Down Club Hurling & Football

[Johnnysboys]

A very entertaining game last night - and Glen fully deserving winners. They will certainly not fear Burren and it's bonus territory for them now like last night was. Mayobridge were toothless and looked devoid of ideas throughout.
Clonduff will rattle the magpies and this could see the end of an era. Clonduff just need to keep everyone on the pitch and play 60+ minutes at top intensity..

[johnnycool]

I could see Bredgah and Carryduff seriously rattling the Senior Championship in the next 10 or 20 years. In saying that, Bredagh have been knocking on the door for a long time now and still haven't managed to make that big impact. But I would imagine the good hurling culture around the clubs and the pure numbers mean it is inevitable that they'll someday make some sort of impact.

Absolutely agree with the point made about urban clubs struggling to retain players at senior. The truth of the matter is if a fella from Warrenpoint goes to Belfast for university, it is not that hard to pull him back. Whereas if a fella playing for Bredagh or Carryduff has grown up all his life in Belfast, it is fair to assume he'll want out by the time he reaches university, and so may head further afield to find a change of scenery. Consequently, it is far harder for city clubs to retain young fellas that head down south or abroad for uni, whilst the rural clubs may have their fellas only a half hour up the road.
This is not to say everyone in South Down goes to university in Belfast and everyone in Belfast heads away, but it is definitely something to take into account.
Despite this, city clubs in Cork and Dublin have clearly found a solution to keeping urban lads onboard, so it is possible.

Wouldn't know much about the politics between Liatroim and Castlewellen, but can see how there may be some tension between the two. Simply put, Liatroim need Castlewellen at underage, and Castlewellen don't need Liatroim.

Castlewellen have shown they have the potential to be the strongest team in Down at underage. They have a large base to draw players from. Liatroim do not. It will be interesting to see if in ten years time, Castlewellen surpass Liatroim. Would be interesting to have two strong clubs in the Slieve Croob area.

The O'Rahilly's are also made up of players from Ballela and Ballyvarley, but hard to know how sustainable a team made up of Liatroim, Ballyvarley, and Ballela would be.

Bredagh beat our minors well last Sunday, very well coached team with a better spread of hurlers than we had.
It was obvious they'd gotten themselves better quality games(friendlies) than our lads as they played at a higher pace throughout.
Our lads went into the game undercooked due to facile wins up to that point which don't really tell you an awful lot in terms of where you are as a team. We really need to learn that lesson.

U15's this weekend, we've Carryduff and if we'd a full team I'd fancy us to get over them, but we don't so it'll be Carryduff's to lose. Two of the bigger lads injured means they'll be replaced by 11yo's, but that's part of being from a small, rural club.
Castlewellan are favourites for this and will win the other semi-final comfortably.

U13's, Liatroim will cruise that final in two weeks time so it's very likely no underage hurling championship will reside in the Ards for another year.

Times, they are a changing but it could well take 10 years plus to see that mean anything at adult and senior level.

[Granto]

Poacher unlikely to get another job in Down football. The merry go round stops at some point. Mayobridge was always split on his appointment. Not a nice thing to say but there will be Mayobridge supporters happy enough tonight as that confirms his exit.

CPN might take him.

I hear that CPN are already in negotiations with him 

[PTC]

Poacher unlikely to get another job in Down football. The merry go round stops at some point. Mayobridge was always split on his appointment. Not a nice thing to say but there will be Mayobridge supporters happy enough tonight as that confirms his exit.

CPN might take him.

I hear that CPN are already in negotiations with him 

I hear castlewellan are also interested

[5times5times]

Poacher unlikely to get another job in Down football. The merry go round stops at some point. Mayobridge was always split on his appointment. Not a nice thing to say but there will be Mayobridge supporters happy enough tonight as that confirms his exit.

CPN might take him.

I hear that CPN are already in negotiations with him 

I hear castlewellan are also interested

Who in their right mind, would want or take that buffoon to their club? He's won FA, gets fines off the Down CB for his petulant antics along the line every week, and can't remember the third one..

Oh yeah, he's won sweet FA!

But sure pay him a fortune every week, sure he does a bluffer coaching session in Newry every year.

[sdg]

Poacher unlikely to get another job in Down football. The merry go round stops at some point. Mayobridge was always split on his appointment. Not a nice thing to say but there will be Mayobridge supporters happy enough tonight as that confirms his exit.

CPN might take him.

I hear that CPN are already in negotiations with him 

I hear castlewellan are also interested

Who in their right mind, would want or take that buffoon to their club? He's won FA, gets fines off the Down CB for his petulant antics along the line every week, and can't remember the third one..

Oh yeah, he's won sweet FA!

But sure pay him a fortune every week, sure he does a bluffer coaching session in Newry every year.

+1, PS he won't be anywhere near CPN

[Truth hurts]

Is there not going to be any hurling on Down GAA TV this weekend? The senior hurling championship will undoubtedly draw more viewers than a reserve football match.

What about the SFC relegation final not being streamed at all?

[Splash]

Great weekend of Junior Championship hurling tomorrow.

Ballyvarley host Kilclief in what is, in all likelihood, a championship semi-final to join Castlewellen in the final.

Kilclief absolutely ran rough shot across East Belfast in the first round, but let East Belfast come within a few scores by the end of the game, relinquishing a first half lead of about 20 points. Ballyvarley kept Castlewellen under pressure for the first half of their first round game, before switching off in the second half and falling to the wayside.

Neither team can afford to play like that tomorrow.

Ballyvarley had a great league. They typically seem to find the net early on (something they did against Castlewellen). Danny Magee and Mick Lennon have a knack of racking up goals. Whilst Kilclief were impressive in attack, they seemed to not be able to cope when East Belfast had possession, allowing men to run a long distance and make goals out of nothing. They cannot afford to allow this to happen against a forward line containing the likes of Magee, who will punish any mistakes made by the backs.

Kilclief didn't have a the best of league campaigns, but managed to stay up in Division One. That's no small feat. They seem a fitter team than Ballyvarley, and are incredibly strong in the air. This could very well prove the difference between them and Ballyvarley tomorrow. You would imagine playing against the likes of Liatroim, Shamrocks, and Clonduff will have served them well.

Rory Óg Magfhionnbhair is back from injury for Ballyvarley. A hard man to contain, incredibly physical and absolutely ruthless when on the ball. An asset to any team and could solve some of the problems Ballyvarley seem to have had since his injury.

The game being in Ballyvarley probably would sway the game in their favour, too. Kilclief is a hard place to go and get a win, and this is definitely a game you want to play at home.

It really is do or die time for Ballyvarley, so perhaps that will bring out something in them, too.

Should be a good, physical, high scoring game.

East Belfast then take on Castlewellen in Cherryvale.

Firstly, it's not wise the County Board won't allow East Belfast to play home games at Henry Jones, and make them find another ground. Hopefully they play all home games at their home ground next year. 

Whilst you would fully expect Castlewellen to come away with win, in the league, East Belfast were only every a few goals away from a win.

East Belfast have a great keeper in Joe McClemments. They also have top forwards in the likes of Ryan McMullan and Owen Taggart who will happily hunt for goals. 

East Belfast will want to start a lot better than they did in Strangford. Playing in the South Antrim league is bound to have helped them. Castlewellen will want to make sure they outpace and grind East Belfast down.

Whilst Castlewellen don't seem to have too many individual stand out players, they are a very well oiled machine, and play well as a team. With them knocked out of the football one can only imagine they effort they're putting into hurling. This could be enough to see them comfortably across the line in Belfast, tomorrow.

If Jason Croskery gets going he's a top class player, but East Belfast may find a way to contain him.

Nonetheless, I would expect Castlewellen to march on. Hurling is definitely growing about the town. A Junior Championship is the next step for them.

Will be an interesting weekend of action, either way. Pity it's not feasible to see both games.

It's good to see that there is something interesting to actually talk about in the Junior Championship, and it's not a forgone conclusion. Great stuff.

[Splash]

Also worth pointing out- East Belfast have a couple of ex-Castlewellen men about the club. Might prove to be an interesting match in more ways than one.

[Square Ball]

East Belfast 3-14
Castlewellan 0-17

17 scores each but goals win games as the saying goes.

[Splash]

Who would have thought East Belfast would have caught Castlewellen in the long grass?

First hurling championship win for the club if I'm not mistaken?

Absolute respect for them. Everything that has been thrown at them since their inception; from people laughing at the idea of an GAA club in East Belfast, to serious threats and violence against them, and now we could be looking at them appearing in Junior Finals in both codes.

Long way to go for them yet, but definitely going in the right direction.

Good on them.

[Splash]

Not too much to be said on tomorrow's fixtures.

Ballycran v Shamrocks and Bredagh v Portaferry will not affect anything in the championship. Will be interesting to see if either Bredagh or Shamrocks are able to deal with their Ards opponents. Been a rough championship for both teams.

Paul Sheehan lining out against his old club is probably going to be a talking point.

Clonduff v CPN in the Intermediate should be an exciting match. Wouldn't know who to call at all for that one. Warrenpoint having a good first year in the Intermediate Championship. Winner of this game will join Carryduff, Bredagh, and Shamrocks in the semi finals.

Both Clonduff and the Point are definitely coming on, but will be interesting to see if either has enough to reach an intermediate final.

Both teams existing in a strange spot in the Down Hurling landscape atm. Neither team is ready yet to mix it with the senior sides, but equally, they are probably too high a standard to be troubled in the Junior Championship. Perhaps the two only true intermediate teams in Down?

Regardless, will be a good battle. Clonduff probably a bit further along their development than the Point, with some more notable names, but CPN won't feel like they've anything to be afraid of and won't be a million miles away.

[Mourne Red]

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Down LGFA have mad a balls of that

[TakeTheMark]

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Down LGFA have mad a balls of that

I was just reading that this morning. Is it a case of two sides to every story? I can't imagine an oversight of an administrative error on the Down LGFA's side requiring a vote from participating clubs. And why the participating clubs would then vote them out on the back of a board error.

I recall in, I believe 2011 (although could have been 2010), the CB forgot to include Tullylish in the [men's] Senior Championship draw as an amalgamated team took part (ASK Lecale). The draw was simply redone a few days later.

I can't see how this couldn't have been done in this case.

I think there may be more to this story than is being told. Although if everything Saval say is true then the word 'shambles' comes to mind.

[johnnycool]

Also worth pointing out- East Belfast have a couple of ex-Castlewellen men about the club. Might prove to be an interesting match in more ways than one.

Not sure but I think Owen Taggert is an older brother of CT who's centre back for the county and portaferry. Ryan McMullan is also ex portaferry better known for his guitar than the hurling.
That result I believe means Castlewellan need to go to Kilclief and win to stay in the junior championship.

As for Liatroim I think they missed the boat yesterday, our lads were off it again but were reasonably comfortable once they started to click in the second half.
I'm also led to believe that the Rossa contingent are heading back to the big smoke next year.
Two dead rubbers in the seniors today and in general the senior championship has lacked intensity, maybe a review of the format needs to happen.