to injuries, however I'm unsure of how much that weakened the team, to me the gulf was in touch and stick work, we tried to play long balls, hoping for the break with Pearce Óg (and others) in around to pick off scores, when those breaks were getting swallowed up there was no plan B because the hurling wouldn't be at Portaferry's level.

Knowing that in the weeks leading up to the championship Portaferry had conceded the league game in Liatroim I had a look at the league as a whole, my reading is that johnnycool, yourselves were the only ards team to visit Liatroim, Ballycran had conceded the fixture also. Also, am I right in saying that when our lads head across the water they are likely playing a 2nd string at best?

To me unless we are playing a decent level of hurling we are going to struggle to progress, geographically Carryduff and Bredagh have a chance due to their proximity to Antrim but for us the distance to travel is prohibitive.
 

Yes, if Liatroim are playing an Ards team in Div 1 on the Monday night it will be their first team minus 10 named players, so more or less a seconds string. We use that team as a development team, usually loaded with the 18 and 19yo's out of underage and a few lads in it for a bit of social hurling.

They'd a big panel the night they came over to us. They could very well field on the Sunday in Antrim leagues as well. No point in having half a dozen lads sitting in the dugout getting no hurling.

Poor work in our neighbours not fulfilling those fixtures and IMO there needs to be a suitable punishment for that, i.e. -2 points and/or a fine.

There's plenty of teams who have issue with the ferry boat the other way as well.

[lfdown2]

A little Hurling on Down Gaelic football TV would be nice. Downpatrick is too big to be without camogie or hurling . This is a pressing concern that the new GDO needs to address. A few years ago, St Pats also won the Mageeann Cup.

And not one lad from the Downpatrick area was on the team.

Mostly Liatroim, Castlewellan and the Ards lads on that team.

I was at our game with Portaferry Sunday past, first game I had seen since last year's semi-final admittedly and it could have been 20 years since I had been to a club hurling game before that, so I'm no expert on club hurling in Down (but I won't let that stop me throwing in my opinion here).

Liatroim were changed from the named team due to injuries, however I'm unsure of how much that weakened the team, to me the gulf was in touch and stick work, we tried to play long balls, hoping for the break with Pearce Óg (and others) in around to pick off scores, when those breaks were getting swallowed up there was no plan B because the hurling wouldn't be at Portaferry's level.

Knowing that in the weeks leading up to the championship Portaferry had conceded the league game in Liatroim I had a look at the league as a whole, my reading is that johnnycool, yourselves were the only ards team to visit Liatroim, Ballycran had conceded the fixture also. Also, am I right in saying that when our lads head across the water they are likely playing a 2nd string at best?

To me unless we are playing a decent level of hurling we are going to struggle to progress, geographically Carryduff and Bredagh have a chance due to their proximity to Antrim but for us the distance to travel is prohibitive.
 

Yes, if Liatroim are playing an Ards team in Div 1 on the Monday night it will be their first team minus 10 named players, so more or less a seconds string. We use that team as a development team, usually loaded with the 18 and 19yo's out of underage and a few lads in it for a bit of social hurling.

They'd a big panel the night they came over to us. They could very well field on the Sunday in Antrim leagues as well. No point in having half a dozen lads sitting in the dugout getting no hurling.

Poor work in our neighbours not fulfilling those fixtures and IMO there needs to be a suitable punishment for that, i.e. -2 points and/or a fine.

There's plenty of teams who have issue with the ferry boat the other way as well.

I'm sure there are and it's not a dig at the Ards teams, they have to do what's best for them.

Entering the Antrim league would, I think prove difficult as a dual club picking from mostly the same pool in both codes. You would be looking at senior games Friday, Sunday & Monday, with reserve football also on Sundays.

So is it officially the Ards reserves that are in the Down league? (pardon my ignorance)

[johnnycool]

A little Hurling on Down Gaelic football TV would be nice. Downpatrick is too big to be without camogie or hurling . This is a pressing concern that the new GDO needs to address. A few years ago, St Pats also won the Mageeann Cup.

And not one lad from the Downpatrick area was on the team.

Mostly Liatroim, Castlewellan and the Ards lads on that team.

I was at our game with Portaferry Sunday past, first game I had seen since last year's semi-final admittedly and it could have been 20 years since I had been to a club hurling game before that, so I'm no expert on club hurling in Down (but I won't let that stop me throwing in my opinion here).

Liatroim were changed from the named team due to injuries, however I'm unsure of how much that weakened the team, to me the gulf was in touch and stick work, we tried to play long balls, hoping for the break with Pearce Óg (and others) in around to pick off scores, when those breaks were getting swallowed up there was no plan B because the hurling wouldn't be at Portaferry's level.

Knowing that in the weeks leading up to the championship Portaferry had conceded the league game in Liatroim I had a look at the league as a whole, my reading is that johnnycool, yourselves were the only ards team to visit Liatroim, Ballycran had conceded the fixture also. Also, am I right in saying that when our lads head across the water they are likely playing a 2nd string at best?

To me unless we are playing a decent level of hurling we are going to struggle to progress, geographically Carryduff and Bredagh have a chance due to their proximity to Antrim but for us the distance to travel is prohibitive.
 

Yes, if Liatroim are playing an Ards team in Div 1 on the Monday night it will be their first team minus 10 named players, so more or less a seconds string. We use that team as a development team, usually loaded with the 18 and 19yo's out of underage and a few lads in it for a bit of social hurling.

They'd a big panel the night they came over to us. They could very well field on the Sunday in Antrim leagues as well. No point in having half a dozen lads sitting in the dugout getting no hurling.

Poor work in our neighbours not fulfilling those fixtures and IMO there needs to be a suitable punishment for that, i.e. -2 points and/or a fine.

There's plenty of teams who have issue with the ferry boat the other way as well.

I'm sure there are and it's not a dig at the Ards teams, they have to do what's best for them.

Entering the Antrim league would, I think prove difficult as a dual club picking from mostly the same pool in both codes. You would be looking at senior games Friday, Sunday & Monday, with reserve football also on Sundays.

So is it officially the Ards reserves that are in the Down league? (pardon my ignorance)

Yes.

[dingle82]

Liatriom where impressive on Sunday considering they had 2r3 key players sidelined. You have to remember they were playing a really impressive and strong Portaferry so I think the management team will be happy enough. I expect they will beat Bredagh this weekend.
The Ards teams playing Down D1 are not really a reserve team - pretty much the first team minus county players which can be a 3rd of the team - that's my experience anyway
Great post Splash - 1 update is a new Mourne Hurling club set up last year starting at primary school ages. Also good to see Saul do the same.
Great point about about St Kevins plus some other clubs with large memberships numbers already offering Camogie e.g. Mayobridge, Kilkoo, Ballyholland etc

[johnnycool]

Liatriom where impressive on Sunday considering they had 2r3 key players sidelined. You have to remember they were playing a really impressive and strong Portaferry so I think the management team will be happy enough. I expect they will beat Bredagh this weekend.
The Ards teams playing Down D1 are not really a reserve team - pretty much the first team minus county players which can be a 3rd of the team - that's my experience anyway
Great post Splash - 1 update is a new Mourne Hurling club set up last year starting at primary school ages. Also good to see Saul do the same.
Great point about about St Kevins plus some other clubs with large memberships numbers already offering Camogie e.g. Mayobridge, Kilkoo, Ballyholland etc

This year we had 4 senior county players and one lad out because of the U20's so we'd another 5 players not eligible to play on the Monday night. For most of the Div 1 campaign we were also out another 4 lads involved with the U20, not named in the seniors (as most are still minor this year) so for us it was most definitely a seconds string, hence why we fulfilled all our fixtures and were mid table.

The night we were over in Castlewellan we had five minors starting the game and got beat. No big deal.

For us Div 1 is a development league and we treat it as such.

Liatroim have a good U14 team coming through, they need to start treating Div 1 the same way and get themselves into Antrim if they want to have a pathway for these young lads to come through and genuinely push on at the hurling.

I believe a lot of lads within the St Kevins catchment area play hurling for Castlewellan, do they not?

[manwithnoplan]

The intermediate is not quite as exciting this week, but could still throw up a shock or two.

Shamrocks will travel to Kilclief, and Clonduff will host Warrenpoint.

Last year's Junior Champions, Kilclief, will want to make a statement win. However they don't seem as strong as they were last year, and whilst Shamrocks have also regressed from where they were a few years ago, it's still very hard to see past them as the best team in the Intermediate at the moment. The few years they  spent in the Senior Championship will probably serve them well.

Clonduff have been massively struggling this year. Understandable given the tragic circumstances around the club, recently. With low numbers and a poor league campaign, it is hard to see them doing much damage to a strong Point team who really want to target getting an Intermediate Championship.

Unfortunately, there's not too much more that can be said for this week's Intermediate action. Shamrocks and the Point are realistically a good bit ahead of Kiclief and Clonduff.

I think the problem with the intermediate is the lack of teams in it. There's only a few teams in the county, and there's a big enough gulf between teams going up from junior (like Kilclief) and meeting teams coming down from Senior (like Shamrocks).

I think the only real solution is we need more teams so we can expand the championships- although that is far easier said than done.

The intermediate championship should throw up some interesting clashes this year, with a mix of Div One, Div Two, and potentially Antrim league teams once the senior clubs come down later on in the championship. Realistically though, it is hard to see past whoever comes down from the senior championship meeting in the final.

Should be an interesting championship, all the same.

Thanks for this splash, what way would you like the county board to increase teams? Where would you target?

No bother Truth. Hope you found the read interesting.

It's of course very difficult to start hurling teams and takes a long time, and the County Board can't force clubs to field hurling teams. I think we should put the emphasis on offering football, hurling, and handball to everyone in the county and go from there.

There's a lot of areas I think could be targeted for hurling growth, and in different manners.

I think for a start we've a scope to promote hurling in our urban areas.

If you think of the major towns in the county- Newry, Downpatrick, Newcastle, Banbridge, Kilkeel etc., the only one that has a team is Newry. (I wouldn't count Kilclief, Castlewellan, and Ballyvarley as being hurling clubs in those towns, they are different clubs people from Downpatrick, Newcastle and Banbridge would have to travel to to play hurling).

Downpatrick in particular is a place with major potential I would say. A large, nationalist town, with a lot of Ards people attending school in the town.

I also think any club that fields a camogie team would be fit to field a junior hurling team. Others may disagree, but in my opinion, the resources, or at the very least, the foundations, are already there. Ballyholland, Mayobridge, Kilcoo, and An Riocht all compete in the Senior Camogie Championship. Surely it wouldn't be impossible to introduce underage hurling alongside underage camogie?

One example that comes to mind is St Kevin's. The club is exclusively a camogie club. No football, no hurling, purely camogie. Surely there should be a discussion about offering hurling? (I understand the situation surrounding St Kevin's and that it's not as simple as that, and it draws its players from Teconnaught and Drumaness etc., the run in with the county board a few years ago, but I still don't think any of that prevents the club offering hurling).

Resurrecting hurling in clubs where it used to be is also something I think should be looked at by the county board.

Darragh Cross had a particularly strong hurling team in the relative recent past. Glenn and Rostrevor had hurling teams around that time, too. There's others, but those are ones that spring to mind.

There's a lot that could be done to promote hurling in the county, and there's no quick fix, and it'll take a lot of persuasion, but it's possible.

If every club that offered camogie offered hurling, large urban clubs like RGU and Bryansford fielded clubs, and a few parishes resurrected the game, we would double the amount of hurling clubs in the county. This would be huge, and it would allow us to expand the championships to more than 4 teams, and would lead to more competitive and more interesting championships across all grades.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Im sure alot of people will say it's wishful thinking and I should give over and just let clubs focus on football, but I think it's a pragmatic way of thinking about it, and at the very least, it's discussions we should be having.

The same can be said of football in hurling clubs and handball. There's no reason we shouldn't be talking about offering Gaelic Games to everyone.

I wouldn't agree Downpatrick has any potential in terms of hurling. It could be easily argued that for such a large population the RGU have seriously underachieved in football for a very long time. I doubt there would be a strong enough interest for hurling or the playing numbers to sustain it.

They had a hurling team at junior level and underage teams for years. Only stopped in the last 20 years.

Darragh Cross stopped fielding after 2000 - I remember Ballela playing them in the junior quarter final in 2000 (then played RGU in the semi), Rostrevor stopped late 90s - same for Drumaness. St Johns, Kilcoo, Mayobridge & Glenn all played in the 80s.

20 years is a very long time. A whole generation with no hurlers. There is not a short term fix for that. I'd be 99% certain most of those clubs would continue to ignore hurling in a bid to improve their football teams at all ages.

[Splash]

A little Hurling on Down Gaelic football TV would be nice. Downpatrick is too big to be without camogie or hurling . This is a pressing concern that the new GDO needs to address. A few years ago, St Pats also won the Mageeann Cup.

You're right, Truth. It would definitely help.

Also think making the Down games more accessible would be a step in the right direction.

Understand Ballycran is the spiritual home of our hurlers at this point, but it's hard to get too for a lot of the county. Nobody wants to drive an 1h+ to watch a game unless they're serious about it.

Downpatrick maybe would be a compromise? Still close to the majority of players, but a lot easier for people from South Down to get to?

[Splash]

FYI Newry is getting it's own dedicated GDO, so they better promote hurling as well or else they'll be getting it on Twitter.

I think we're also getting a hurling GDO for the whole county.   

Overdue for manys a year.

Is it a Newry GDO, or an Urban GDO? Newry is a problem of its own which probably warrants an entire thread.

- Mitchell's needs to be saved.
- No team in Newry is playing football above Division 3, and no team in the Senior Championship.
- Hurling massively underperforms in Newry.
- What to do about Ballyholland?
- Are Armagh going to reap the benefits more than us?

Newry is a vital clog in the Down GAA machine. Maybe it does need its own GDO?

[Splash]

The intermediate is not quite as exciting this week, but could still throw up a shock or two.

Shamrocks will travel to Kilclief, and Clonduff will host Warrenpoint.

Last year's Junior Champions, Kilclief, will want to make a statement win. However they don't seem as strong as they were last year, and whilst Shamrocks have also regressed from where they were a few years ago, it's still very hard to see past them as the best team in the Intermediate at the moment. The few years they  spent in the Senior Championship will probably serve them well.

Clonduff have been massively struggling this year. Understandable given the tragic circumstances around the club, recently. With low numbers and a poor league campaign, it is hard to see them doing much damage to a strong Point team who really want to target getting an Intermediate Championship.

Unfortunately, there's not too much more that can be said for this week's Intermediate action. Shamrocks and the Point are realistically a good bit ahead of Kiclief and Clonduff.

I think the problem with the intermediate is the lack of teams in it. There's only a few teams in the county, and there's a big enough gulf between teams going up from junior (like Kilclief) and meeting teams coming down from Senior (like Shamrocks).

I think the only real solution is we need more teams so we can expand the championships- although that is far easier said than done.

The intermediate championship should throw up some interesting clashes this year, with a mix of Div One, Div Two, and potentially Antrim league teams once the senior clubs come down later on in the championship. Realistically though, it is hard to see past whoever comes down from the senior championship meeting in the final.

Should be an interesting championship, all the same.

Thanks for this splash, what way would you like the county board to increase teams? Where would you target?

No bother Truth. Hope you found the read interesting.

It's of course very difficult to start hurling teams and takes a long time, and the County Board can't force clubs to field hurling teams. I think we should put the emphasis on offering football, hurling, and handball to everyone in the county and go from there.

There's a lot of areas I think could be targeted for hurling growth, and in different manners.

I think for a start we've a scope to promote hurling in our urban areas.

If you think of the major towns in the county- Newry, Downpatrick, Newcastle, Banbridge, Kilkeel etc., the only one that has a team is Newry. (I wouldn't count Kilclief, Castlewellan, and Ballyvarley as being hurling clubs in those towns, they are different clubs people from Downpatrick, Newcastle and Banbridge would have to travel to to play hurling).

Downpatrick in particular is a place with major potential I would say. A large, nationalist town, with a lot of Ards people attending school in the town.

I also think any club that fields a camogie team would be fit to field a junior hurling team. Others may disagree, but in my opinion, the resources, or at the very least, the foundations, are already there. Ballyholland, Mayobridge, Kilcoo, and An Riocht all compete in the Senior Camogie Championship. Surely it wouldn't be impossible to introduce underage hurling alongside underage camogie?

One example that comes to mind is St Kevin's. The club is exclusively a camogie club. No football, no hurling, purely camogie. Surely there should be a discussion about offering hurling? (I understand the situation surrounding St Kevin's and that it's not as simple as that, and it draws its players from Teconnaught and Drumaness etc., the run in with the county board a few years ago, but I still don't think any of that prevents the club offering hurling).

Resurrecting hurling in clubs where it used to be is also something I think should be looked at by the county board.

Darragh Cross had a particularly strong hurling team in the relative recent past. Glenn and Rostrevor had hurling teams around that time, too. There's others, but those are ones that spring to mind.

There's a lot that could be done to promote hurling in the county, and there's no quick fix, and it'll take a lot of persuasion, but it's possible.

If every club that offered camogie offered hurling, large urban clubs like RGU and Bryansford fielded clubs, and a few parishes resurrected the game, we would double the amount of hurling clubs in the county. This would be huge, and it would allow us to expand the championships to more than 4 teams, and would lead to more competitive and more interesting championships across all grades.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Im sure alot of people will say it's wishful thinking and I should give over and just let clubs focus on football, but I think it's a pragmatic way of thinking about it, and at the very least, it's discussions we should be having.

The same can be said of football in hurling clubs and handball. There's no reason we shouldn't be talking about offering Gaelic Games to everyone.

I wouldn't agree Downpatrick has any potential in terms of hurling. It could be easily argued that for such a large population the RGU have seriously underachieved in football for a very long time. I doubt there would be a strong enough interest for hurling or the playing numbers to sustain it.

They had a hurling team at junior level and underage teams for years. Only stopped in the last 20 years.

Darragh Cross stopped fielding after 2000 - I remember Ballela playing them in the junior quarter final in 2000 (then played RGU in the semi), Rostrevor stopped late 90s - same for Drumaness. St Johns, Kilcoo, Mayobridge & Glenn all played in the 80s.

There are over 20,000 people in Downpatrick.

It's understandable a small parish not being able to field. Downpatrick is simply too large to use this excuse.

I would definitely agree though, they are massive under performers in football. You'd think there'd be at least two clubs in the town? Anyway, discussion for a different day.

Proximity to the Ards, the hurling culture in the school, etc. These all mean Downpatrick is a better shout than somewhere like Saval or Drumgath.

It's a terror how long it is since those clubs all played hurling, but it is within living memory. That's a massive advantage.

[Splash]

Liatriom where impressive on Sunday considering they had 2r3 key players sidelined. You have to remember they were playing a really impressive and strong Portaferry so I think the management team will be happy enough. I expect they will beat Bredagh this weekend.
The Ards teams playing Down D1 are not really a reserve team - pretty much the first team minus county players which can be a 3rd of the team - that's my experience anyway
Great post Splash - 1 update is a new Mourne Hurling club set up last year starting at primary school ages. Also good to see Saul do the same.
Great point about about St Kevins plus some other clubs with large memberships numbers already offering Camogie e.g. Mayobridge, Kilkoo, Ballyholland etc

Thanks lad, appreciate it.

The Mourne Club is a great idea and I'm glad to see they're going well. Woudont know as much about Saul but hear it's going well still.

Someone said would St Kevin's players not play for Castlewellen? I'm not sure, but I know a couple lads from the area playing for different clubs (none Castlewellan), and the majority seem to be Carryduff.

[manwithnoplan]

The intermediate is not quite as exciting this week, but could still throw up a shock or two.

Shamrocks will travel to Kilclief, and Clonduff will host Warrenpoint.

Last year's Junior Champions, Kilclief, will want to make a statement win. However they don't seem as strong as they were last year, and whilst Shamrocks have also regressed from where they were a few years ago, it's still very hard to see past them as the best team in the Intermediate at the moment. The few years they  spent in the Senior Championship will probably serve them well.

Clonduff have been massively struggling this year. Understandable given the tragic circumstances around the club, recently. With low numbers and a poor league campaign, it is hard to see them doing much damage to a strong Point team who really want to target getting an Intermediate Championship.

Unfortunately, there's not too much more that can be said for this week's Intermediate action. Shamrocks and the Point are realistically a good bit ahead of Kiclief and Clonduff.

I think the problem with the intermediate is the lack of teams in it. There's only a few teams in the county, and there's a big enough gulf between teams going up from junior (like Kilclief) and meeting teams coming down from Senior (like Shamrocks).

I think the only real solution is we need more teams so we can expand the championships- although that is far easier said than done.

The intermediate championship should throw up some interesting clashes this year, with a mix of Div One, Div Two, and potentially Antrim league teams once the senior clubs come down later on in the championship. Realistically though, it is hard to see past whoever comes down from the senior championship meeting in the final.

Should be an interesting championship, all the same.

Thanks for this splash, what way would you like the county board to increase teams? Where would you target?

No bother Truth. Hope you found the read interesting.

It's of course very difficult to start hurling teams and takes a long time, and the County Board can't force clubs to field hurling teams. I think we should put the emphasis on offering football, hurling, and handball to everyone in the county and go from there.

There's a lot of areas I think could be targeted for hurling growth, and in different manners.

I think for a start we've a scope to promote hurling in our urban areas.

If you think of the major towns in the county- Newry, Downpatrick, Newcastle, Banbridge, Kilkeel etc., the only one that has a team is Newry. (I wouldn't count Kilclief, Castlewellan, and Ballyvarley as being hurling clubs in those towns, they are different clubs people from Downpatrick, Newcastle and Banbridge would have to travel to to play hurling).

Downpatrick in particular is a place with major potential I would say. A large, nationalist town, with a lot of Ards people attending school in the town.

I also think any club that fields a camogie team would be fit to field a junior hurling team. Others may disagree, but in my opinion, the resources, or at the very least, the foundations, are already there. Ballyholland, Mayobridge, Kilcoo, and An Riocht all compete in the Senior Camogie Championship. Surely it wouldn't be impossible to introduce underage hurling alongside underage camogie?

One example that comes to mind is St Kevin's. The club is exclusively a camogie club. No football, no hurling, purely camogie. Surely there should be a discussion about offering hurling? (I understand the situation surrounding St Kevin's and that it's not as simple as that, and it draws its players from Teconnaught and Drumaness etc., the run in with the county board a few years ago, but I still don't think any of that prevents the club offering hurling).

Resurrecting hurling in clubs where it used to be is also something I think should be looked at by the county board.

Darragh Cross had a particularly strong hurling team in the relative recent past. Glenn and Rostrevor had hurling teams around that time, too. There's others, but those are ones that spring to mind.

There's a lot that could be done to promote hurling in the county, and there's no quick fix, and it'll take a lot of persuasion, but it's possible.

If every club that offered camogie offered hurling, large urban clubs like RGU and Bryansford fielded clubs, and a few parishes resurrected the game, we would double the amount of hurling clubs in the county. This would be huge, and it would allow us to expand the championships to more than 4 teams, and would lead to more competitive and more interesting championships across all grades.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Im sure alot of people will say it's wishful thinking and I should give over and just let clubs focus on football, but I think it's a pragmatic way of thinking about it, and at the very least, it's discussions we should be having.

The same can be said of football in hurling clubs and handball. There's no reason we shouldn't be talking about offering Gaelic Games to everyone.

I wouldn't agree Downpatrick has any potential in terms of hurling. It could be easily argued that for such a large population the RGU have seriously underachieved in football for a very long time. I doubt there would be a strong enough interest for hurling or the playing numbers to sustain it.

They had a hurling team at junior level and underage teams for years. Only stopped in the last 20 years.

Darragh Cross stopped fielding after 2000 - I remember Ballela playing them in the junior quarter final in 2000 (then played RGU in the semi), Rostrevor stopped late 90s - same for Drumaness. St Johns, Kilcoo, Mayobridge & Glenn all played in the 80s.

There are over 20,000 people in Downpatrick.

It's understandable a small parish not being able to field. Downpatrick is simply too large to use this excuse.

I would definitely agree though, they are massive under performers in football. You'd think there'd be at least two clubs in the town? Anyway, discussion for a different day.

Proximity to the Ards, the hurling culture in the school, etc. These all mean Downpatrick is a better shout than somewhere like Saval or Drumgath.

It's a terror how long it is since those clubs all played hurling, but it is within living memory. That's a massive advantage.

11,500 population according to the latest census. If this includes the outskirts and surrounding areas, there are other clubs drawing from this population - Saul, Kilclief (who do hurl), Bright, Ardglass, maybe Teconnaught. So perhaps the option would be a new club solely for hurling, to eliminate the complications of players playing football and hurling for different clubs? Maybe the Kilclief club would object, or could they be persuaded to be a part of it? Worth exploring if the whole surrounding area and clubs can be somehow included, as opposed to just the RGU.

[DownFanatic]

Bryansford hurled in the 1980's for a short while. Think they won a Special Junior Championship. Michael Hanley (RIP), a Tipperary native, was a hurling influence in the local primary schools in the Newcastle area throughout the 90's in relation to the small ball game but I don't think anything formal in terms of establishing it at club level ever happened.