Down Club Hurling & Football

[MK]

Better team won today, point can have no excuses. Team of the decade maybe even the last 25 years

Well done to Kilcoo and Glenn today

Kilcoo undoubtedly the team of the decade....as for the last 25 years they have merely matched the Bridge in winning multiple county titles..yet not conquering Ulster -never mind even getting a look at Andy Merrigan

when the bridge lost there stranglehold on the down championship they never got it back but kilcoo came straight back with another title some team

Yes PTC ,You are correct in both your statements-however you have not addressed the issue that the all conquering Bridge and Kilcoo sides have failed to progress beyond the County.... some team surely...within the County...maybe Micky will deliver-after all is that not what he was employed for?

[terrifictommy]

Not as good as the team from a few years ago where I genuinely thought they have a chance in Ulster. This team will not pass the first hurdle.

Congratulations to Glenn, fairly good performance without excelling.

Kilcoo better team. Thought Ward was brilliant. 1-04 between two midfielders.

[Last Caress]

Now Jarlath Burns has commented on kilcooos sledging. No place in the game for that and if he gets in as president he will be stamping it out. Anyword how Kilcoo got on at the ulster council appeals last night? They would have been safer to take the suspension and move on as it has got some bad publicity since Sunday. This has happened before so it's not a one off incident

is this the same jarlath burns that also says we need to do away with the tri colour and irish national anthem?🤔

And what would be terribly wrong with that ? Sports association nothing else and time to maker it more welcoming for others. Too many rednecks who want to keep us in the past , maybe they can't wield influence anymore through violence and are trying to keep the GAA back thankfully we are progressives and moving away from this political nonsense.

Tomorrow a progressive town and club with lots of crossover from football to the gaelic can hopefully soon be the symbol of a new GAA as opposed to one redneck club that is firmly rooted in the past.

The peoples favourites can be a real new symbol of sport - the point to win by 7 masterminded yet again by Barney.
Barney's legacy is the Burren great teams (he had a serious impact on all those he coached from Burren) and now his stamp is on the point.

Come out come where ever you are...

[Johnny McCumiskey]

One simply question how many medals do the Brannigan brothers have between them? Would it be a record for the one family of brothers

[Mourne Rover]

Aidan, Niall and Aaron probably have eight each, Dabs maybe six and Genie about four. The total for the brothers is therefore around 34 or more although someone from Kilcoo can no doubt give an accurate figure. Is it correct that only Aidan played at senior county level ?

[whitegoodman]

Niall has played for Down.

The McGovern brothers must have a fair chunk of medals between them but maybe not as much as the brannigans.  However if you asked Aidan and co I'm sure they would swap a couple of their county medals for Ulster and All Ireland ones.

[guevara]

Congratulations to Kilcoo. Just a bit cuter and dragged us into a poor game. I thought we paid them too much respect and adapted our game, and ultimately it suited them more than us.

The game was there for the taking and I believe having played poorly we played the better football. But frees cost us and Sharvin was fairly soft in awarding some, but no excuses.

Dylan Ward was excellent and Jerome caused us problems too.

Good Luck.to Kilcoo in Ulster.

[Brick Tamlin]

Bit of a damp squib yesterday.
The first game was poor enough fare with Glenn doing their best to throw it away and Shamrocks throwing the kitchen sink at them up until the finish. I was led to believe Glenn had more quality in their side but for long periods they werent showing it, whereas Shamrocks were pluckily going for it but just lacked the same quality across their team. It wasnt until more direct route was taken by both teams that they got any joy (a re-occurring theme for both games). Dont think anyone wouldve begrudged Shamrocks a draw in the end had they managed to nick one more score when only a point in it. Glenn definitely over-played things and were more wasteful n possession and done alot of fartin about. Dont think they will make much impression in Ulster but no doubt theyll be glad with their lot this season. Shamrocks need to build on that and really get a consistency over a season and be playing their football in div 2.

The senior game was a cagey affair for long periods, with both teams going score for score back n forth up until the last 5mins or so. A game was never really allowed to break out with an awful lot of frees being awarded throughout. The ref  seemed to blow for alot of things before the offence actually occurred, he never let things materialise or develop and seemed to take a safe option quickly whistling.

Both teams were very evenly matched and the key match ups were working for both sides with Aaron Brannigan probably keeping John Boyle as quiet as anyone could, even though he was still very influential. Similarly young McCartan had the measure of Laverty and his antics (Ref should be applauded for not buying the bullshit), though he had a key hand in Kilcoos goal. It was a game where a goal would definitely swing the result heavily and it probably proved to be the winning of it for the magpies. They hit a 4min purple patch midway through 2nd half registering 1-2 in quick succession which allowed them the breathing space to hang on in the end and hit Point on the break. They managed the finish to the game the way a seasoned team of winners would be expected to whilst the Point were forced to push on and go for broke.

Kilcoo definitely dont have the same quality of previous teams or potentially their opponents but in games like this its clear that quality alone wont suffice and thats where they seem to eek out results. Theyve integrated a few newish faces that have improved certain areas ie Dylan Ward at Midfield being the obvious one. Point were far too conservative i think and they maybe should sprang big Grant from the bench alot earlier, as the direct route to him in last few minutes was yielding results and Kilcoo generally struggle against big ball-winning target men. Maybe less tiki-taka and a bit more direct play from them could seen them score more. McGarry was well marshalled and didnt have the backup to weigh in with supporting scores, with Mallon's bag out earlier than normal and MacAleenan well marshalled, they struggled for scores. A mention to both keepers for saving the day for their sides with decent saves and generally good distribution. A game where Kilcoo stepped it up for a few mins and made hay whereas Point didnt perform how they could have.

Not a huge amount on view to make Tally think about either with maybe Point goalie, Boyle, Murdock and Magee for Point and maybe Dylan Ward, Aaaron and Daryl Brannigan from Kilcoo looking like county material.

[downjim]

Poor game yesterday, ref looked very nervous. Cpn threw it away especially with Donaghs goal chance. Open top bus tour for the bridesmaids in the point later.
In all seriousness though, worse championship in years, standard was terrible.

[6th sam]

Poor game yesterday, ref looked very nervous. Cpn threw it away especially with Donaghs goal chance. Open top bus tour for the bridesmaids in the point later.
In all seriousness though, worse championship in years, standard was terrible.

Thought ref was excellent , the fact that there's not much complaining about him indicates he got most things right.

[PTC]

Poor game yesterday, ref looked very nervous. Cpn threw it away especially with Donaghs goal chance. Open top bus tour for the bridesmaids in the point later.
In all seriousness though, worse championship in years, standard was terrible.

I also thought the ref did well, don't think the standard is that bad. I watched the Dublin championship on Saturday evening thought it was terrible we just don't see an open game of football these days

[terrifictommy]

Nice post Brick. Did Ward get the MOM?

First game - Glenn just about seen it over the line. Never really got going. Don't think I've seen so many black cards before in one game.

Second game - CPN will be ruing their performance. Struggled to get direct quick ball to inside forwards. But Kilcoo, as I thought, snuffed their danger fairly well. The goal chance for CPN needed to be taken. Ref was good, harsh to criticise that and in fairness neither the crowd or players reacted to his decisions - which is a good indicator.

[Nanderson]

Nice post Brick. Did Ward get the MOM?

First game - Glenn just about seen it over the line. Never really got going. Don't think I've seen so many black cards before in one game.

Second game - CPN will be ruing their performance. Struggled to get direct quick ball to inside forwards. But Kilcoo, as I thought, snuffed their danger fairly well. The goal chance for CPN needed to be taken. Ref was good, harsh to criticise that and in fairness neither the crowd or players reacted to his decisions - which is a good indicator.

Aidan Brannigan picked up MOTM

[thewobbler]

Sadly modern football is a game where only 2 or 3 players on each side have the gravitas/presence to be allowed to take risks. Everyone else is there basically not to make mistakes.

It won't fix itself in the short term either. It's almost impossible to blame coaches for doing this, for being able to mould a team into a system, requires dedication and determination to a structure.

—-

Well done to Kilcoo. I'd have preferred the trophy went to Warrenpoint for no other reason than I hate monopolies in sport, but you have to admire the Magpies; they're absolutely relentless and a marvellous club.

[terrifictommy]

Thanks - Couldn't argue with that either. Thought Ward had a good game too.