Down Club Hurling & Football

[downredblack]

Who was number 32 ?

[Down Gael]

I think Leo has summed things up pretty well, but I am still not convinced that Liam Doyle is a centre half back. We still havent found anyone to play at centre half forward. Doyle is comfortable on the ball, can pass a ball and is classy, but he cant defend. I would play him at No.11.

One thing that I cant figure out. What are the defence doing in training? Surely they should be at least practicing tackling and putting their men under pressure.

[southdown]

I think the defence is and always will be the major problem.  Conceeding 1-15 even though we appeared to be cruising, and 6 scores in a row is simply not the standard that will win championship games.

[Minus15]

div 3 result

Glenn 2-7
Drumaness 0-11

[Pangurban]

A dire depressing performance today lads, a good team would have slaughtered us. Perhaps the big lead initially led to loss of concentration and focus. We have made no progress towards solving our defensive problems. Poor options to partner Gordon at MF, lynch the best of bad bunch, at least he competes. Doyle must be retained at CHB, his natural position. At least we have a viable range of choice for forward positions, but until we sort out defence we are going nowhere. There must be a good defensive coach available, somewhere in the country, never was he more needed than here.

[Andym2008]

2 in 1999 with down
4 in 2005 with down
4 in 2007 with st.columbans
an 1 in 2008 with st.malachys

U gimp

[Down Gael]

Doyle must be retained at CHB, his natural position. At least we have a viable range of choice for forward positions, but until we sort out defence we are going nowhere. There must be a good defensive coach available, somewhere in the country, never was he more needed than here.

How can anyone claim that Liam Doyle is a natural CHB, when every team we have played this year have ran right through the centre of our defence.

[Pangurban]

Thats due to the lack of cover provided when Doyle moves forward to set up or support attacks, or is dragged out of position by his marker. Gordons partner should be a defensive midfielder who can drop back quickly to fill gaps. Every successful Down  team, indeed every successful team from any county, employs this stratagem

[Mourne Rover]

The scoreline tells the story from Newry today, as yet again we ran up a decent total but still managed to concede 1-15 against fairly ordinary opposition. The most frustrating aspect was that we were 11 pts up in the middle of the second half and looking as though we could wipe out our scoring difference with Wexford. However, we urgently needed some fresh legs when Limerick came back at us and it was astonishing that not a single sub appeared until the last three or four minutes. By that stage, Limerick had cut our lead to four points and were playing like winners. They pushed too many men up, and Clarke hit them with a goal on the break, but changes at midfield and up front could have killed the game much earlier.

It seems that the experiment with McArdle at full back is over, as he did not feature, but our entire full back line, while decent players, were far too small today. Carr was probably MoM and Doyle, despite the doubts over his defensive abilities, also drove forward well. There can be no guarentee that he will cope with a fully fit McGuigan on June 8, but he is still just about the best bet for the position. McGuigan is yet another wing haf who is fine pushing up but stuggles at the back. Gordon had a reasonable game in the middle, although Turley, who wore 32, was in and out.

I thought McKernan was OK, although he ran out of steam and with an AI u21 semi next week he was crying out to be replaced in the third quarter. Hughes, apart from his goal, looked a shadow of the player who terrorised opponents earlier in the year, and Sexton works exceptionally hard but has to stay on the wings. Kearney was ordinary, but Coulter and Clarke were both good. Coulter made two goals and Clarke scored the other two. The subs came on too late to make any difference, apart from Lynch, who made quite an impact without touching the ball.

All the options we have so far tried at the back in terms of both tactics and personnel have been found wanting, so we cannot have much optimism for the summer. Murney will probably get a run at full back, but,while he has the ability, he is probably not big enough. Colgan has leadership qualities but lacks pace. Does anyone think there is any point in trying out Ambrose at the back, even in a challenge game ? He has no experience there, but at least he has some height and pace.

Despite everything, I still think we can give Tyrone a decent game in Omagh. Whether we are capable of winning two consecutive matches in either the Ulster championship or the qualifiers is another thing entirely.

[Square Ball]

boys does anyone know if friday nights games are being moved to wednesday instead. please get back.

mo

A Chara
Due to Senior and U 21 county fixtures on next week end the Div 1 2 & 3 games sheduled for Friday 18th will now be played on Wednesday 23rd with a throw in time of 6 45 fixtures and Referees will be forwared at W/end.

is mise
Sean O Ruanaidh
leas runai

[5 Sams]

Bottom line today in the Marshes lads was that a bunch of hurlers matched us in most departments.

However I thought John Clarke was superb, Benny was a threat every time he got a good ball in to him. McKernan looks like a county footballer unlike our LHB and LHF.

Aidan Carr was our best player by a mile......BUT we need to work on the keeper situation


The thing that worries me is that... what hope have we got V Tyrone if we cant go to the county with the smallest population in Ireland and not get a result

[Fíor Gael]

The only word I can use to describe yesterdays match is painful. It looks like we are going backwards, and quite a few players appear to have lost confidence in their own abilities. The energy and dare I say it flare that they were playing with during the mc kenna cup has gone. Yesterdays game was played like a challenge game with too many players looking like they didn't care, there was no hard hitting, far too many unnecessary hand passes, countless unforced errors and both teams were able to score at will.

[downredblack]

Reminded me of the Wexford game in Newcastle a couple of yrs ago , Down nearly out of sight and then go to sleep and before we know it Limerick are only 2 scores down . Just don't know how that defense can be sorted out . What was wee Martins quote " if a hay truck drove through that Down defense they wouldn't come up with a handful of hay between them " sad but true .

Thought John Clarke was on top form , out in front of his man all day and never wasted a ball .

[downredblack]

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Down 4-13 Limerick 1-15
Monday, April 14, 2008

Traditionally Down footballers have favoured the bright sunshine and the firm sod and that is how it was at Pairc Esler yesterday where Ross Carr's charges produced some scintillating football, scoring 4-13 against Mickey Ned Sullivan's Limerick.

It was a scoreline which gave Down a seven-point winning margin against their relegation-threatened opponents and also keeps alive Down's slim hopes of promotion.

After the game Ross Carr, the Down manager, conceded that whilst their destiny was not in their own hands, he had a "feelgood factor" about this result.

"Any time you win a county game by seven points has to be good," the Clonduff club man said.

Not surprisingly, Down had made a number of changes to the line-up which had started in Carrick on Shannon. Aidan Carr John Clarke and Stephen promoted to the starting 15.

International Rules and rugby union top scorer Stephen Kelly threatened to tear the Down defence apart in the early stages with his blistering pace but Down soon turned defence into attack and, already a point to the good, Carr dispensed a spot kick to stretch the Down lead.

"It was," the manager said after the game, "a score which settled the team and after that we played some very good football."


It was another ball from Carr which led to the second Down goal, this time his long delivery was collected by Coulter whose vision and inch-perfect pass picked out Danny Hughes who, on the run, volleyed into the net and by the interval Down had moved 2-8 to 0-5 ahead.


Following a Hughes sideline free, Carr's long through ball to Sexton created the chance for Clarke to score Down's third goal but, amazingly, the home side lost their concentration and Limerick kicked six unanswered points to reduce the Down lead to four points with eight minutes left.

But again Carr picked up a ball deep in his own half, his long through ball beat the Limerick defence for Clarke to run on and shoot into the empty net to confirm the victory.

[behind the wire]

im surprised no one has mentioned how poor the referee was yesterday. he must have booked nearly everyone yet there was hardly a tackle in the whole game, never mind a bad one. and although i didnt see it he appeared to send the limerick man off for very little.