Down Club Hurling & Football

[washed_up]

Best wishes to Kilcoo today hope they can claim the Ulster title today i will be there to cheer them all the way Slaughtneil had a mighty last fifteen minutes to win the title two years ago and kilcoo play with such pace and precision -hopefully it will be a great spectacle UTM!!

[elk]

Packie O'Hagan will beat the Bridge on his own. Burren should have taken the Bridge in the first game. The point have a strong side and Donach McAleenan is an exciting talent. It will be interesting to see what Carryduff can do when they are up against a good team

The bridge won,was packie not playing?

[The Raven]

Packie O'Hagan will beat the Bridge on his own. Burren should have taken the Bridge in the first game. The point have a strong side and Donach McAleenan is an exciting talent. It will be interesting to see what Carryduff can do when they are up against a good team

The bridge won,was packie not playing?

What happened other semi. Results on Down web page say game abandoned

[snoopdog]

Hard luck Kilcoo. Heads up and go again next year. Highlights on tg4 at 5

[bridgegael]

Packie O'Hagan will beat the Bridge on his own. Burren should have taken the Bridge in the first game. The point have a strong side and Donach McAleenan is an exciting talent. It will be interesting to see what Carryduff can do when they are up against a good team

The bridge won,was packie not playing?

What happened other semi. Results on Down web page say game abandoned

Packie O'Hagan will beat the Bridge on his own. Burren should have taken the Bridge in the first game. The point have a strong side and Donach McAleenan is an exciting talent. It will be interesting to see what Carryduff can do when they are up against a good team

The bridge won,was packie not playing?

What happened other semi. Results on Down web page say game abandoned

Injury to carryduff player

[downjim]

Packie O'Hagan will beat the Bridge on his own. Burren should have taken the Bridge in the first game. The point have a strong side and Donach McAleenan is an exciting talent. It will be interesting to see what Carryduff can do when they are up against a good team

The bridge won,was packie not playing?

Sorry was away watching another Down team crumble in Ulster. Some of Kilcoo management decisions were baffling.
Big win for the Bridge. I was told their well was dry at underage but two finals on the trot is a good achievement.

How many Ulster finals have Down team been beaten in since 1988?

[Smurfy123]

CPN and Loughinisland have won ulsters don't forget clownjim
Hard luck Kilcoo no embarrassment getting beat in Ulster final

[downjim]

Niall McAvoy should have started.  McIvor and his band of followers made some wrong decisions . Is it true McIvor is heading to a team closer to home ?

[pointman2]

Kilcoo's big names did not perform, apart maybe from Johnston. Defence was good but midfield and upwards were very poor. And yet........they had their chances. But numbers 3, 6, 8 and 11 for Slaughtneill were very good.

Have to say it is not a good style of football tobwatch and no chance of an all Ireland there.

[The Stallion]

Agree, it's a horrible brand of football to watch. Not a vintage team by any means.

What's the craic with Down club football these days though? If Kilcoo are the best team in the County I wouldn't like to see your worst.

[SHEEDY]

disappointing day for kilcoo. their bigger name players didnt perform or more accurately werent allowed to perform, paul devlin and connor laverty had little or no impact on the game.  kilcoo's defence were good especially in the 2nd half but their forwards got little change from the slaughtneil defence.
darragh o hanlons decision to go short with a scoreable free with 10 minutes left was a big turning point, kilcoo had the momentum at that stage and instead of being a level match slaughtneil broke to make it a 2 point game.
kilcoo had chances and will be bitterly disappointed tonight but they done themselves proud all year. jerome was a major miss for kilcoo in a match like that.

[Mourne Rover]

There were some very tight margins at the Athletic Grounds today, and, while just about the better side won, Kilcoo had enough chances to get over the line. Paul Devlin had two fairly simple opportunities in front of goal, one from a 20m free and one from play, which both dropped short, while his marker, Rodgers, went up the other end and scored two points himself. O'Hanlon did all the hard work with a brilliant run and then sliced his shot wide, again inside the 20m line, before misplacing a pass inside the scoring zone and having to watch Slaughtneil go straight down the pitch and kick a point. The loss of Jerome Johnston was probably crucial but winning the hurling and football double is an incredible achievement for a fairly small club like Slaughtneil.

The big question is how many Kilcoo players may now join the Down squad. Presumably the two Johnstons, O'Hanlon and Paul Devlin will all be back. We could probably do with three of the Branagans, although they have apparently turned down previous opportunities. Niall Kane has a much better kick-out than his elder brother, and Ceilum Doherty would be a prospect if he filled out. Laverty was not at his best today, and may no longer be interested in county football, but it would be a pity if we never see him in a Down jersey again.

[thebar]

Agree, it's a horrible brand of football to watch. Not a vintage team by any means.

What's the craic with Down club football these days though? If Kilcoo are the best team in the County I wouldn't like to see your worst.

Dont understand the latter comment Kilcoo where there on merit and despite playing poor enough had there chances to win it. The 5 min period prior to half time when Slaughtneil got to 9-5 relatively quickly was vital and left alot for Kilcoo to do.. small things / mistakes all added up against Kilcoo, a poor kickout resulted in a point, a mix up with a short free kick lead to another when at the other end Kilcoo missed a few scores they would usually expect to get. Kilcoo though can be proud of where they have come from they are a serious team and have done their parish proud...Fair play to Slaughtneil though no one gives you these things they went out and earned it and on the day where the better team good luck to them in All Ireland stages.

[Smurfy123]

Yes stallion the standard in Down football is not great but that's hardly Kilcoo fault
They are a dogged team with no real stand out players but by god they play well as a team
We won't look back in 20 years and talk about a great brand of football they play but what they do play is affective
For Down I would have johnstones Kane O Hanlon Branaganx1

[snoopdog]

After what the county board did to Kilcoo you might find that their players won't want to pull on the Down jersey. Hope not but who could blame them. Down are far from their thoughts now they know today was a massive chance unfortunately they just couldn't get over the line. They will have another go next year . The rest in Down have a way to go to challenge them.