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Bielsa's departure felt a bit like a Shakespearian tragedy, and much of the romance of following Leeds has faded as a result, but Marsch made a significant impact today. He completely overhauled some dodgy defensive structures within a matter of days after arriving, and only poor fortune prevented a morale boosting win. He also spoke well in all his interviews and reached out to the supporters at the end. There's no doubt Leeds were the better team, but we have to start picking up points sooner rather than later. The back to back home games against Villa and Norwich are crucial, and hopefully Bamford will be involved at some stage.

The days of Fortress Newry are long gone but, even allowing for the poor home form of recent seasons, tonight was a grim display. While Roscommon as usual were a big strong side, they are hardly world beaters, and yet they were almost entirely untroubled from their early penalty to the end. Although you have to feel sorry for any keeper playing behind a badly beaten midfield, there was little evidence of a strategy for our kick outs. Most of the other sectors were equally poor, with an honorable mention for Kerr in difficult circumstances. Our substitutions were curious, and it was particularly hard to understand how Laverty, who had struggled, was sent out for the start of the second half only to called off just before the throw in. The other results mean that our fate is far from sealed but we looked like a division three team this evening.

Today's game may have been full of errors due to the atrocious conditions but it was a complete thriller in which we defended heroically in the second half and were unlucky not to snatch a win in the end. Although the two early goals we conceded were disappointing, we kept coming back at them and for the first time in a while looked like a side with some backbone and purpose. If we can build on this performance, we have a decent chance of staying in D2.

It is a massive game in Navan tomorrow against opponents who have regularly beaten us over recent years, and the losers can expect to be in D3 next year.
Any indications if there will be a pitch inspection in the morning ?

That was the worst Kilcoo have played in about three years and yet they are All Ireland champions. What probably made the difference was that they are so used to extra time and will never panic under any circumstances. Ryan Johnson managed to miss from two yards out with their last attack but Jerome, even on one leg for most of the match, knew where the goal was. One brother owes the other a pint tonight.

Although Unlaoised thinks Down have been flirting with division three for a long time, we actually played there in 2019 and 2020. Unlaoised also suggests that Down have produced little in Ulster to suggest we are better than Cavan, Fermanagh or Antrim. Cavan were Ulster champions only 15 months ago and clearly have a better overall record than Down in recent years. However, the last time that Down played in the USC against Fermanagh (2020) and Antrim (2018), we won by seven point margins on both occasions. The present squad is plainly in transition and staying in D2 would be an achievement.

An outstanding ET performance from Kilcoo today but sadly a flat one from Down for most of the game in a low key atmosphere at Owenbeg. We had fine debuts from McElroy and particularly Gilmore, while Murdoch also had his moments, but our more experienced players were largely disappointing against a fairly ordinary Derry side who were seldom put under real pressure. We conceded a poor goal when it was still tight and might even have got back into it after the break when Mooney did all the difficult work and produced a careless finish which was blocked on the line. That was effectively the end of the contest, although Burns kept making comical errors to keep us entertained. There was an overall lack of focus and direction which will have to be addressed pretty quickly if we are going to stay in D2.

Leeds have had some iffy performances, and the injury crisis has reached amazing proportions, but today was the result of the season by a distance. With an another understrength team, and two players limping off with hamstring problems in the space of a minute early on, it would have been easy for heads to drop. However, we got a brilliant response across the board, particularly from Harrison, with Struijk also having a stormer at the back. The win would have been even more comprehensive if we had not suffered a bizarre VAR decision for the second week in a row at the same ground. Newcastle next week is another massive match, but, if Bamford is back, our prospects will look decent.

Last night was a disappointing performance but not a particularly surprising one. The delays in appointing a new manager meant that we started proper pre-season preparations much later than most of the other counties, and it was fairly obvious that Antrim were the fitter and better organised side, with the loss of our Sigerson players also a factor.

The Sigerson runs until the middle of February, so, with the Kilcoo contingent also unlikely to be available before then, and a number of injuries to take into consideration, even James probably has little idea at this stage about our starting line-up for the Derry game on January 29.

The people who are writing off Darren O'Hagan, undoubtedly our best player of the last decade, on the strength of one unexpected appearance as a sub, are certainly drawing premature conclusions. He has had a tough time with injuries, but we will need to see him in some league games before we can make any proper assessment of him.

It was very difficult to assess our performance due to the constantly interrupted and jerky stream but the indications were that an understrength team did reasonably well on a long trip in difficult circumstances. McElroy and McCormack had decent debuts at the back, O'Rawe had his moments down the middle and Murdock and Gilmore managed goals on their first appearances. We are probably in a slightly better place for the crucial league trip to Derry but there is still a long way to go.

Down

Hope - get into the mix for promotion from D2, introduce some of our u20 prospects and stay well away from the Tailteann Cup. On a good day, we are capable of putting it up to Monaghan in the championship.

Expectation - a dogfight at the wrong end of D2. The bookies suggest that we may be marginally stronger than Clare and Offaly but it is likely to be a tight finish. If the Monaghan USC game goes to form, regrouping will be difficult.

All the individuals named so far have been brilliant for Down, but the original suggestion from Sheedy specified service to the county. While Clarke only played for two seasons at senior level he was probably our most gifted figure of the period. If we have to chose between O'Hare and McKernan, it's a tight one but the latter started four years earlier. It all comes down to opinions, which sadly in our case are generally looking backward rather than forward.

Good question from Sheedy, and his team is a decent one. This is another possibility. Marty Clarke's Down senior career may have been relatively short but he surely has to be in there. Most of the other choices as the best from their clubs are reasonable, although McKernan's long service and versatility (every outfield line in the championship) should just edge out O'Hare as the Burren representative. If McComiskey and Harrison had not been unlucky with injuries, they were also strong contenders

Mickey McVeigh (Castlewellan)
Dee Rafferty (Shamrocks) Benny McArdle (Annaclone) Darren O'Hagan (Clonduff).
Kevin McKernan (Burren) Liam Doyle (Leitrim) Caolan Mooney (Rostrevor/Downpatrick)
Ambrose Rogers (Longstone) Dan Gordon (Loughinisland)
Danny Hughes (Saval) Marty Clarke (An Riocht) Conor Maginn (Bryansford)
Ronan Murtagh (Ballyholland) Benny Coulter (Mayobridge) Conor Laverty (Kilcoo)

Both of our senior teams are in tough divisions, but it has to be an advantage for the footballers that we have four out of our seven games at home. We may need to win three of them to stay up and avoid the Tailteann Cup unless we unexpectedly pick something up on the road. The last time that James took on the job, he managed to start by getting promoted from D2. Unfortunately, our 2022 squad cannot really be compared to the 2010 version.

Glen were only going to win the game if Glass dominated midfield. He hit one fine free, and got a brilliant point from play, but was otherwise crowded out of it and seldom managed a forward run. Even if Kilcoo had not come up with the goal, their pace and calmness in possession would have got them over the line.