Messages

Annaclone, as hot favourites for the IFC, were fairly ordinary against Glasdrumman tonight in a game which could easily have gone to a replay. Gary McArdle was the main man, with strength and pace at midfield, and might well be worth another run in the Down defence, while John Haughey at wing half back was also excellent. However, the Clone forwards were a pedestrian bunch, and hit numerous wides from relatively easy positions. If they had not got a goal largely out of the blue early in the second half, they would have been in big trouble towards the end.

Glasdrumman kept plugging away, mostly through Cormac Murphy who got 2-4 of their 2-5 total, and Ryan Doran, who was in the Down minor squad and looked a quality defender. Their other county minor, Connaire Harrison, had an off-day, apart from one monster free in the second half. Glasdrumman were a point behind in injury time, and missed a great chance as well as giving up possession when they had men free. Clone then got a fine point from a free with practically the last kick, but Darragh Cross cannot be ruled out in the final.

MFC A SF Bryansford 1-10 Bredagh 1-5. The score is misleading, as the Ford goal came with the last kick in what was a very tight game. Bredagh had a nervous start against the wind at Ardglass, and took a long time to settle. By the time they did, the Ford were seven up. Bredagh steadily pegged them back, and, if a couple of big refereeing calls had not gone against them, they might have sneaked it. It was up for grabs in injury time, with the Ford just holding on by two points and Bredagh throwing everything at them. One misplaced pass saw a three on one breakway for the Ford  goal. The Ford were strong down the middle, which suited the heavy conditions.

Carr was asked by Paddy Heaney if Michael Walsh might be the next player, after Stephen O'Neill, to make a dramatic return to a county squad. Carr could have been joking, but his response came across as completely dismissive.

Super Dupe, surely the infamous flying kick against Oisin McConville at Casement was the work of Sean Ward rather than Gregory McCartan ? Ward was probably on the bench for Burren last night, so you could have asked him yourself.

Many thanks, ITOB. The phrase which springs to mind is - Point Taken.

Benny has had the opportunity to play one senior championship match at Croke Park in his career. Down were pretty dreadful on the day, and Benny was double marked, but he still hit a couple of fine points. His goal-scoring record at championship level still compares to the best in the game, and he got another four this summer in a reasonably limited team. It might be better to judge him when he has had three or four runs at HQ, but his international rules performances would suggest that he is in or around the top of the scale.

If Scalder believes we should take nothing to do with the northern state because of Bloody Sunday and Aidan McAnespie (not McAnaspie), I wonder what he thinks we should do about the people who blew up the Athletic Grounds and robbed Casement Park ? The truth is that the GAA has suffered at the hands of a range of groups in the past. We can either boycott them all or try to move forward.

Down Gael is quite right to say that we should take a relaxed attitude to the NI/RoI soccer debate, but I am not sure about his suggestion that the result of the 1966 World Cup final was announced to the crowd at that year's Ulster final. I was at the game at Casement Park, and I cannot remember that happening. A quick Google shows that the World Cup final was played on a Saturday (July 30), so the idea that the score really was announced at Casement seems a little unlikely. The 1966 Ulster final, in which Down beat Donegal, was actually shown live on BBC television, something which did not happen again for almost another 30 years.

I'll keep Square Ball happy by tipping Bredagh to go up with Glasdrumman. However, if Bredagh are still in the IFC after this afternoon, it may not necessarily help their promotion chances.

I have seen a fair bit of division three, and I know Drumgrath have been missing Lynch and Downey for most of the season. I also think they are a better side than the league leaders, Ardglass, who are hard to watch and have usually been grinding out dour results. However, Glasdrumman are a free-scoring team who, apart from a couple of off-days, have consistently run up some big totals against the main clubs They are looking good for promotion at this stage, while the gap between Drumgath and a play-off spot is fairly daunting.

Can I refer Brick Tamlin and Corn O2 to previous posts about the Quarter Road residents. It is neither Glasdrummand nor Glassdrumman, but Glasdrumman. They are the best footballing side in division three, so perhaps we could take the trouble to spell their name correctly. On a good day, they will also give Warrenpoint quite a game.

Martin Clarke also supports Derby County, if a few sad types want to get stuck into him over that as well. As this is supposed to be a GAA forum, I was more interested in the suggestion from the aptly named Muppet that Clarke did not play particularly well in the 2005 AI minor final. He actually almost missed it entirely due to a hand injury, but, in the game I was at, he won every ball that came anywhere near him, set up a string of Down attacks and was probably the biggest single reason that we were ten points up by the middle of the second half and coasted through the closing stages. He also kicked a monster point from outside the 45m line that brought gasps from even the Tyrone supporters on Hill 16. Clarke probably played even better in the QF against Galway and the semi against Offaly, but we simply do not know how he would perform at senior level for Down. I only hope we get the chance to find out.

The BBC has now corrected it, so someone is paying attention.

The BBC website has a headline saying that `St Gall's crashed out' of the Antrim SFC tonight, which would be quite a story. Closer inspection reveals that that it was St Paul's who lost, so Antrim should really put a stop to these teams with rhyming names.

Healy has an incredible international goals record but his stats at club level are poor. He got ten for Leeds in 06/07 but at least half of those were penalties. Last season, he managed four for Fulham. He never really convinced the Leeds fans and Roy Hodgson dropped him as soon as he took over Fulham. He is a natural finisher when he gets a bit of space for NI, but the evidence is that he lacks the pace and strength for club football. It is very difficult to see him starting if Keane has everyone available.

I am by no means a Tyrone supporter, and I would have questioned Dooher's approach in the past, but he was wonderful against the Dubs from the start until he was subbed late on. He took a range of big hits and kept going throughout. Any criticism should be directed against Cavanagh, who might have got a red card for the shoulder to the face on Whelan, and then Whelan himself, who should have been off immediately for his own reckless high tackle. However, Dooher showed Dublin how football should be played.