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Great appointment! I take it he'll be by himself this year with Mulholland taking the county minor job?

Is that confirmed 5sams? Messages on here a few weeks back said he was taking Annaclone next year!!!

Is it true that Shane Mulholland has been appointed Down Minor manager? If so then its a great appointment by the county Board. If the players are their, he will take them far!

Another wee dig at Poacher here....you must seriously hate him. Explain?

haha confused...i don't think stevie would be that sad...or would he?

I'm just speaking from personal experience and I couldn't say a bad word about him.  He takes alot of stick on here from boys who probably haven't even meet him.   

p.s thanks Down follower...don't let the cat outa the bag 

We'll the bridge got to the Championship Final Last year and would of won only for two mistakes by the keeper.

Ballyholland finished 5th in the league this year and were dealt a bad hand with their Championship Group.

He won the 2nd Division with An Roicht when it was a harder league that it is now. Granted he was in charge when they were relegated but they were really hampered with players emigrating. Think must clubs in the county would struggle

Also Our_fella said that he was chased from the Down u21 scene...doesn't mention that he was in charge of the Down u17 Development Squad this year. I have no doubt he will in the next few years take the Down minor job or at least be involved with the back room team.

Also why have people got such a problem with him? Please explain?

Our-fella -   Have you personally been coached or managed by Poacher? From the shit your talking on here, I would be confident in saying that you haven't been! If you speak to any off the players he has coached or managed, they wouldn't have a bad word to say about him.  I have  played on a team he has been involved in and everything about his training and coaching methods has been 1st Class. The man is passionate about Gaelic Football! As 5Sams said "he's a header along the line"..everyone would agree with this statement.  Its just shows his passion and drive to win...how boring would it be if we were all like robots who showed no emotion! Your just another keyword warrior talking shit online. He must know something if An Roicht, Mayobridge and Ballyholland brought him in. Plus if I remember correctly he was also with Burren a few years back.

Was out in Mayobridge watching the Ballyholland - Bryansford game last night, have a few points to say on it.

1st of all its the standard of refereeing in this county. It sickens my hole that the referees give the supposed "Big Clubs" all the decisions.  Take last nights game for example, every time King went to contest a kick out he pushed his marker every time and the referee did not blow him once for this. Bryansford were getting free's a lot hander than the Harps were. Also your man Rice who was doing the line last shouldn't be any were near a football field, its all about him and how he got the Ulster Minor final is beyond me.  And until referees in this county start calling matches evenly and given both teams a fair craic then the Championship will always be won by the "Big Clubs" and the "Small Clubs" will never make the break through.

Having seen both Burren and Bryansford play in these years Championship the difference in class is massive. Burren are by far the superior team and come the business end of the Championship Bryansford will not count and you can quote me on that. Its Burren Championship to lose now.

Last night was my first time watching Danny Savage in the flesh and he is different class. Has some left foot on him and should definitely get more playing time with the county next season. Is by far Bryansford best and most dangerous player. I would even go as far as saying that he is a better footballer than Donal O'Hare who I rate highly as well.

Very disappointed in the Bridge last night....its sad to see how much they have fallen. Sexton is such a big miss to this team, does anyone know why he isn't involved any more? Only man to stand out for the Bridge was Kevin O'Rourke, thought he had an excellent game. Caught a lot of ball around the middle and some of his passing was top drawer.  Their full back line was very poor, but in saying that they were very exposed and offered little or no protection from further out the field. The Bridge looked clueless and didn't seem to have any sort of game plan.

Ronan Murtugh was excellent for the Harps, think he set up the three goals and he hit a great point in the 2nd half way out on the left hand side line. MOM of the match in my opinion and seemed to be carrying a knock as his right leg was heavily strapped.

We can know safely say that the Bridge have dropped out from being one of the top 3 teams in the county and their place has been taken by Castlewellan who have been excellent this year.  I know Coulter and Quinn have to come back into this team but think they will struggle come the Championship time and their aura has gone and teams won't fear playing them.

Leonardo - Yea I know the sort you are talking about, every club has them and it pisses me off that the do it. The umpires should be calling it straight and if they won't then they shouldn't be doing it. Clubs should be putting people forward who will call it right because its causes some rows when they don't.  But if i remember right, Murtagh had a point in the first half and the same umpire called it wide and the ref didn't give it.

Your right and I'll give him some credit for for giving the player on the ball the advantage. Thought overall he was bad for both teams, was a lot of off the ball stuff which I think he contributed too with some of his decisions. Seen him ref a few games and they all seem to pan out the same way. Fair play to him for putting himself forward and being a ref as it something i wouldn't do but he clearly is not up to and shouldn't be taking charge of Senior games.

5 Sams - I thought the ref was very biased in favour of Ballyholland. They seemed to win frees a whole lot easier, and some very cynical fouling went unpunished, particularly in the first half when Ballyholland played against the wind.
I dont think I have seen this ref officiate in Div 1, and agree with previous poster about his ability to keep control of the game.
Regarding the point that never was - agree with 5 Sams that this was wide, but surely the Ballyholland players shouldnt be rushing in and pushing an umpire - it looked at one stage like 3 players were man-handling him.
Was there a similar incident involving the linesman on the Clonduff side as well?
Pretty poor game, but I'm sure Ballyholland are happy with a deserved 2 points

Leonardo - the ref last night is probably the worst ref in the county. The amount of rows he causes with some of his decisions is laughable. As for the umpire, he brought it all on himself. If he's not gona call the thing right then he shouldn't be doing it in the first place. Good job Ballyholland went on and won the as if they had of been beat or drew the game id say all hell would of broke lose.

Downup...another key board warrior! If your gona slate a man on here you might as well go the full hog and name him instead of referring to him as  "your man who trains ballyholland"

His name is Stephen Poacher and "as for his antics"...he was only doing what Jerome Johnstone does for Down and Paddy Tally does for Derry. Perfectly within the rules.

Totally agree 5 sams.... Poacher wasn't doing anything wrong!!! Seems a lot of people in the county love getting in wee digs at him whenever they can!!

Downup...another key board warrior! If your gona slate a man on here you might as well go the full hog and name him instead of referring to him as  "your man who trains ballyholland"