Down Club Hurling & Football

[ardtole]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

[thewobbler]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you.

But Clarke weren't alone. It was a freakish time for St Louis football.

Over those couple of seasons he'd teammates of the calibre of James Colgan, Joe Ireland and Pete Fitzpatrick, three of the best players in Ireland for their age group.

Then Gavin Joyce, Eamon McConville, Hugh Magee, Gerard McCartan, who won AI minor medals in 2005.

Luke Howard was involved too, a fine player who I think played in an u21 Ai final.

And something in my head says the O'Reilly brothers were St Louis men too around that time.

Marty was fabulous.

But this wasn't just the Marty show.

[Nanderson]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you.

But Clarke weren't alone. It was a freakish time for St Louis football.

Over those couple of seasons he'd teammates of the calibre of James Colgan, Joe Ireland and Pete Fitzpatrick, three of the best players in Ireland for their age group.

Then Gavin Joyce, Eamon McConville, Hugh Magee, Gerard McCartan, who won AI minor medals in 2005.

Luke Howard was involved too, a fine player who I think played in an u21 Ai final.

And something in my head says the O'Reilly brothers were St Louis men too around that time.

Marty was fabulous.

But this wasn't just the Marty show.

Don't think Jamie was a St Louis player but Ben joined in 6th form the term after their 2nd macrory final loss I believe

[johnnycool]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you.

But Clarke weren't alone. It was a freakish time for St Louis football.

Over those couple of seasons he'd teammates of the calibre of James Colgan, Joe Ireland and Pete Fitzpatrick, three of the best players in Ireland for their age group.

Then Gavin Joyce, Eamon McConville, Hugh Magee, Gerard McCartan, who won AI minor medals in 2005.

Luke Howard was involved too, a fine player who I think played in an u21 Ai final.

And something in my head says the O'Reilly brothers were St Louis men too around that time.

Marty was fabulous.

But this wasn't just the Marty show.

Don't think Jamie was a St Louis player but Ben joined in 6th form the term after their 2nd macrory final loss I believe

Ben and Jamie played a bit of underage hurling for us, Jamie had a bit of pace about him IIRC

[Wolfetones]

Martin Clarke and Michael Murphy must be the two best MacRory/schools players there have been for a long time. Their longevity and performances in the competitions were sublime.

I think you are showing your age somewhat here.

[supersub]

Martin Clarke and Michael Murphy must be the two best MacRory/schools players there have been for a long time. Their longevity and performances in the competitions were sublime.

I think you are showing your age somewhat here.

You will note I said for a long time. A long time could be 20 years. In this instance perhaps that is right. No doubt there will have been other super players, but does age even matter in this scenario? I think not. There can't have been too many players who had the impact on his school side (considering their level) as Clarke did? Perhaps people who have witnessed schools football over a longer time have their own thoughts, and maybe rightly so, but that's the beauty of opinion I suppose.

[supersub]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you.

But Clarke weren't alone. It was a freakish time for St Louis football.

Over those couple of seasons he'd teammates of the calibre of James Colgan, Joe Ireland and Pete Fitzpatrick, three of the best players in Ireland for their age group.

Then Gavin Joyce, Eamon McConville, Hugh Magee, Gerard McCartan, who won AI minor medals in 2005.

Luke Howard was involved too, a fine player who I think played in an u21 Ai final.

And something in my head says the O'Reilly brothers were St Louis men too around that time.

Marty was fabulous.

But this wasn't just the Marty show.

This is true, they did have a great group. However you take one of those named players out and they still get to the finals. You take Clarke out and they don't. He was still very very much the main man, despite the others around him. The same can be said of the AI Minor team, a great group, but without Clarke, wouldn't have done what they did. In my opinion.

[Mike Tyson]

In fairness there is a massive difference in winning the McCrory with the equivalent of Kerry and bringing Kilkeel single handedly to the final more suited to a Sligo.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you.

But Clarke weren't alone. It was a freakish time for St Louis football.

Over those couple of seasons he'd teammates of the calibre of James Colgan, Joe Ireland and Pete Fitzpatrick, three of the best players in Ireland for their age group.

Then Gavin Joyce, Eamon McConville, Hugh Magee, Gerard McCartan, who won AI minor medals in 2005.

Luke Howard was involved too, a fine player who I think played in an u21 Ai final.

And something in my head says the O'Reilly brothers were St Louis men too around that time.

Marty was fabulous.

But this wasn't just the Marty show.

This is true, they did have a great group. However you take one of those named players out and they still get to the finals. You take Clarke out and they don't. He was still very very much the main man, despite the others around him. The same can be said of the AI Minor team, a great group, but without Clarke, wouldn't have done what they did. In my opinion.

I'd have the same opinion. The second MacRory year, the game plan seemed to be give him the ball and hope for the best. That year it very much was the Marty Show. His fifth year he was also prolific in St Louis McLarnon & All Ireland B campaign's, man of the match in both finals?

Jamie O'Reilly never was near St Louis and Ben joined the year after Clarke left.

[downtothecore]

Mc rory is donminated these days by Tyrone and Derry teams. St colmans, Abbey, St Louis and red high downpatrick well of the pace.

[Hard2Listen2]

Mc rory is donminated these days by Tyrone and Derry teams. St colmans, Abbey, St Louis and red high downpatrick well of the pace.

Red High very rarely compete in McRory even when they have had teams with several county minors.
They seem to value competing in a B competition more than testing themselves in an A competition.

[johnnycool]

Mc rory is donminated these days by Tyrone and Derry teams. St colmans, Abbey, St Louis and red high downpatrick well of the pace.

Red High very rarely compete in McRory even when they have had teams with several county minors.
They seem to value competing in a B competition more than testing themselves in an A competition.

Maybe with the impending bigger pick as "Lecale" next year they'll do a St Ronans of Lurgan and make bigger in-roads.

[Truth hurts]

The Red High should be playing at a higher level with the pick they have

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Why do you think they aren't?

They'd generally be one of the stronger teams in the B competitions but I don't think they win them very often.

[manwithnoplan]

Mc rory is donminated these days by Tyrone and Derry teams. St colmans, Abbey, St Louis and red high downpatrick well of the pace.

Red High very rarely compete in McRory even when they have had teams with several county minors.
They seem to value competing in a B competition more than testing themselves in an A competition.

It would seem that the B competition has been an adequate test for the Red High given their record in the competition. They usually have a selection of good players from a variety of clubs but have never looked like dominating that level of competition.

Might change a little with upcoming changes to the school, though I suppose it depends on how the sporting department is reorganised and what the competitive priority is for the younger age groups coming up through the school.

[Hard2Listen2]

Why do you think they aren't?

They'd generally be one of the stronger teams in the B competitions but I don't think they win them very often.

They underachieve. They should be competitive at McRory but usually aren't even competitive in McLarnon.