Down v Clare - National Hurling League Div 1

[Blue Boy]

www.clarefm.ie there's a link to stream in the top right corner of the site man

[Square Ball]

Cheers, score now 3-16 to 0-8 and one way traffic

[Lecale2]

15 Minutes gone in 2nd half: Down 0-08 3-17 Clare
Not looking good for the season.

[Cloc Mor]

Think Magic and Mc Gourty should stay with the football - obviously no future in Hurling with this score.

[superblues]

and they can look forward to a  big future in the football

[Cloc Mor]

As bad as the footballers are, in recent times, I can't see them ever being beaten by 20 points.

[superblues]

would not like to see them play tyrone any time soon

[Cloc Mor]

Footballers can always rise their game against better opposition.  Our Hurlers always seem to be destroyed when they come up against superior teams - these are the facts and the results reflect this.  As bad as footballers are - 20 pts, dont think so.

[Syd The Sailor]

Clare 3-25 Down 1-13 Result

[johnneycool]

A bit of a strange game where both Down and Clare played the better against the wind than with it. Firstly Clare were the vastly superior team with Down at sixes and sevens early on. If it hadn't of been for some great saves from Graham Clarke it would really of totally been disasterous. Funnily enough in the second half Down seemed to grow into the game and started to play a bit, whether this was because Clare eased off or not I don't know. Big Magic was causing Gerry Quinn a few problems under the dropping ball and was the only outlet Down had but it was becoming too obvious as the game wore on and he wasn't helped by some poor buck outs by Graham ballooning them too high and by the time they were dropping there were at least three Clare men around magic even if he did catch it. None of the other forwards really counted although Eoin McGuinness worked hard for the few opportunities he got but Brian O'Connell had too much for him on the hurling front and was able to get the flick and hooks in before Eoin could get the stroke in. Clare  had probably the physically largest set of forwards I've ever seen. Fergal Lynch and Barry Nugent were towering over their direct opponents, even Andrew Quinn has filled out now, then they bring on Tony Griffin who must be 6'4" himself.

As I said before, this young Down team would be better suited to Div 2 at the minute and it's going to be a long winter/spring for the team with a few more big defeats coming their way.


Cloc Mor
IMO a 20 point defeat in hurling is akin to a 7 or 8 point defeat in football as it's quite easy to rack up a big score in hurling quite quickly and there's no such thing as a blanket defence in hurling with lads able to take points from 80 yards out the field.

I'm not going to turn this into a childish football/hurling debate as it's done to death on the hoganstand but you should really try to compare like for like before commenting.

[Cloc Mor]

I'm entitled to my opinion - this is a discussion board after all (doh).  Tough if you dont like it.

[Silky]

Great weekend in Portaferry lads. Hospitality second to none! I only recovering now. The match was one sided as expected but the level of skill displayed by the Down lads was very high. The difference is in the speed of action. Too often Down lads need an extra touch or a second to get their bearings. That gives their oppontents a chance to close them down. If they can work on the speed of ball work and fittness they will be more competitive in future.
The Chisty Ring Cup has to be their target this year, and maybe Ulster. I had forgot until reminded on Sunday how Down stuffed Antrim in the Christy Ring last year. They'll want to give them a run for their money this year too.
Any way good luck. The weekend in the Ards will be remembered for a long time.