Down Club Hurling & Football

[ardtole]

Ballycran have 27, Kilclief 23, Portaferry and Ballygalget 21 shc according to wiki. Kilclief Last win was 1956 apparently, not sure if they appeared in a final since.

[Splash]

When is the last time a non Ards team reached the final?

Kilclief last won it in 1956 and it's been dominated by the Ards since. Kilclief still have the second most amount of titles, only being overtaken by Ballycran in the past few years.

Bredagh, Carryduff, and Castlewellen have all had good success at underage the past couple of years. Maybe we're not too far away from seeing history being made and a non-Ards side actually win a senior championship...

[johnnycool]

Ballycran have 27, Kilclief 23, Portaferry and Ballygalget 21 shc according to wiki. Kilclief Last win was 1956 apparently, not sure if they appeared in a final since.

Portaferry were once Carrig Uladh in their earlier days, not sure if you counted them for those.

Of the 21 SHC's Ballygalget have Graham Clarke has 9.

[imtommygunn]

Bredagh have dropped off a bit at senior but I've watched a handful of down underage games this year and they have huge numbers and definitely very good at underage. Carryduff were a bit disappointing at u17 as they'd very low numbers but I think they're better at lower ages. That being said Greg Blaney's nephew is a serious player for them and definitely one to look out for. Still think city clubs much higher drop off rates than the country ones so Bredagh etc winning senior won't be as plain sailing as some might think.

[ardtole]

Ballycran have 27, Kilclief 23, Portaferry and Ballygalget 21 shc according to wiki. Kilclief Last win was 1956 apparently, not sure if they appeared in a final since.

Portaferry were once Carrig Uladh in their earlier days, not sure if you counted them for those.

Of the 21 SHC's Ballygalget have Graham Clarke has 9.

I wasn't aware of that Jc, I'd no idea to be honest. Have to say I'm enjoying the updates from the hurling community  great to see clubs like Castlewellan, Warrenpoint Clonduff etc improving, it can only be good for the county in the long run.

I saw Aaron Graffan play quite a few times for Cushendall over the years and he was often their stand out performer. His experience will be a huge asset to Clonduff particularly at intermediate club level.

[johnnycool]

Bredagh have dropped off a bit at senior but I've watched a handful of down underage games this year and they have huge numbers and definitely very good at underage. Carryduff were a bit disappointing at u17 as they'd very low numbers but I think they're better at lower ages. That being said Greg Blaney's nephew is a serious player for them and definitely one to look out for. Still think city clubs much higher drop off rates than the country ones so Bredagh etc winning senior won't be as plain sailing as some might think.

We play Bredagh in the minor final this Sunday, won't be much between the teams.

Greg has two nephews handy at the hurling, one plays for Bredagh at minor and the other plays for Carryduff at minor to different Da's obviously.

Carryduff won the U15 championship last year but didn't seem to have progressed at all which is disappointing, but they went Div2 in the league so didn't get pushed and were badly found out in the championship at Cup level. Football probably a distraction there.

Castlewellan are favourites for the U15 championship, and they'll play the winners of ourselves and Carryduff in the semifinal next Sunday. We'll need one of our big players back from a hand injury to get over them and that isn't a given.

Liatroim are hot favourites for the U13 Championship Cup, we're over there to play them tomorrow afternoon in the semi-final. They're all either 12 or 13 and we're down to 10yo's to get 15 on the field, we may have one sub if we're lucky but we'll give it a go.

I can see a bit of a fall out in the Castlewellan/Liatroim/O'Rahillies combos going forward, some Liatroim mentors not happy that they weren't invited to the Castlewellan run U13.5 tournament last week as a team yet some of their player played for Castlewellan allegedly...

[Splash]

Ballycran have 27, Kilclief 23, Portaferry and Ballygalget 21 shc according to wiki. Kilclief Last win was 1956 apparently, not sure if they appeared in a final since.

Portaferry were once Carrig Uladh in their earlier days, not sure if you counted them for those.

Of the 21 SHC's Ballygalget have Graham Clarke has 9.

I wasn't aware of that Jc, I'd no idea to be honest. Have to say I'm enjoying the updates from the hurling community  great to see clubs like Castlewellan, Warrenpoint Clonduff etc improving, it can only be good for the county in the long run.

I saw Aaron Graffan play quite a few times for Cushendall over the years and he was often their stand out performer. His experience will be a huge asset to Clonduff particularly at intermediate club level.

It's great to see a bit of hurling discussion going on.

Far too many people don't realise that Down aren't a million miles away from making some sort of breakthrough.

In Division 2A, and were in the Division 2A Final last year, and have done well to make the jump to to the Joe McDonagh Cup (the tier directly below Liam MacCarthy Cup for those of a purely footballing background), and have done even better to stay in it for several years now.

Whilst Down are a long, long way off the standards of Limerick or Clare, and are, realistically, a good bit off even Antrim, Laois, or Westmeath, the hurling scene is not as dead and buried as many may believe it to be.

Have had 3 new hurling teams start in the past 3 years, with East Belfast coming into existence, Saul bringing back hurling at underage, and the Mourne clubs amalgamating to offer a hurling outlet for the area in the form of Clann Mhúrn.

There is good work going on in the likes of Clonduff, Warrenpoint, and especially Castlewellen to grow the game. Bredgah, Carryduff, Liatroim, and Newry Shamrocks have come on massively in the past couple of years from where they have been in the past.

Ultimately, hurling is alive and kicking in Down. Have had friends who would be more fond of the football remind me it is 'the minority game' in the county, and whilst football is king for many, it doesn't change the fact that the hurling scene in the county is still very much thriving.

We are lucky in Down to be in the situation we are. We have the second best hurling set up in Ulster after Antrim. We are far closer to making a breakthrough than the likes of Armagh or Donegal. Hopefully, the small ball game continues to grow and spread throughout Down.

At the very least, the hurling discussion breaks up the constant debate as to whether Conor Laverty should stay or should he go 

[Splash]

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.

[Splash]

Some entertaining hurling this week in the intermediate championship.

Everything to be said about the clonduff/ballela game has really been said here I think.

Clonduff simply too strong. Plenty of good players at their disposal. Great to see hurling doing well in clonduff, but you have to sympathise with Ballela. Not nice to see any club in Down take a beating like that. Doesn't do anybody any good. Not to take away from Clonduff, they absolutely deserve credit for racking up a score like that. But Ballela going out to get hammered like that isn't doing anybody any good. It's not helping Clonduff prepare for a run in the senior championship in years to come, and it's certainly not helping Ballela. Hopefully the club gets back to being competitive soon.

Again, what does the future hold in regards to a relationship with Ballyvarley? Tradition is important yes, as is identity, but if a team is going out to take regular, massive beatings, you have to consider what is the best thing to do for the game of hurling. Ballyvarley went through a similar dark time, taking massive beatings regularly, and it is only recently they seem to be coming competitive in the Junior Championship again. Are Ballela simply going to be in a position Ballyvarley were in until something good comes through?

Interestingly, the positions Ballyvarley are weak in seem to be the positions Ballela have strength and vice versa. Ballyvarley have a good defence, but can struggle to put scores on the board. Ballela seem to be able to produce top quality forwards, but their deference strategies can let them down. An amalgamated team, with a good management set up, could really rattle the junior and intermediate championships.

Warrenpoint came far closer to Carryduff than anybody was expecting. Fair play to them. Hear carryduff played a game in Dublin before? Nonetheless, absolutely excellent effort from Warrenpoint to push like that. When tbey won the junior championship last year, this was the one game I thought would be a bloodshed. Great to see CPN held their ground. Warrenpoint have a lot of potential for growth in the future.

I'm sure Carryduff won't be too bothered all the same. Judging by what Bredagh and Shamrocks have shown, Carryduff still favourites to win. What will be interesting will be if CPN/Clonduff get drawn against Shamrocks in the semis. Both teams will see an opportunity for a big scalp over the local rival.

Would be impressive for Point to reach an intermediate final in their first year.

Intermediate really has turned out to be far more interesting than was initially expected, which is no bad thing.

Will be interesting to see if there's any surprises in the junior championship next week.

[The Trap]

The ref is winning this game for kilcoo.....they looked in trouble but played the ref like a fiddle

[thewobbler]

The ref is winning this game for kilcoo.....they looked in trouble but played the ref like a fiddle

Another way of looking at this is that one team were ready and aware that they'd be dealing with a card happy referee on a dirty evening, while the other team weren't prepared to adapt to this circumstance.

I don't like his refereeing style. But he is consistent.

[befair]

Total lack of discipline from Carryduff; Kilcoo were in real trouble. Ref was fine

[Nanderson]

Carryduff really lost their heads in that match. I'd be confident that if Carryduff kept 15 on the pitch they'd have come out on the right side of a result tonight as they were still competing well and winning in midfield right to the very end. Up until the 30th minute they had the measure of a sloppy Kilcoo team. Kilcoo won't mind though as that was a game they really had to fight to get through and championship is all about winning whether it be pretty or ugly.

[Gaelforce123]

Had M Moore have carded kilcoo players late tackles and closed fist etc then I could
see a case for saying he is consistent but as a neutral that was the worst refereeing performance I have seen in a long time. Wasnt a dirty game at all. Kilcoo won out as expected but didnt get it easy but the referee has alot to answer for on performance

[FM]

Micheal Moore 10 red cards in 2 games. Finally some consistency