Down Club Hurling & Football

[Predictor]

Now that we are into the 1/4 final stages of the championships
what games will everyone be going to and what team is peoples favourite to win the SFC, IFC, JFC

Senior Championship= Between Kilcoo, Burren, Bryansford
Intermediate Championship= Betweem An Riocht and Darragh Cross
Junior Championship= Between Drumgath and Dundrum

[whitegoodman]

If Jerome is back its Kilcoo's to lose.

If Jerome not back, anyone's game.

[Cb66]

Castlewellan v Clonduff and Burren v Mayobridge definitely the pick. Agree that if the Johnstons return, Kilcoo are favourites again.

In the intermediate, An Riocht surely favourites although Liatroim seem to be resurgent under the new manager.

[oileain blues]

Kilcoo work hard play hard and will be hard to beat ,but if they have a weakness it could be in defence where they might be suspect when faced with a pacey forward line , but they are a slick outfit, Burren may have beat them earlier but Kilcoo may have learned a bit about themselves , so it's Kilcoo for me.

[saulzer]

An Riocht will win it if Gavin Corrigan is refereeing the final.

[SamFever]

An Riocht will win it if Gavin Corrigan is refereeing the final.

Gavin is one of the fairest Refs about the circuit.

[oileain blues]

Gavin may be fair but like many of our referees he misses a lot and gives odd decisions. No two referees interpret ate the rules the same and the lack of consistency is the problem with refereeing in Down.
It takes balls to stand in the middle and I respect each and every one regardless of grade as without them we have no football.
The standard has improved since the days of Pat Rooney, John Anthony,Frank Gough, Jimmy Flynn etc now these and some others could have started a row in heaven but they refereed some hard hard men and these men had the utmost respect for these refs, so lay of the refs , it's a thankless task and none of them deliberately go out to favour one team over another, and before it asked, I'm not a ref and have been sent of numerous times before the invention of the red card.

[super reds 99]

I think you will find the lack of consistency is not just a down matter just look at national level their is a lot of good referees in down but when it comes to championship latter stages of the championship it's the same names and not all who are picked I would say are the best in down!

[washed_up]

went to the games in Newry last night and was mostly disappointed with the level of football on show.Castlewellan started brightly but thereafter Clonduff were in command,Bryansford had more talented players available for selection with Downpatrick having a couple of notable absentees.The dependency on mass defence is absolutely killing our beloved sport, with managers required to get a result almost at any cost,the entertainment level in both games was poor,with shooting from distance largly non-existant and continual hand-passing from side to side accepted by all it seems, i know we in Down are not alone as County teams are exposing the whole nation to this type of behaviour.The Ulster final this year being a prime example .Some Castlewellan fans probably will feel slightly aggreived but i think their team captain Duffin only has himself to blame as his tackle selection and timing were all wrong,although Clonduff will want to perform better with a two man advantage,Reid in goal for Bryansford could be a future solution for Down- Burren and Mayobridge could be interesting with the former all-Ireland winners expected to advance and Kilcoo seem certain to beat Warrenpoint last quarter-final of the seniors.

[ranch]

Burren were very comfortable winners in the end v Mayobridge. Warrenpoint were within touching distance of Kilcoo for a large part of he match but the better team pulled away in the end. Some of the Point's bigger names in the forward line didn't perform at all.

[whitegoodman]

Bridge lost their discipline last night which seems to be a problem for them and the game went away from them after that.  Garvey and big Magee were wasted imo and O Rourke should have started if fit.  Could be the end of the road for Dawson there.

Burren were bang average in first half but a combination of the sending off and Shay McArdle deciding to turn it on meant it was a bit of a hiding in the end.  The return of Donal O Hare, Ryan Trainor and Anton McArdle will help them but they will still rely on the likes of Ciaran and Conal McGovern to pull them through.

The second game always seemed to have an inevitability about it but either Kilcoo are very good at sandbagging or they look one dimensional and one paced without the Johnstons.  If them boys come back in it will make a world of difference to them but its hard to see them being put straight into a championship semi final without any meaningful game time.

[umpire]

PRFC and RFC Finals is on this Saturday in Attical.

[speculative]

The 'Bridge have finally faltered out of the top 4. No longer in the reckoning as serious championship contenders. Massive rebuild needed.

Burren were impressive. Conor Toner and Mark McKay lorded midfield and made their domination count. Expect them to win it, they are undoubtedly the most talented side in the County.

[Mike Tyson]

An Riocht gave us a serious hiding last night, 4-18 to 2-10.

Marty Clarke back to his best. Scored two goals and was playing some beautiful passes. The form he's in right now it will be a farce if he doesn't get asked onto the panel next year.

I'd say they will win Down intermediate at a canter and probably Ulster too. Serious team and great to watch.

We on the other hand seem to have gone backwards since last year. We beat them by 12 in the intermediate final a year ago, so nearly a 30 point swing in a year. Will struggle to make it out out Division 2 on current form.

[whitegoodman]

Frank Dawson has left the bridge.............time for T O'Hare to step up