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The refereeing in the Kilcoo/Warrenpoint game was a disgrace.
The same Referee has personal issues with some of the Kilcoo players and has told this openly.
The report in the Irish news was as critical as Ive read in a while. It stopped short from calling him a cheat!
It's not the first time these problems have arisen but they're a little more obvious now.
The time keeping was worrying alright but whats more worrying is that the clock on the scoreboard was working for the clonduff/Bryansford game.
The excuse for it not working for the Kilcoo/Point game "the remote is lost!"
Is it too much to ask that the matches are officiated fairly?
Congratulations to Warrenpoint on a gutsy performance but like it or not, it'll be remembered as a victory for a crooked referee.

f**k I laughed at this - is it to much to ask for matches to be officiated fairly??. You's arent as quick to criticise officials when they ignore gouging, disgraceful verbals, fingers in mouths etc. But what goes around comes around. Yous have blocked Paul Fallon for years because he doesn't get intimidated by you's. He might well have made a timing error and for that he'll have to hold his hands up and take the criticism but everything else is by the book with him and that's your bigger problem.

Someone just get Yewtree a taxi for one!!! Not speaking on behalf of Burren and I think more interested in bringing bad press to Burren. More likely to be CPN.
Our U16 team are exceptional but alot of work and cohesion required to get them through to senior, we've seen alot of so called future stars disappear, but hopefully this group can be brought through and build a unit that can bring consistency at senior level.
As for Ballykinlar, it's probably the cheapest option so can see why CB went for it but its a bollox of a run but if lads want to play county football then they'll make the effort, if they don't fancy it, then it won't matter where the training ground is.

Forevergreen, am I right in saying Burren had 2 teams entered the league at U16 level this year? That must introduce a whole other set of problems. Assume the same will be the case for the U17s next year? It would be difficult keeping them circa 50 lads through to U19s let alone seniors!

Yes 2 teams in the League. Serious commitment and great work from a big management team to be able to work with them all. But definitely will require same again at u17s and then to try and integrate them moving forward into senior. But with drop offs and travelling etc it should give them greater numbers to pull from than they would ordinarily get in smaller playing groups.
Getting them to achieve success at senior level is the ultimate aim but they seem to be a very good group of lads in general.

Someone just get Yewtree a taxi for one!!! Not speaking on behalf of Burren and I think more interested in bringing bad press to Burren. More likely to be CPN.
Our U16 team are exceptional but alot of work and cohesion required to get them through to senior, we've seen alot of so called future stars disappear, but hopefully this group can be brought through and build a unit that can bring consistency at senior level.
As for Ballykinlar, it's probably the cheapest option so can see why CB went for it but its a bollox of a run but if lads want to play county football then they'll make the effort, if they don't fancy it, then it won't matter where the training ground is.

Won an All-Ireland minor medal, played senior inter-county football, won an intermediate championship with Longstone, runs his own fitness company and managed Castlewellan to 2 Div 1 titles.

Did Shorty Treanor not manage them for the first and then had them at top of 1st and into play off which wasnt played until start of following year when Shorty had left/moved on, granted Doran was then in charge for the play off final which was effectively the curtain raiser for the new year league??

I would like an opportunity to clear a couple of things up regarding the minor match yesterday. Especially as whitegoodman, forevergreen, smurfy and others post whatever comes into their heads as fact.
The whole incident sits well with no one from the Kilcoo club.
The player involved was genuinely remorseful for what he said. He could have denied it and never had a suspension imposed on him but I'm glad he chose instead to admit his guilt and accepted his one match ban imposed by Kilcoo committee.
The punishment for verbally abusing your opponent carries a max one match ban.
Instead the County board gave an 8 week ban for 'bringing the game into disrepute'.
The Lad missed 4 matches including a senior and minor championship final.
A fair enough punishment I'd have thought.
How do you please the jealous mobs? Firing squad? Hangman?
Now ask yourselves honestly, would your club have suspended one of its own under similar circumstances?
I doubt it. Kilcoo acted with courage and I admire them for it.
The lad has learned his lesson, as a club we've tried to learn from this.
Always keen to improve, always keen to learn.

Ah so he didn't bring the game into disrepute, that clears that up, so in essence we have all learned that the young lad, the kilcoo minor management and club  couldn't give a flying f**k about the offended family and to hell with any justice they might have been entitled to, his apology was obviously about as sincere as Sammy Wilson saying he wants a United Ireland!!!
Well done always learning

I'd agree with you 6th Sam. Maybe it has always been this way and I wasn't open minded enough to see it, but Gaelic Games has seemingly jumped off a cliff edge when it comes to a moral code.

There is an open culture of cheating. Whether it's through paying extraordinary sums of money in brown envelopes to coaches and back room teams, intimidating the officials, club umpires who refuse any calls to be objective, time wasting and head injuries, kicking balls away, kicking balls in, sledging, cheap shots, gouging, diving and feigning injury, water carriers interrupting play, 20 minute half time breaks, appealing every sanction in board rooms, requesting fixture postponements due to injuries, etc, etc. With little no respect being shown by players, this is of course going to spread to crowds.

How to fix it, I don't know. Bringing back 4 week suspensions instead of 1 game suspensions would definitely though help.

well said Wobbler, when suspensions for a strike where 1 month across the board or 3 months for kicking etc there was probably less occurrence, sledging whilst not new has become increasingly more vitriolic and very little way of proving it, hence the perfect way for a coward to operate.
heavier suspensions and a tighter appeals process with a bit more integrity from all concerned would discourage a lot of what is currently going on,

[Likewise every other club should do the same]

I get your fundamental point, I still think its wrong.

A clubs actions are based on the culture set within that club.  I would be shocked and horrified if 90% of clubs in Down would appeal an underage suspension given the circumstances.  You obviously believe Ballyholland would have appealed which is a surprise as I know a lot of good people in Ballyholland and would envisage they wouldn't stand for this sort of thing.

Id actually be shocked if 90% of the people on this board didn't disagree with what you say.  If that's not the case then it is extremely disturbing and the GAA really has hit a new low.

There's no need to bring Ballyholland into this.

Of course 90%+ people on this board would disagree with me.

But I would fully expect that 90%+ of a) management teams and b) club committees, would vote in favour of bad press plus a championship, over good press and no championship. Right across Ireland.

The subject matter might be a new low. But the appeals process has been morally bankrupt for as long as I can remember.

Firstly Kilcoo have had great success across senior/minor codes this season and that will be recorded in the History books, they have undoubtedly plenty of talented players. Secondly it they may have been tainted by the actions of a few but now completely Tainted by the endorsement of same actions and verbal abuse the Kilcoo club through what was originally effectively a smokescreen to clear the lad to play in the minor final but then appealing the suspension previously and again yesterday.
The apology now has been seen for what is was 'A complete facade' which in itself is another insult to the family of the deceased.

Physicality is a must in GAA and no one wants to see it disappear, after all its a contact sport, but Gouging etc and sledging are not the actions of a man, they are simply the actions of a coward and gypsy, so when you do that and you then end up with a smack in the mouth or your name dragged through the dirt then its a case of "don't do the crime,if you cant do the time".

Put simply Kilcoo have no respect for the rules/regulations of the GAA but would have you believe otherwise. Its a win at all costs mentality were they are happy to use the everyone hates us for justification to excuse low life actions, that are simply cowardly.

If they maintain that their club has standards and don't endorse such actions then they shouldn't help the perpetrators out by appealing punishments and suspensions. Likewise every other club should do the same. That would send a message to young players to play hard but don't lower the name of the club by acting like a gypsy.

As for the lad involved in the disgusting sledging and Dr Slabber who got a smack for mouthing, what lesson have they learned, absolutely none, they have their medals but their reputations are muck!!

I think he knows they won't go any further. A very old team with nothing much coming through. I would say that's his thinking.

Possibly thought they could end up playing Bryansford next year or then again maybe thinking of going forward for the Bryansford managers role

😂 @ forevergreen, I'd love 2 minutes with you😁

I bet you say that to all the boys. You charmer!!😉

Kilcoo have not been good champions at any level. Always something that puts a dark cloud over all teams and that's why and it pains me to say it Burren win today. Burren are a great club who respect all teams. Kilcoos minor championship team has been somewhat massively turnised with some disgraceful stuff on route to the final. I wonder who they take after

unfortunately sledging is part of the game now ,at every level,we even seen it in the all ireland ,was the kilcoo players sledging for no reason?did the bridge players  not say or do anything  to kilcoo players? I think not! Anyway it's the same old cliche # don't give what you cant take back🤔

And that Chumpion says more about you as a person than anything. Catch yourself on. There is no defending the context of what was said. If you think it's acceptable then you should go back to the gutter along with those that said or put the words in his mouth

[because the same referee had abused him from the other side of the fence in a recent game.]

Two despicable deeds over the last week. A young player goading his opponent over his dead mother and another player assaulting a referee because the same referee had abused him from the other side of the fence in a recent game. Lads, where the hell are we going in Down football?

Lotto, where do you get your info? Surely a referee, quite a seasoned one too, would not abuse a player over the wire - Especially when he knows he will be on a pitch with him at some point. As hard to believe as the tooth fairy. Just don't see this as having any merit. What it does is try to soften the act.

Why would I try to soften the act of hitting a referee, this is never acceptable behaviour in anyone's book no matter what the provocation. This seasoned referee apparently shouted abuse over the fence during a recent game at the guy who is supposed to have struck him, believe it or believe it not.

Told same this evening Lotto, Rice apparently shouting abuse over the wire at the Clonduff player in previous game. He's a mouth piece but hitting a ref is madness

Forevergreen if travelling around the country to be a lines man, is  that what you call an inter county referee ? He hasn't done to many big games outside of the county has he?

A few more than Gabriel Tumilty or Gavin Corrigan....

When u really think of it ,f××k  the selection and standard of referees in down are terrible, gavin Corrigan and gabriel tumielty prob the best of recent times , faloon would cause a riot at best of times,jumped up p***k

Jumped up or just has enough integrity not to be intimidated or sweetened to turn a blind eye. he's clearly highly thought off with the powers that be in intercounty refereeing.

Cuan can you explain how in gods name the ref done kilcoo tonight?? McArdle was pulling the trigger and a leg went in for the penalty, I could see it from the terrace.

Barry black carded McAvoy (which was correct) but gave Rooney a yellow for the same tackle I. The first half.

Not to mention a litany of Frees for Laverty some of which were questionable and Aidan Brannigan had numerous fouls ignored.

Barry is a poor ref and certainly not strong enough for a game of that calibre but the last couple of frees where frees and Kilcoo should have kicked on but ultimately allowed Burren unto them and Ronan McGrath punished them with the last kick. Also Bear in mind Donals poor imiss prior to Burren last 3 points.

Draw fair result and both teams will have to improve

I see Kilcoo are into the ulster league final with another easy win against Dromore. CPN had a great win yesterday sets us up well for the league. Called up to watch Clonduff and Dromintee in the MM tournament Jesus Armagh club football must be poor Clonduff hammered them. Interesting all County players playing for their clubs over the weekend crazy decision with 2 matches to go in the league

why is letting County players play for their clubs in a free week Crazy??? There are set periods of time for County managers to hold players back from their clubs, middle of march isn't one of them. if it was a week before the Championship or league final then yes but mid national league NO.