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If it was explained to Michael Greenan that soccer and rugby aren't being played in Croke Park during the Championship season, and therefore have no effect on the pitch during its peak season, do you think it would help?

Spirit, Passedit - it's pretty obvious McComiskey is eating the weights these days. But as he's only a teenager, he's going to be a few years behind older players in terms of muscle development. More importantly though, he'd be up against lads who are used to using their extra muscle to their advantage, and not up against Division III club players who don't have the speed to catch him, let alone the strength to hold him up.

Passedit - you are festering one of the oldest myths of football, that the further down the leagues you go, the more hatchet men you meet. Over the past couple of years my club has been involved in Divisions I and II, and one of the biggest difference between the tiers is that when an average first division defender lines a player up, he consistently nails him with pace and power, while an average second division player misses the target as often that he hits it. Division I defences also tend to work as units, and when a player is propelled back, he's swamped. Hence Division I football is physically more demanding.

True, you see some bad challenges in lower league football, but the real nasty stuff happens up the top - immovable objects meeting unstoppable forces and all that.

Would that be the Mickey Linden who made his championship debut at 19 and whose club had just been promoted from division three that year?

I would humbly suggest that carrying an entire team in div 3 (and dealing with the inevitable 'close' attention) is as good a grounding for intercounty football as swanning around in, a frankly not very demanding division one, with more decent players to take the weight off. Additionally Mc comiskey has a season of sigerson football behind him as well. I could see your point if he was a central player but he's well able for the position he should be picked in and as the cliche goes if you're good enough you're old enough.

Apples and pears passedit. When Mickey Linden was 19, weights hadn't even been invented. County teams started training 3 weeks before the Championship. Defences didn't have tactics. As long as you were fit to take a punch in the head every once in a while, you were old enough.

As for your humble suggestion that Division III football might be a better grounding than Division I football, well words escape me. I suppose beating six cones and an inflatable goalkeeper would be even better preparation again?

South Down reserve games have been postponed.

Now i'm torn. Take a couple of goals and a couple of useful individual performances away, and that was a shocking performance. And if we've learned anything about Down in recent years, it's that we don't learn from our mistakes, and when replays come around, we get punished because while the opposition have been watching match videos and making mental notes, we've been beating drums about how the boys in red and black are back. Yet for some reason, I'm full of conviction that Down won't be beaten on Sunday. And I can't explain why. Gut instinct, that's all.

Changes are necessary. I agree with GY, we need to bring a man back. You'll find though that we've both been saying that for the best part of three years on here, so I don't expect it'll be any different this weekend. The truth though is that we've the forwards to take Cavan on 5 vs 6, but we don't have the defence to take them on 6 vs 6. It's simple mathematics.

Calls to start McComiskey are nothing short of ridiculous. He has the potential to become our most destructive forward since Mickey Linden, but he's only 19 and he's built like a 19 year old. He'll be at his best coming on against tired legs for this year at least. It is an impossible step for teenager to go from Division III club football to 70 minutes of destructive Championship hitting - even allowing for the fact that Cavan are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to destructive Championship hitting.

Cole has to start, which 99% of Down followers would have wanted last weekend anyway. Murphy has to be in with a shout. If Cavan are to continue with their midfield pairing this weekend, it could be the best tactic of all to put Murph and Gordon together and just let them run their opponents into the ground. I'd also like to see Kearney at 11. Carr was okay on Sunday, but the Mitchels man looks in super shape, and I don't see any of the Cavan defence keeping with him for workrate.

Based on what I saw on Sunday, big Packie should get back where he belongs - behind McCartan and Burns in the pecking order.

1. B Connell - I found it strange big Mickey's kickouts got praise from lots of quarters. I'd say it must be easy to practice them when you use the same kickout every single time.  He's probably the best keeper I've ever seen, but it's time to move him on.
2. M Cole - Pace and a bit of elegance. The kind of player you need around Seanie Johnston.
3. B Grant - He had a fair enough game at CHB, but I don't want to ever see Rooney at full-back again, and it's the wrong time of year to be trying someone new out there.
4. D McCartan - Got stronger as the game went on and deserves another shot. If Dee Rafferty is 75 % fit though, I'd have him in instead.
5. R Murtagh - His best outing in a Championship game.
6. D Rooney - I reckon Rooney would be better as a forward, but by all accounts he was useful here in the league. If McKeever plays as a shield in front of his defence, he should be a good man in there protecting space.
7. K McGuigan - The Shamrocks man would be a whole lot happier out here. He can actually play a bit.
8. P Murphy - Did more in 20 minutes than big Jackie did in 50, so he has to stay in.
9. D Gordon - More of the same this week Dan, except do what you do for Loughinisland and sling it over from distance.
10. R Sexton - Very useful game on Sunday. Tireless, and links well with Coulter.
11. S Kearney - It's a bit harsh on Carr. But some players are much more comfortable up the middle than the wings, including Carr and Kearney, and I reckon Stevie has the edge at the moment.
12. J Clarke - His best position. Should Cavan go nuts with an 8 man defence, he is one those capable of shooting from distance.
13. D Hughes - Danny won't play that badly again.
14. B Coulter - Leave him and Danny up there on their own.
15. J McGovern - Not as a conventional forward, but coming back to support his defence. If Hughes and Coulter are getting swamped, take him back in as a conventional forward. This lad actually has the fitness and skill to carry off the role. I couldn't say if he has the intelligence to carry it off, but the enthusiasm is there.

Down GAA Results Friday 11th May

O'Neills International Sportswear ACFL

Div 1

Loughinisland 1:11 Mayobridge 0:11

Castlewellan 1:11Bryansford 3:6

Rostrevor 0:13 Liatroim 1:6

Atticall 0:7 An Riocht 0:9

Longstone 0:10 Clonduff 0:13

Burren 0:6 Kilcoo 1:13

Div 2

Glasdrumman 0:10 Kilclief 0:10

Shamrocks 1:5 Saval 2:12

Ballyholland 2:8 Downpatrick 3:5

Clan Na Banna 1:14 Warrenpoint 2:5

Annaclone (Mon) Darragh Cross

Ballymartin 3:17 Carryduff 1:5

Div 3

Drumgath 3:6 Bredagh 0:16

Bright (Tues) Ardglass

Dundrum 0:6 Teconnaught 0:9

Tullylish 0:10 Mitchels 0:4

St. Pauls 1:11 Glenn 1:9

Bosco 0:7 Saul 1:8

Div 4

Aughlisnafin 0:5 Aghaderg 2:15

Drumaness 0:16 Ballykinlar 1:2

St. Michaels 2:16 Dromara 0:5


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We messed up against Downpatrick, as we were four points up with a minute and a half to go. They scored their third goal of the night right at the start of injury time. Up to then it was a good performance, with only the concession of a couple of soft goals blotting the copybook.

Dodgy defences, out of position full-backs, goal-hunting forwards on both sides, a 90 year old in goals for Down - 12/5 that there'll be three or more goals looks a bloody good bet.

Division III colleges in the US for a season, although it's debatable if the standard was regularly any higher. Players were infinitely fitter though.

the county board must take the majority of the blame for this.

I really do wonder how anyone could arrive at this decision.

New job, I only have time to post beginnings and middles, but not ends.

Effectively, what I'm saying is that I find watching  soccer a bit boring these days and that I dislike the emphasis on spending money to improve teams.

Personally, I'll never again have an affinity with a team that changes so often and often so illogically, that charges ridiculous prices for an often substandard product, that is in effect a badly managed, greedy bastard business with a sporting front end.

If others want to do so, well that's their choice and there's no point in me worrying about it. I'd imagine most will have their eureka moment someday though.

My take on the English football thing.

I've followed the fortunes of Spurs over the past 20 years. For much of that time, I was a bonafide "we" man. I even made it to White Hart Lane around a dozen times, and went on a few away trips too. As recently as 5 years ago, I would have cancelled everything if Spurs were on the box, and made my way to a pub (normally on my own) to scream at the tele.

But in recent years, I've found myself having less and less time for soccer, and consequently less time for Spurs. Put simply, the game bores me now. Even when Spurs are on the box, I find myself playing internet poker and keeping only one eye on events.

Don't get me wrong, I still love playing the game. For me it beats Gaelic Football hands down in terms of playing. Less emphasis on speed, fitness and strength, no emphasis on training. Just turn up and kick a ball around. Tactics? None. Pure fun. Anyone with a resaonable standard of co-ordination can play a role in a soccer team, somewhere.

But watching it, for me, has become bloody hard work. Overkill. Games last an eternity, nothing much ever happens, and the players mostly come across as overpaid cheats, liars and actors. Sky Sports has turned the Premiership into a 24-hours-a-day theatre, and everyone seems happy to play the role they are cast in. There's wily Alex Ferguson. Thuggish Joey Barton. Arsene the intelligent. Local boy Carragher. Greedy Anelka. And all their clones. It's a bit like death by chocolate. At the start it was exciting and everything seemed great, but repetition has now set in. I'm sick of it.

There are now so many things that grate me. Too much money, too much coverage. Premiership teams play 38 games, yet half the teams are solely interested in securing enough points to avoid relegation. Teams finishing second (like Chelsea) and regarding the season as a disaster, talking wholesale changes, and fans up in arms about underachievement. For crying out loud, only one team can win the league each year! Just accept that it's not your turn.

But above all, another thread on the board this week summed up for me everything that is wrong with the game. Manchester United have just won the league, and in a rather stylish manner. They played open, entertaining football, scored sackloads of goals and conceded none too many. Statistics would suggest that this is a vintage United team. There is certainly a balance about their side that has been improved upon by few teams I've ever seen. No square pegs in round holes there. They also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, producing one of the greatest results of all time en route. They have an FA Cup final to look forward to next week.

Yet rather than accept this as a vintage United side, and maybe work on improving it a little more by training together, United fans on this board piled in with suggestions for three players that would improve "their" side. In other words, let's not waste time applauding the efforts of this team, but instead let's dismantle it and start again. That way, they'll have something to complain about next season.   

Maybe it's because so little actually happens on the field, but soccer fans seem obsessed with off the field affairs. Like little Veruca Salts, they always want what someone else has, even when everything they need is right in front of them.

Man Utd were beaten by AC Milan, not because Utd are a couple of players short, or because Milan are a better side, but simply because Milan's two world-class midfielders both played to form on the one night. On another night, it would have been Ronaldo and Rooney on form, and the result would have been as convincing the other way.

You could spend billions on a team, and you'll never be able to stop this happening. It is actually one of the most beautiful things about "the beautiful game".

And this bullshit attitude filters down to the lowest level of soccer. Teams that start a season in the Carnbane League in Newry - junior soccer at its most junior - are often unrecognisable from the teams that finish the campaign. During the season, average players come and go, replaced by other average players, as managers strive to improve results by cutting corners. After every game, those managers don't talk about improving their defence thorough organising it better, but through getting a lad in from the club next door. Repeat the trick three weeks later, and so so.

f**k, I'm ranting.

I've had an argument about this already somewhere Fear Boiche - but John Clarke nowadays plays all his club football at wing-forward, a position that fully suits his skillset, and from where he regularly tallies up big individual scores.

Personally I don't think he's a strong enough man-marker to play defence.

Just looking back at this thread, and the similarities between the thinking of Cavan Gaels and Down Gaels is amazing. Two proud footballing counties sore from being beaten up once too many times, but still with hope.

I wouldn't get too up upset about Newry not having a minor player, Uladh, and it's hardly something new -  I'd say it's happened at least 5 times in the last decade.

I can only speak for my own club and say that during the past few years we've only had one lad who was really hard done by, Paddy McAnulty in 2005 - but as Down went on win the AI that year, it's not like we can argue. The way a couple of youngsters have shaped up this season though, under-21 call-ups next year aren't out of the equation.

But, for as long as I can remember, minor and under-21 squads in our county very rarely reflect the best of what's out there. Players who were outstanding at under-14, if only because they happened to be three times the size of anyone else, are kept on board because they've got a name around the county, while springers, those lads who come out of nowhere at 16 and are senior players at 17, are often ignored. Having a father who played for the county means you will definitely be involved, no matter your ability. Clubs like Clonduff, Rostrevor, and Burren will always have representatives, deserving or not.

Then you get a player like Connaire Harrison, a one man scoring machine for Glassdrumman in Division II for the past two seasons, who can't get a look in, while the squad has a handful of lads who will never play senior football.


Hardstation - I think Ryan Boyle is a brother of John. He's definitely got a bit of class about him, and a good engine to get up and down. He was impressive against us in the Division II play-offs last season.

Doesn't exactly inspire confidence but best of luck to each and everyone of them.

Couldn't have put it better myself No.1.


All told, that only leaves six survivors from POR's team for this game last year - McCartan, Grant, Clarke, Gordon, Hughes and Coulter, with only McCartan and Gordon in the same positions. We did ask for change I suppose!

Personally I don't see how our full-back line will have the pace for Cavan's full-forwards. And with two natural forwards in our half-back line, a whole pile of support most likely won't be forthcoming from there.

We really, really need to dominate midfield.