Down Club Hurling & Football

[Mid Down Gael]

Lads ignore anything that man writes.

[Pangurban]

Matt must have enjoyed more than the HT Sandwiches

[13aside]

any news on the league fixtures and dates for 2012?

[amallon]

Cork v Down http://youtu.be/W2O-SriNpPo

[redandblackareback]

Cork v Down http://youtu.be/W2O-SriNpPo

complete shambles!! The defending particularly in the first half was a complete disgrace, so far off our men it was unreal maybe thats something to do with the bullshit system we r playing. Dont want to go over old ground but i really think Mc Iver is going to turn out to be a big big loss, we might have replaced the trainer ie o rourke for tally but we havent replaced someone with the same know how as Mc Iver, not sure how good J Johnston is along the line except for maybe squeezing as many kilcoo men in as possible  (only a joke Mid down gael) 

[NP 76]

Funny the Kilcoo men were the pick of them last week !

[NP 76]

See that Mooney made his Debut today for Collingwood against Great Western thats good going for him so soon

[Leo]

Very quiet on this thread at a time when our football fortunes look bleak.
Does anyone know why Ambrose was not in Cork?
And Gough?
Can we afford to have the likes of McComiskey & O'Reilly opt out?
Is Daniel McCartan (& half the Buren team) untouchable?
Where are Luke Howard & Paul Murphy who would be in my team any day?
Nobody I know knows....
So

[Mourne Rover]

Aidan O'Rourke said that Ambrose is still struggling for fitness so it was decided not to take him to Cork. Gough is a teenager, and would not have been expected to make the first team for the league this year. McComiskey wanted a break but will hopefully be back later in the year. O'Reilly has only returned home after a couple of years in Australia, and wants to concentrate on his university studies. Howard is reportedly in Australia as well, and Murphy had a bit of a disaster when he got his chance against Clare in the qualifiers last summer. Daniel McCartan was replaced before half-time in our last game, so it does not look at though he is untouchable.

There's no doubt that we are missing quite a few players for a variety of reasons, but there is still enough quality in our squad to stay in division one. While the performance in Cork was bitterly disappointing, the Kerry game will be a great opportunity to see what we are made of.

[NP 76]

Ambrose was at the carrickdale but was told not to travel
Gough was left at home when although young at least might of caught a ball
Mc comiskey is injuried and from Queens last game i honestly dont think O Reily is a big loss although i was delighted to see him come home from Oz
daniel was not the probelm against Cork and has been made a scapegoat at full back when the best solution we have is at wing half forward/mid field doing very little
Howard away in oz as far as i know Murphy not up to scratch as the Clare game last year showed 
I still think Aidan O Rourke is wrong no harm to him in the way they treated Ambrose but thats just my opinion

[western exile]

This might be relevant on here since there has been a lot of debate recently about the "style" of football that Down are playing. It is taken from a Kieran Shannon interveiw with Tony McEntee published in the Irish Examiner last Saturday before their game

McEntee acknowledges there's a fist passing "epidemic" currently plaguing football but he doesn't necessarily think it's an issue for the legislators to curb but rather a trend that more progressive coaches will resist. Ultimately he feels the short game will only take you so far. If a player can't kick pass the ball, he and his team can only develop so much.

"I think coaches are going for the easy option in trying to keep possession and defensively trying to limit opponents to 10 points and then hope for the best up front. They're playing four across the middle and six defenders and leaving four forwards up front but for me that's not a good system. They're not taking advantage of the forwards they have. They're not driving forward.

"What we're seeing on the football field at the moment is a consequence of what's happening on the training ground. Teams are focused on high conditioned stuff, working the ball out, taking the hit, don't lose possession, so then in a match situation players find themselves on the ball with their heads down. They hardly look up."

There's a simple reason, he maintains, why Crossmaglen play the way they do — it works. The alternative doesn't, not even for the teams who can play that alternative reasonably well.

[EagleLord]

Very quiet on this thread at a time when our football fortunes look bleak.
Does anyone know why Ambrose was not in Cork?
And Gough?
Can we afford to have the likes of McComiskey & O'Reilly opt out?
Is Daniel McCartan (& half the Buren team) untouchable?
Where are Luke Howard & Paul Murphy who would be in my team any day?
Nobody I know knows....
So

Luke Howard is in Australia too.

[here comes 6]

Any word on the New sponsor?

[alba2]

The under 21s took a serious hammering at the weekend from Armagh.  Is this the best we have to offer at that age group or were there players missing apart form mayobridge players who were on club duty the next day???

[EagleLord]

The under 21s took a serious hammering at the weekend from Armagh.  Is this the best we have to offer at that age group or were there players missing apart form mayobridge players who were on club duty the next day???

Was that in the championship??