90% of the discussion in the Down CLUB Hurling and Football Thread is about the county? Endless mind numbing drivel taking up the space of club results/fixtures/discussions.
Can you quilts not read? Its a CLUB thread. Perhaps you can all discuss the merits of James McCartans management skills or what hairgel Danny Hughes uses in here instead.
I'll get the ball rolling shall I:
Quote from: PAULD123 on April 10, 2012, 10:15:21 AM
Well done Down on reaching the semi-final. I'm looking forward to a bonus trip to Dublin. But I have to say that there were a few worrying things about the match at the weekend.
- Ambrose, while good in the air, did not look fit, he was not very mobile, continual pulled up after releasing the ball to the forward line and had problems reacting to breaking ball.
- Our defence only conceded 10 points which looks superb but in truth Laois were atrocious at shooting. Against a team with any decent accuracy we easily would have conceded 15 or more. The scoreline flatters our defence unbelievably. In the first half Laois had an unreal amount of fairly handy shots at the sticks. The conclusion is that, sadly, our defence is still a problem and struggles to mark tightly.
- We had a lot of problems getting the ball into our forward line at all in the first half. We have very skilful kick passers in Poland and Carr but when they only have two players to aim at it isn't making their task a simple one. Eventually Arthur had to come out to gain possession and in fact Benny started to come out too. Basically we line up with four in midfield, two in the half forward line and two in the full forward line. Turning possession to attack takes too long and the opposition are able to get back and flood their defence.
- We failed to win the majority of midfield breaking balls. Without Danny in the team we tend to lose that area of the field and therefore are always against it in terms of possession. It wasn't till the last 20 when our superior fitness started to tell that Down took control of midfield possession.
But don't get me wrong, it is great we are not only still in Division one but also in the top four. How fantastic these days are compared to the dark days of only a few years ago when we were flailing around on muddy division 3 pitches. In terms of setting us up for the championship opener at Enniskillen, a semi-final in Croke park is a great boost. Maybe we'll get even more if we are lucky??? Fermanagh are on a high after their terrific league results. But now Down can feel confident having come out in the elite group in the top flight. I feel the level of confidence in the team will be the single most important factor when we step out in Brewster Park. Confidence, more than anything else, allows a team to shake off the shackles that come with expectation. And Down will have a lot of expectation placed on them on 3rd June.
Quote from: Dubh driocht on April 13, 2012, 06:22:47 PM
I know we are in low-key mode but in the last 50 years has there ever been as little hype about a Down appearance at Croke Park ? With Cork and Kerry not known for bringing support outside All Ireland finals, and Mayo unlikely to attract crowds ,I reckon we could be looking at the lowest ever attendance for League semi-finals. Which is a shame as our lads have, for the second year in a row, finished as the top Ulster team in the league. I think we should get out and support James and the team - they have put in the effort to bring us to the top table and that should be appreciated.
Quote from: umpire on April 13, 2012, 09:01:25 PM
Down team for Sunday
Brendan McVeigh
Daniel McCartan
Brendan McArdle
Declan Turley
Kevin McKernan
Niall McParland
Conor Garvey
Kalum King
Ambrose Rodgers
Peter Turley
Mark Poland
Aidan Carr
Arthur McConville
Conor Laverty
Brendan Coulter
Quote from: Mourne Rover on April 13, 2012, 09:13:29 PM
The Down starting 15 was predictable enough, but there will probably be some switching about. Most people will expect Peter Turley to move to full back, where he last played against Fermanagh in the 09 USC, although he has not had a run in the position since his return to the squad this year. McKernan did well at wing half forward last week but it would probably be sensible for him to play as an extra defender this time round. While it is something of a surprise that Quinn is not starting, Damien Turley will not let anyone down.
It has been a low-key build up, as Dubh Driocht says, but Cork will be overwhelming favourites and appear to have named their strongest available side. Although we would still have a decent chance if Gordon and Hughes were fit, it will take something special to get us through to the final. They have scored nine goals against us in the last three meetings, winning by 11, 12 and 13 points respectively, so we are clearly up against it. However, these are the matches when we get a realistic view of our prospect for the summer, so it is quite an opportunity for our guys.
Quote from: umpire on April 13, 2012, 10:13:38 PM
Cork team for Sunday
Alan Quirke,
Ray Carey, Michael Shields, Eoin Cotter,
Noel O'Leary, Graham Canty, Paudie Kissane,
Alan O'Connor, Pearse O'Neill,
Fintan Goold, Patrick Kelly, Paul Kerrigan,
Colm O'Neill, Aidan Walsh, Donncha O'Connor.
I happen to agree with Don Johnson that it would be better to have a seperate County and Club thread. But until everyone else takes up his suggestion I'm posting in both places.
The team shows a lot of messing about. But in fact the only missing player from last week is Gordon. Why not just a straight switch Turley for Gordon and leave the rest of the team unchanged? So maybe Turley goes in straight for Grodon at FB or maybe he playes CHB and McCardle drops to FB. But that was the only alteration that was actually required. The team played quite well last week and as teh game went on the passing improved. Now we start with yet another new formation. This can hardly help the players to know what the other guys will be doing around them.
Too many changes are not a good thing. Kerry and Cork field fairly consistent sides and last year Dublin did the same. In our best recent year 2010, we had a very settled first fifteen and I am sure that helped the team interact with each other as well as they did.
I agree Paul, there hasn't been much consistency and the chopping and changing is bound to have an effect. Though I guess it is still the league and for all intents and purposes its about trying to find the best side or a settled 15 before the championship. Even though I know this is a league semi-final in Croke Park but in the grand scheme of things preparation for the championship is obviously paramount.
I'm not that confident to be honest, we've just managed to scrape into this semi and although we've found a wee bit of form I think Cork are going to be too strong for us.
What's the interest levels like for the game tomorrow up there? Not much talk about our game v Kerry here at all. I'll be surprised if 20k attend tbh. Unless ye bring a fair few down from the Mournes.
20k only in Croke Park will be a sad sight but I think you might be right!
Given that Kerry and Cork will only bring a handful of fans, and both Mayo and Down are taking a low-key approach to their games, it is hard to believe that the attendance will be anywhere near 20,000. Half that figure may be closer, so the Down contingent should have no difficulty making themselves heard. We will need all the support we can get with our injury list, which according to Jarlath Burns on TG4 yesterday may now include Ambrose.If that is true, we will really be up against it.
Looking forward to both games tomorrow - should be a decent first game - but with our injury list I fear the worst... hope im wrong!
Cant see many Kerry people going to croke.
They might not be Playing Down but Down + Croke Park = Nitemare for Kerry
these games should have been played somewhere other than croke park imo. cant see any more than 10/15k turning up. hope we can put in a decent performance and avoid more injuries.
Well wasn't that dissapointing?
Thought Down were reasonably competitive for a brave bit of the game. The loss of Laverty started a slow inevitable swing towards a sizable defeat. But the second goal was a killer.
If we had been able to start Hughes instead of Turley and Laverty had lasted the whole game then i think we would have been much closer at the end. There were signs there that one day (with a fully fit team) we may eventually end this hoodoo.
At any rate it was good for the team to have a competitive match in Croke park, in can only help our championship preparations to have the likes of McConville and McParland getting more match time as they will be needed for the Championship side
Anyone know the attendance?
just back from what was really a glorified challenge match. really poor from down who seemed to lose their way completly in the 2nd half. basic errors at the back again gifted them goals and they won pulling up. the attendance was 11500 don.
One of the most open games of football ive seen in a brave while, hardly any tackles or pressure when kickers went to take their scores. Cork never had to get outta 3rd gear, Kerrigan ran the show, no doubting it, the lad is a cracking football, but the down defence still needs some addressing. Dont understand how Daniel McCartan expects to mark a man when he's 5 bloody yards away, must be the family ties again!! Thought big McConvillie did very well, kept working hard especially for the goal and was unlucky to be taken off.
Maybe I'm on my own but I don't think it was very poor from Down; this was probably our best performance against Cork since the AI final and , looking back, we played well against the best panel of players in the country by a mile. Look at the two teams- give each player a mark out of ten and out of 150,we would be 30 plus less then than them. James is getting a good return from some middling players- I doubt if even the most biased Down fan expected a win today.
Brendy has had a good league and probably should have cleared his lines against the big Cork men so when that goal went in it really was game over .Dan does stand off the attacker and you can't do that when it is someone with the ability of Colm O'Neill- he is still a crafty defender which we don't have many of. Benny Mc Ardle had a good game- scored a VG point but his misplaced pass led to the first goal.D Turley,Niall Mc Partland and particularly Garvey were good.I have defended Mc Kernan but he needs to raise his game. Kalum was his usual effective self, either in MF or FF-and because pace and mobility are not his strengths, it puts more responsibility on Ambrose- clearly still on the road back to his best but still our leader in the middle. One thing James needs to sort are his fifties- Aidan Carr from the deck would be a better bet. Peter Turley did his job and brings a bit of physicality while Poly and Benny were great- this was the first time that Benny got the better of Shields. Arthur is worth his place while let's hope Laverty is OK as he along with the two injured Dans have been our top men in the league .
Keith Quinn, Mc Comiskey,Doyle, Rafferty and Rooney would be good to have for Enniskillen Anyway, a good league campaign- with going for goals in the last 5 minutes we missed out on the chance to narrow the gap but we would need our top 15 with a championship momentum behind them to match those big hallions from Cork
Reasonably good performance against top quality opposition, marred only by the fact that our defence gave a lot of ball away when under no pressure. Lavery our MOTM until his replacement, Coulter,Carr and Mc Conville excellent, others shone in patches. Brannigan staked a claim for starting position in championship, D. Mc Cartan had a bad day at the office. First Cork goal a giveaway, second goalkeeper blunder with contribution from defence, D. Gordon on edge off square would have caught and cleared. All in all a heartening performance from a weakened team, we are in a good place going into the serious business of the summer
Some decent individual performances and a couple of awful ones but it is very hard to judge how good or bad we are in a match with so little intensity.
Most worrying thing looking ahead is our complete lack of any strategy for our own kick outs, there doesn't even seem to be a Plan A.
I agree with Dubh Driocht about the fifties, what is big McVeigh like without the tee?!
A lot of players looked unfit today, maybe they are training particularly hard and are gearing towards the frst weekend in June but some of them looked bursted after 10 minutes!
It was an ordinary enough Down performance, and Cork are obviously still a fair bit ahead of us. However, with an understrength side we managed to reduce our normal double figure margin of defeat against them to something a little more manageable.
The most disappointing aspect was that our recent defensive improvement, with only one goal conceded from play in our last five, came to an end, with two goals gifted through individual errors and Cork getting the chance to kick a range of points without being put under any real pressure.
At the same time, they have a serious squad, big, fast and physically powerful with backs and midfielders as well as forwards who can take scores readily. They will take a lot of stopping in the summer, while we can say that a decent league programme is out of the way and we have six weeks to prepare for Enniskillen and crucially work on the fitness of our missing players.
McVeigh has been in excellent form all year, and his kick-outs, even to a struggling midfield, were decent, so no one should lose too much sleep over a hanging ball which he should have punched but slipped out of his hands leaving O'Connor with an empty net.
Garvey was as solid as ever, and the only question is whether he should start in the championship at full back, corner back or wing half. Dan McCartan, apart from one fine interception, had an off-day, could never get close enough to his man and conceded a needless free in front of the posts at the start of the second half when we were just beginning to believe in ourselves. McArdle was generally impressive, getting his tackles in and breaking forward confidently, but one misplaced pass led directly to their first goal.
McKernan looked far happier in the half forwards last week than he did at the back today. He worked hard but another careless pass cost us a point at a stage when the match was pretty tight. Damien Turley seldom seemed comfortable and. although he will improve from the experience of a run at Croke Park, did not justify his surprising selection ahead of Quinn. McParland was much steadier, used the ball well and has the makings of a long-term centre half.
Our midfield was patchy at best, although they were up against outstanding opponents. Ambrose has his moments, but is yet to really get into his stride, and both his distribution and his 45s were below par. King was regularly switched up front, where he made an impact several times and won the penalty as well. The suspicion is that our management have doubts about his pace against top class midfielders, but it is not a position where we have many options.
Peter Turley tried his heart out in an unusual role where he had to drop deep and support the midfield, but he had run out of steam before the end. Carr had a mixed day, with a brilliant penalty and a fine point from play but some questionable decision-making when in possession. Poland popped up everywhere, and his long-range point from Benny's crossfield pass was our highlight of the day.
It was important for Benny to display that he can cope with Shields, who had his measure in the past, and he delivered three brilliant points, a host of assists and might even have got in for a goal. Laverty looked as through he would run riot early on, hit three quick points and might also have taken a goal, so we have to hope that his injury, which clearly set us back, clears up quickly. McConville put in a more than reasonable shift, is strong in the air, helped to create the penalty and is close to a nailing down a championship debut.
Of the subs, Maginn hit a good point and is also in contention for a championship start where he might well be joined by Quinn. The two Branagans were OK, although Niall is light for a defender at this level, while O'Hare, although he can finish, is also on the small side.
We really need Hughes and Gordon back as soon as possible, and, with the latter on crutches along the sideline today, he must be doubtful for the Fermanagh game. A fit Doyle would also be a huge bonus, and McComiskey has to be part of the mix as well.
All in all, we can be more than pleased with our league campaign and the real business kicks off now.
Its a sad day for down football when we are happy with an 8 point defeat ::)
Yesterday I see four issues that cost us so dearly:
1) We had to start without Rafferty, Rooney, G McCartan, Doyle, Gordon, Hughes, Mccomiskey
2) Laverty getting injured was pivotal. We were competing well up to then and we could at least have been close enough to challenge late in the game. After he went off, and without Hughes, we had no one to carry the ball through and had to resort to thumping it up to Benny as in days of old. In addition with no Laverty and Hughes we started losing a lot more break-ball in midfield
3) Cork were allowed to continuously cynically foul by holding players back. Admittedly, the referee did at least give frees but they were 50-60m out. The Cork players were not carded which meant they could just keep doing it. Cork, Kerry and Dublin are the three most talented sides in Ireland but are also the most cynical. If a few of their half backs had been on yellows then we may have seen a totally different level of success from our half forward line.
4) Two very bad mistakes cost us dearly - Sh*t happens. But we must not get too despondent. The second goal was the key moment in the match. Down players heads went down after this, the passing went astray and the energy level dropped off. It became a slow march to the inevitable defeat.
Cork are simply a better team than us. Their physical presence is something we struggle badly to deal with which is why other teams that we can beat are able to beat them but we can't seem to get close. But we will get close if we can play our strongest side, and in championship football you only have to be close at the end to have a chance.
The most frustrating issue is McKernan, undoubtedly very talented but, of late, so often missing for long periods, indecisive on the ball and with no defensive contribution.
Still I do rate hime and would love to see him given a free role from corner forward where he can bring his dynamism to better effect.
We also need to keep big Kalum in midfield and if a team try to run the legs off him, like Cork have done a couple of times now, then allow Ambrose - or a player dropping back- to do the following and keep the middle strong. Again yesterday when Kalum went chasing his man the whole middle opened up and Cork came streaming through.
With the likes of Gordon, Hughes and hopefully Rooney/Rafferty into the starting team and options of Doyle & McComiskey on the bench I would be more hopeful for the summer.
To me the biggest plus yesterday was Brendan McArdle who proved he can play at this level although I would use his athleticsm in half back line.
Lads we have an over 35s team. we played a few challenge matches last year against An Riocht and Bosco. It is just for a bit of fun for the lads that want another we turn out in their club colours. Generally we have a match and then a bite to eat in the hosting club and a bit of a drink/craic.
Would anyone here from another club be interested in getting an over 35s team together for a friendly match? Would be great to get a few more games going.
Positives from wkend;
- Garvey & McArdle performed admirably against difficult oppostion.
- 2 Brannigans were decent when coming on.
- Benny was as sharp as Ive seen him in 18 mths.
- Laverty followed up his general play with scores, great to see, hope his injury isnt too bad.
Negatives from wkend;
- McKernan and McCartan were poor, McCartan should have been replaced earlier and McKernan at some stage.
- Midfield overran not for the first time against Cork. Changes should have been made here. Anton may not be anywhere near the finished article but the Cork midfield wouldnt have ran away from him like they did to Ambrose/King/Turley.
- Turley not knowing what he was doing. He is a player with more brawn that brain on the football pitch (not meaning any disrespect) and shouldnt have been asked to perform such a role. If they wanted to play that way why not put McKernan there, move mcparland to wing back and put Turley at CHB. Once again we were split open right up the middle yesterday, something that Turley may have helped stop.
- Lack of strength in depth. McConville did ok in the first half but the second half was crying out for a murtagh/mccumisky to come on when the game was there for the taking. Donal O Hare will be a good one but he not ready for that yet
- Silly individual errors costing us once again. We must be one of the worst teams in the country for conceding stupid goals.
- Most concerningly, no settled team with no competitive games coming up before Fermanagh. This is partly down to injuries but I dont think any of us could predict 13 of the starting line up for that game.
A few more negatives than positives but we should beat Fermanagh and this is the best chance we have had for a while to win an Ulster title so hopefully the injuries clear up and we get our act together.
Heard Down beat Antrim by 5 today in a challenge game? Anyone see it?
It is disappointing that Keith Quinn has headed off to the States as he might well have started against Fermanagh in the USC. Our list of injured and unavailable players is growing, and it all makes life increasingly difficult for James. In addition to Quinn, Marty Clarke, Caolan Mooney, Peter Fitzpatrick, James Colgan and Luke Howard have all left the country. The injured include Dan Gordon, Danny Hughes, Dee Rafferty, Declan Rooney, Liam Doyle and Anton McArdle, while Paul McComiskey opted out of the entire NFL programme. The strength of our squad is certainly going to be tested in the run-up to Enniskillen.
Quote from: Mourne Rover on April 22, 2012, 09:37:18 PM
It is disappointing that Keith Quinn has headed off to the States as he might well have started against Fermangh in the USC. Our list of injured and unavailable players is growing, and it all makes life increasingly difficult for James. In addition to Quinn, Marty Clarke, Caolan Mooney, Peter Fitzpatrick, James Colgan and Luke Howard have all left the country. The injured include Dan Goirdon, Danny Hughes, Dee Rafferty, Declan Rooney, Liam Doyle and Anton McArdle, while Paul McComiskey opted out of the entire NFL programme. The strength of our squad is certainly going to be tested in the run-up to Enniskillen.
What is the story with McComiskey?? We need him back on board for the Fermanagh match. He at least needs to be an option from
the bench, if not starting. I know he is back playing with Dundrum and playing well. Is he going to opt back in??
Can any of the Dundrum posters shed light on this??
I would of liked to have seen Mc Comiskey back on board before now its only 6 weeks to the championship . I think it would be hard to get up to Championship pace and fitness in that short space of time . I hope i am wrong because we badly need him but it is looking less likely by the day . Keith Quinn is another big loss who did well in his 1st year and we need big strong men who can play football