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https://youtu.be/6MwvIe249gA?si=VMDohYJphqdNvx7L

Delicious from Benny

Ran 3:17 in Dublin today. Delighted.
Anyone else run it? Support fantastic as always.

First time marathon yesterday. 3.34. Couldn't get over the support. On a soaking wet day too. Class experience from start to finish.

Spurs well off the hook there. Celebrating like they won the league

Officials have a lot to answer for. The quality of refereeing has deteriorated over the last few years. With VAR there the safety nets are there. They make the percentage decisions instead of trying to get the correct call in real time.

Jones red card harsh but understandable.
Diaz goal clearly onside. Was it even checked?
Jota first yellow not a yellow as player running and clipped his knee with his leg. But silly on the second one when he knows he's on a yellow.
Felt sorry for Matip. He was excellent all game.
Liverpool will take more from the game than Spurs will. Really enjoyable team to watch.
Liverpool 2.0. Never a dull moment.

Referee in Kilcoo game seemed to think that a foul must be a card. Kilcoo holding their head time and time again when tackles not high. Carryduff's frustrations were understandable. The Donnelly one on Brannigan was late and dangerous. Other than that there wasn't too much in the others. James Guinness very unfortunate I thought.

And what difference would either of those make. He is the manager, again he looked lost along the line yesterday and frequently clueless. Not sure what Mc Guinness does on match day but all of his other men don't seem to have much input or influence. I'd have Mc Guinness along the line and just let Laverty be a coach as he hasn't a clue how to be a manager.

Explain how he looked lost. What did you see that leads you to that conclusion?

Joe has been given his orders.

Mc quillan is the  most infuriating referee  I've ever seen .  I'm all for having respect for official s , but by Christ  he makes it so hard  for people to do that.  Those two very soft frees  effectively won Kerry the game . I ain't from Derry but I am absolutely raging . I dunno how Derry folk are feeling

They were both fouls.

Some opinions on Eugene today. Hasn't come to life yet in a Down jersey but I thought he had a decent game today. In first half he was one of the few making inroads into the Meath defence and assisted a few scores either from play or by drawing a foul.
His comments last year were naive but probably hard to argue with at the same time.
I've been to many more games this year than for a good few years. Laverty and his team have given the county fresh impetus. Let's hope Down can sustain themselves as a set up that the best players want to be a part of. I fully expect that Down will continue to improve over the next 2-3 years with this management team.

Due to back door system in operation in Intermediate and Senior, the last few years the Junior has had to wait until R3 before it can get started with preliminary round and then QF aligning with the QF of the top 2 grades.
This has led to some clubs having maybe 1 game in 4 or 5 weeks
August is traditionally championship time yet for the last few years Junior has had to wait until September.
Maybe this year's format is an effort to try to combat that.
I think it would be much better to start it at same time as Senior and Intermediate and let it finish earlier.

There's a correlation between parents as coaches and stronger players on teams for a reason. A coach who has an affinity for the game and willingness to coach usually means the family is football orientated or has a background in the game. That becomes bred into the children and part of their DNA from a young age. The kids love the game as its the environment they are used to. As a result they practise more, have a drive to get better and generally end up doing better than most early on at least.

You hear a lot about such and such a coach and their children are playing etc etc. It's nonsense. I would argue that sometimes the children of the coaches get a raw enough deal. Have seen it in GAA and soccer. Coaches more likely to be outwardly seen to be as fair as possible which sometimes means their own are the first to be subbed or do nets or whatever.

I don't like the new ruling. There seems to be a thought that clubs around the country are alienating players and not giving everyone a fair crack. In my experience as a coach the last few years that's not the case.

In Down we have a series of go games dates set out with a variety of clubs every 2-3 weeks from April to September.

We generally spread our players across 2 teams to ensure a degree of competitiveness across the board. As a result our stronger players rarely get to play together all at the same time.

The odd tournament where teams can truly test themselves against other clubs is only good for the players in my opinion. The young ones love it and it brings out that bit extra in them.

There seems to be more effort into catering for the weaker player at the expense of the stronger players.

I just don't buy into there being no place for competition at all. If can be beneficial.

I think it is more important to have players playing at their level and developing them there.
At the youngest age there are huge disparities in the ability levels for various reasons.
There are ways and means to cater for all and the answer isn't to ban competition.

Best of luck to Mitchels - played against them many times.

The club themselves has suffered a number of times with players upping and going to other local teams. Barry Mc to Ballyholland when he lives a stonesthrow from gerry brown park, conor murphy to saval. both still playing and would have been a huge lift. I'm sure there are plenty others who have done same

Transfers should be outlawed.

Looks like Fermanagh v Down will be switched to Ederney.
Brewster still not available.

Still likely to be 1pm?

Just home. 7 up at half time and 7 up with 10 to go yet it ended much closer than it should have. A deserved win having played more than half the game with 14 men.

The intensity of Down's play out of possession very impressive.. Tipp simply couldn't live with them in first quarter.

Donagh McAleenan, Pat Havern, Ryan McEvoy, Conor Francis and Odhran Murdock impressed.

The Havern goal was an outstanding team move, a couple of quick kick passes on the counter involving all 3 of the starting full forward line.
Would be surprised if a better goal was scored anywhere else this weekend.

Paidi's pub