well folks
nothing but a win will suffice for us, as we have 1 point.....
Down have that extra breathing room of 3 points and home advantage it's gonna be tough!
Most insightful post I've ever read on this Board.As an omen,many people Louth come into Newry every weekend empty handed and leave with a car boot full of stuff
From The Argus...
Louth
Shane Lennon and Ray Finnegan are out, though the latter played for his club at the weekend. Brian White and Derek Crilly are doubtful, but John O'Brien and Neil Gallagher look set to make a comeback.
QuoteThe players tell me Down hold no fears for them and that they have a good record against them. They're in a good frame of mind.
Down
James McCartan has no real injury worries and may welcome back Ambrose Rogers, Declan Rooney and Conor Laverty, with the latter most likely to start.
Thanks T Fearon spent alot of time on the piece!
here's another nugget....we need to play really well while they need to have a bad day at the office to get 2points?
Wonder what the craic with Ray is?
It is also crucial that you outscore Down as well. :P
Down will be hopeful of two points but I think this is a banana skin for us.
I'd nearly give Louth a point to keep the pressure on Armagh ;D
ha! it does look like Armagh are gonners!!
who is the latest Down player out for the season?
Quote from: mattockranger on February 26, 2014, 10:39:47 AM
ha! it does look like Armagh are gonners!!
who is the latest Down player out for the season?
Hughes, Harrison, Savage. Take your pick.
Really?
just seen this
Irish News Sport @irishnewssport In today's Irish News: Bad news for Down fans as they suffer another loss for the season
McVeigh back in saturday night so?
Always a close game with our neighbours from Leinster and the presence of AOR adds a bit of spice. If Down aren't fully focussed on this then Louth will take advantage. Not a lot between the teams but we should have more confidence on the back of the Athletic Grounds. Hope to see Donal O'Hare cut loose a bit more than first two games and hopefully some of the injured men will see some game time; two points will be important for the rest of the year.
On a separate note, many have criticised the GAA for admission prices ( myself included) but clearing out stuff recently I came across a ticket for the Louth V Down league game in Drogheda in 2007- the price of a seat was 15 euro !
Quote from: Dubh driocht on February 26, 2014, 07:44:21 PM
On a separate note, many have criticised the GAA for admission prices ( myself included) but clearing out stuff recently I came across a ticket for the Louth V Down league game in Drogheda in 2007- the price of a seat was 15 euro !
And you had to bring your own seat. ;) Louth won quite comfortably that day in Drogheda, but Down won the last two meetings, in 2008 Coulter came on as a late sub and turned the game, at times without even touching the ball, the home defence were terrified of him and then in Newry in 2009 we missed a penalty and lost by a point. Home advantage could swing it on Saturday night.
QuoteHome advantage could swing it on Saturday night.
Can't Louth score into the Armagh goal?
Down should be winning this handy but it's a sign of Louth's progress coupled with Down's apparent decline that Louth are in with a real shout.
Armagh found out that Louth were no pushovers.
Brian White could be back for us on Sunday...he'll be a big help.....free taking wise.
I see King is back he'll hardly be match fit after his honeymoon?
It will certainly be tight...
(to say we've gained nothing since Fitzer left is completely untrue....not getting into it on this thread)
haha! very true!
Maybe he might be rested for fear of burnout!
An Lú V An Dún
NEIL GALLAGHER
PADRAIG RATH, DESSIE FINNEGAN, KEITH MCLOUGHLIN,
JOHN O BRIEN, PATRICK REILLY, LIAM SHEVLIN,
PADDY KEENAN, BEVAN DUFFY,
ADRIAN REID, COLM JUDGE, DECLAN BYRNE,
ANDY MC DONNELL, EOIN O CONNOR, DEREK MAGUIRE.
who is Bevan Duffy?
any good? big risk throwing him in the middle!
Is it being shown on setanta?
QuoteIs it being shown on setanta?
Of course not. Setanta is showing important teams like Dublin and Armagh.
Down are unchanged from the Armagh game, although James does like the occasional late switch. Louth usually put it up to Down, and O'Rourke will bring a few insights to the process, so it should be a decent match.
1 Shane Harrison
2 Daniel McCartan
3 Brendan McArdle
4 Darren O'Hagan
5 Ryan Boyle
6 Aidan Carr
7 Conor Garvey
8 Peter Turley
9 Ryan Mallon
10 Kevin McKernan
11 Mark Poland
12 Conor Maginn
13 Donal O'Hare
14 Niall Madine
15 Jerome Johnston
As Ryan Mallon is not going to be available for the rest of the season, would it not be wiser for James to give game time to one the fringe players who will probably be needed as the season progresses
Quote from: Mourne Rover on February 28, 2014, 11:48:22 PM
Down are unchanged from the Armagh game, although James does like the occasional late switch. Louth usually put it up to Down, and O'Rourke will bring a few insights to the process, so it should be a decent match.
1 Shane Harrison
2 Daniel McCartan
3 Brendan McArdle
4 Darren O’Hagan
5 Ryan Boyle
6 Aidan Carr
7 Conor Garvey
8 Peter Turley
9 Ryan Mallon
10 Kevin McKernan
11 Mark Poland
12 Conor Maginn
13 Donal O’Hare
14 Niall Madine
15 Jerome Johnston
hope im wrong, but I'd be worried were the scores are going to come from in that team. mckernan, maginn, Johnston and even madine aren't exactly prolific scorers. O'Hare hasn't scored from play yet and the midfield or defence aren't chipping in with many scores either. down are lacking that marquee forward that seperates the top teams from the rest. v worried about tonights game, don't think it will be the easyish win a lot down fans are thinking.
It would be foolish not to expect a tight derby tonight, which is a pretty good reason to select Mallon. Experimentation is fine in the McKenna Cup but this is an important league fixture in which a win will put us at least temporarily into a promotion place and a defeat in a tight division would drag us back towards a relegation fight. It may also be unlikely that Mallon will feature again this season, but, with Brussels a 90 minute flight from Dublin, a proper personal training programme for him would at least give us cover in the half back, midfield and half forward lines.
It would also be great if we had a forward running up big scores from play this year but O'Hare was doing that last season and we still got relegated because we were leaking too much at the back. A defensive approach is against our traditions, but we will lose tonight if we concede sloppy goals and a clean sheet would give us a great chance of two points
As a neutral I want my money back. Down can only beat what's in front of them, Louth were awful.
Down should stay in Division 2 and now have a chance of promotion, while Louth deserve to be in Division 3 on the basis of what was served up tonight.
Quote from: babarino on March 01, 2014, 09:02:16 PM
As a neutral I want my money back. Down can only beat what's in front of them, Louth were awful.
Down should stay in Division 2 and now have a chance of promotion, while Louth deserve to be in Division 3 on the basis of what was served up tonight.
don't think I have ever left a game so early. Louth were piss poor, Galway don't seem to be much better, a win next week and promotion is a very realistic target.
Nothing much to say about that- Madine and O'Hare were excellent during the short period (10 minutes) it was competitive, Aidan Carr is blooming and that's two out of three clean sheets for Shane Harrison. Is Aidan O'Rourke the worst manager in Ireland ?
Quote from: Dubh driocht on March 01, 2014, 09:59:45 PM
Nothing much to say about that- Madine and O'Hare were excellent during the short period (10 minutes) it was competitive, Aidan Carr is blooming and that's two out of three clean sheets for Shane Harrison. Is Aidan O'Rourke the worst manager in Ireland ?
What period was that?
Quote from: Dubh driocht on March 01, 2014, 09:59:45 PM
Nothing much to say about that- Madine and O'Hare were excellent during the short period (10 minutes) it was competitive, Aidan Carr is blooming and that's two out of three clean sheets for Shane Harrison. Is Aidan O'Rourke the worst manager in Ireland ?
After Armagh's result tonight he's probably switched places with Grimley.
The difference between the two teams tonight was fitness.
Down looked like they could go on for another 20 minutes at full time while Louth looked fecked at halftime.
Jerome Johnston and Aidan Carr were the standouts for me. Mallon will be a big miss when he heads away.
Hard to believe that Louth were nine points up against Armagh who then won in Meath tonight so this is a bit of a strange division. Down only needed to be reasonable this evening as Louth were poor and could conceivably have lost by more in the end as it turned into a training exercise
The main pluses for Down were Harrison, who apart from one dodgy kick out followed by a brilliant save, is looking good, Carr who cruised throughout the match and particularly O'Hare who finished with 1-11 and Madine up front. No one had a bad game and Benny came off the bench to get two kicks and two goals.
Tuam is always a tough place to go, but if we get a result there next week we will be very much in the frame for promotion.
Quote from: SHEEDY on March 01, 2014, 07:31:17 AM
Quote from: Mourne Rover on February 28, 2014, 11:48:22 PM
Down are unchanged from the Armagh game, although James does like the occasional late switch. Louth usually put it up to Down, and O'Rourke will bring a few insights to the process, so it should be a decent match.
1 Shane Harrison
2 Daniel McCartan
3 Brendan McArdle
4 Darren O'Hagan
5 Ryan Boyle
6 Aidan Carr
7 Conor Garvey
8 Peter Turley
9 Ryan Mallon
10 Kevin McKernan
11 Mark Poland
12 Conor Maginn
13 Donal O'Hare
14 Niall Madine
15 Jerome Johnston
hope im wrong, but I'd be worried were the scores are going to come from in that team. mckernan, maginn, Johnston and even madine aren't exactly prolific scorers. O'Hare hasn't scored from play yet and the midfield or defence aren't chipping in with many scores either. down are lacking that marquee forward that seperates the top teams from the rest. v worried about tonights game, don't think it will be the easyish win a lot down fans are thinking.
Scorers for Down: D O'Hare 1-10 (9f), B Coulter 2-0, C Maginn 1-0, N Madine 0-2, K McKernan 0-1, M Poland 0-1, J Johnston 0-1 (f), P Fitzpatrick 0-1
Quote from: Mourne Rover on March 01, 2014, 10:30:26 PM
Hard to believe that Louth were nine points up against Armagh who then won in Meath tonight so this is a bit of a strange division. Down only needed to be reasonable this evening as Louth were poor and could conceivably have lost by more in the end as it turned into a training exercise
The main pluses for Down were Harrison, who apart from one dodgy kick out followed by a brilliant save, is looking good, Carr who cruised throughout the match and particularly O'Hare who finished with 1-11 and Madine up front. No one had a bad game and Benny came off the bench to get two kicks and two goals.
Tuam is always a tough place to go, but if we get a result there next week we will be very much in the frame for promotion.
Mourne Rover, is it definitely Tuam, and not Salthill?
QuoteHard to believe that Louth were nine points up against Armagh who then won in Meath tonight so this is a bit of a strange division.
Armagh were pure rank in the first half against Louth, Grimley must have made them push the bus from Dunleer. Against Down, Armagh played much better and would have beaten Louth on that form and were unlucky enough not to get something from the Down game.
Darren Clarke was Louth's only scorer in the first half and was immediately replaced??? No point in trying to look for any positives tonight, the only positive thing that can come from tonights shambles is O'Rourkes long over due resignation/sacking.
Quote from: All of a Sludden on March 01, 2014, 10:59:08 PM
Darren Clarke was Louth's only scorer in the first half and was immediately replaced??? No point in trying to look for any positives tonight, the only positive thing that can come from tonights shambles is O'Rourkes long over due resignation/sacking.
Don't understand how you (Down supporters who are quick to bash an Armagh man) can put that performance down to O'Rourke. The basics that you expect at this level were absent - discipline in the tackle, the quality of passing, accuracy shooting for scores, were the most obvious. And it's not as if Down are that good.
Western Exile, the official website of the association at gaa.ie lists it for Tuam. Salthill is marginally closer for Down fans travelling via Dublin but it is a long trip regardless of the venue. Galway's results have been surprisingly poor to date, so they will probably throw everything at us next Sunday.
QuoteHe's the man that's in charge, the man that's responsible for preparing them, so yes the buck stops with him.
Write to O'Rourke and ask for it back.
Ok so we're in bainisteoir bashing mode. Mc Cartan and one of his backroom staff heaped abuse at the ref and linesman in the Monaghan game. No action taken.
Tonight he didn't have to lose his cool, maybe O'Rourke should have, but we had to wait an extra five minutes for the 2nd half for the Down side to come out. The Louth players had to do a warm up (not that they did it in the first half) before they eventually made it out. How long is Mc Cartan going to get away with this?
As flat as Louth looked as a down man I was very impressed with our tackling intensity and even more so with the lads fitness levels , that's the third game now and in each nearing the end we have looked the fitter side which is an area in which had room for improvement . Hopefully we can carry this through the league into the Tyrone match .
On a side note , someone should start a thread on this topic , has there been a more clinical goal scorer in the last 20 years in our sport as Benny Coulter . I was at that end of the ground and when his second sailed in you could see young Jerome J glance over , nearly in awe . Great example for his young team mates coming through .
you can only beat what's put it in front of you. louth were woeful, down weren't great either but didn't need to be. the 2nd half was more like a challenge match, down didn't need to get out of 2nd gear. 2pts against galway next week will set us up nicely for a promotion push.
Quote
Why are you ORourke's number one fan?
Ulster title first year in charge, acknowledged the groundwork of his predecessors, tactically astute, bringing in new players, broadening the panel...
Quote from: babarino on March 02, 2014, 01:50:35 PM
Quote
Why are you ORourke's number one fan?
Ulster title first year in charge, acknowledged the groundwork of his predecessors, tactically astute, bringing in new players, broadening the panel...
You seem to be getting your O'Rourkes mixed up.
The game on Saturday night was a strange one.
I was genuinely apprehensive about playing Louth and was thinkin it was a definite banana skin. How wrong could I have been?
Louth were absolutely bloody woeful. They actually made Down look brilliant at times. Down wouldn't learn too much from that performance at all and yeah they can only bate whats put in front of them but I never expected the opposition to roll over so easy.
The no12 kicked some great scores but he only started to do this the last 5 mins. The no14 was an eejit to put it simply. Kicking balls away in petulance and acting the wag.
The naivety in the tackle astounded me too. As Down men were bending to collect a ball on the floor the Louth men were all too happy to tackle them carelessly rather than stand off. Also at times 3 men would be bating the head off a Down man in the tackle (Madine in the 1st half) and somehow expect not to give away a free. The 2 O'Rourkes looked pretty lost to be fair and from what I was hearing around me the Louth faithful don't take to them too fondly.
Down players performed as they had to, without being overly impressive. Their movement and sharpness really wont the game. wouldn't be picking out any one player for exceptional performance. Its another win and we roll on into what will be a defining 2 games for us in this league. If we can get a win at Galway we would be doing well.
On a side note, the parking or lack of it around the ground now is a nightmare.
Quote from: John o connor on March 02, 2014, 09:56:24 AM
As flat as Louth looked as a down man I was very impressed with our tackling intensity and even more so with the lads fitness levels , that's the third game now and in each nearing the end we have looked the fitter side which is an area in which had room for improvement . Hopefully we can carry this through the league into the Tyrone match .
On a side note , someone should start a thread on this topic , has there been a more clinical goal scorer in the last 20 years in our sport as Benny Coulter . I was at that end of the ground and when his second sailed in you could see young Jerome J glance over , nearly in awe . Great example for his young team mates coming through .
I enjoyed this insight when I read it last week. Unfortunately it sounds like young Jerome didn't learn from what he saw when he had his chance(s) in Galway.
Look the lad missed a few chances down in Galway alright but he's young and situations like that will only improve him , we ve plenty of good youth coming through but we need to give them time
Agreed.
Quote from: John o connor on March 12, 2014, 11:49:10 PM
Look the lad missed a few chances down in Galway alright but he's young and situations like that will only improve him , we ve plenty of good youth coming through but we need to give them time
Quote from: Aristo 60 on March 13, 2014, 10:57:03 AM
Agreed.
where are all these good youth players yous speak of and why are they not on the panel? how much more time are you willing to give? another 20 years? we've been hearing about our brilliant young players coming through since 1994. will we have to wait another 20 years?
Quote from: SHEEDY on March 13, 2014, 05:15:53 PM
Quote from: John o connor on March 12, 2014, 11:49:10 PM
Look the lad missed a few chances down in Galway alright but he's young and situations like that will only improve him , we ve plenty of good youth coming through but we need to give them time
Quote from: Aristo 60 on March 13, 2014, 10:57:03 AM
Agreed.
where are all these good youth players yous speak of and why are they not on the panel? how much more time are you willing to give? another 20 years? we've been hearing about our brilliant young players coming through since 1994. will we have to wait another 20 years?
I think JoC is saying there are young guys (O'Hanlon, Johnston X 2, Madine, O'Hare etc.) already on the team and panel and we just need to give them time.
I don't think we'll have to wait another 20 years. But we'll need our Australians all home.
Anyway, RTE say Donegal by 2. Here's hoping they haven't factored in another last minute Poly onion bag special into that prediction... ;D
Spot on aristo , I was talking about players already on panel some of whom you mentioned but also mc parland , o hagan etc . It's generally a young enough outfit now also mc kernan , Garvey , Fitzpatrick , mc comiskey and others all have years ahead of them !
I think some people on here just can't wait to stick the boot in wee James , given players missing over the last few seasons through injuries , soccer , Aussie rules or immigration I think he has seriously over achieved . It takes a golden generation of players coming through at the same time to really challenge ie Armagh , Tyrone or Donegal so lets not knock our young lads too much ,they give a serious amount of effort and time and I'm sure we ll have plenty of good days out thanks to this over the next few years