Down v Cavan

[Mid Down Gael]

You Downmen have probably discussed this to death, but what's Carr's problem with Mickey Walsh? Is he even on the panel?

No not on squad. was told at start of last season by letter that travelling from London was the reason for his non inclusion. even though he is home full time over a year. Ross has some problem and hasnt the balls to explain to the fella why he is not on squad. although very injury prone, he is stil in the top forwards in Down.

[mountainboii]

So he's back in the country full time but still hasn't been called up? Is he playing with Mayobridge? Has his form slumped recently because or the injuries or anything, he always seemed a very decent county standard player? Very strange situation alright 

[gorm agus bui]

Very demoralising display tonight. Not at the races at any stage.
Would consider myself a supporter of Ross but some of his decision making is bizarre. Do not not know enough of the Walsh situation to comment with full cofidence but something is amiss as he is a quality player. Ditto Colgan.
If Coulter was not fit enough to start then he is not fit enough to come on.
We need a fully fit Gordon, McComiskey Doyle and Rodgers as well as Turley if we are to compete come the summer.
The Jackie Lynch saga has gone on long enough now and it is becoming embarrassing for the lad.
Cole was impressive tonight when he came on, Murphy will never be a full back, Rafferty is a trier if nothing else and Aidan Carr was very poor tonight defensively. Howard is good and will continue to improve as will maginn
Murtagh was the only other forward tonight who showed anything but even that was sub championship standard.
Could be a long wait for the qualifiers this year if we go out against Fermanagh in May

[dodgy umpire]

no positives can be taken from the match. no subs made an impact, the half forward line was screaming out for michael walsh. james colgan surely has to be a better option that jackie lynch. how maginn remained at 11 for 70 minutes is beyond comprehension. scraping the barrel for optimism: the only way is up

[Double Cross]

No positives from tonight at all, though we kicked more than enough wides in the second half to win the game.
Defence was poor, Murphy just isn't a full back, the half back line was dire, it would be hard to decide who was the worst of the three. Carr and McKernan couldn't give a pass if they were playing by themselves and Garvey wasn't in the game at all.
Midfield was dire, a young lad behind me kept saying "oh no not Jackie" and Dan Gordon seems way off match fitness.
What can anyone say about the forward line. Same old same old. Moving the ball sideways and at times playing the ball out beyond midfield and no one wanted to take the responsibility of shooting in the first half.
After the Louth game we were all commending Ross for the changes he made in the last 20 minutes which swung the game Downs way. Tonight he must accept that the game was lost on the line. You have to start with your strongest team if you want to get promoted.
Fair play to Cavan though, they were thoroughly deserving winners.

Down have to put this performance behind them and not let it happen again. A victory tonight and we wold have had one foot in the second division. One more defeat and we will remain in the third for another year and Ross and DJ will have no option but to go. These next few games are make or break for everyone concerned.

[Mourne Rover]

Walsh is certainly worth bringing back to the squad, after, as already mentioned, a disastrous performance from our entire half forward line. However, his form has still  been unpredictable for Down over recent seasons. The glaring omission is Clarke. He has produced the goods in both defence and attack for the last few years, and the dispute with our management could be resolved by a couple of phone calls. Clarke could only have improved on last night's shambles, and there can be no excuse for his continued exclusiion. It is also odd that Joe Ireland and Michael Magee could not even make the 24 against Cavan. Colgan is not even in the extended squad, and,while he may lack pace,he is pretty obviously in a different league to the likes of Jackie Lynch.

Ross and DJ have my sympathy, as we have not had six defenders of inter-county standard for more than a decade, but we must surely be capable of better organisation than we saw in the rain - which, to our cost, never suits us - at the Marshes.

McVeigh did not have to save a shot, but his kick-outs varied between the clever and the poor. McGovern struggled on Johnston, as most corner backs would, but lacks strength. We know know that Murphy is not a full back,and needs to move further out, but there are few alternatives until Turley becomes available. Howard did well until an unlucky yellow, and should get better in time.

Carr was reasonable in the first half and very poor after the break. McKernan did not have a great game but competed well and produced an outstanding block late on when we were on the verge of collapse. Garvey was no better than OK, but is still leariing.

Dan was not match fit, and should not have started, but will improve quickly. Throwing in Jackie on a wet night against a physical team might have seemed like an idea, but he looks to have reached the end of the road.

Fegan and McArdle worked hard but achieved little, while Maginn, after impressing for Queen's, looked out of his depth. He is still at an early stage, but it was almost astonishing that he was not replaced.

Murtagh was our top man, which was good to see after his ordinary displays last summer,while Fitzpatrick has plenty to offer but the game mainly passed him by. Hughes summed up the night, as he is a talented player who seems to have lost his way. The late chance, when the defence parted and he only had the keeper to beat on his right foot but hooked it well wide to the left, was embarrassing, and could have even got us an undeserved result.

Longford suddenly looks like a make or break test. We are still capable of regrouping and getting the points there, but another setback and another failed promotion attempt would be a hammer blow.

[Lecale2]

What's the story with Clarke? Why is he not in the squad?

[Double Cross]

What's the story with Clarke? Why is he not in the squad?

Pretty much the same reason that Walsh isnt in the squad. He has had a falling out with Ross over something quite trivial and it seems Ross wont back down.

[mylestheslasher]

Whats the story with loads of Down supporters leaving the ground with 8/9 minutes left, with the wind behind ye and only 3 points in it? When ye made the effort to come out on such a shitty night you think ye'd stay till the end?

[Double Cross]

Those who left the stand stood at the fence along the side of the pitch for the remainder of the game, I would say very few actually left the game.

[downredblack]

Yep , I left the stand and stood along the fence , so did a right few . quick gettaway at the final whistle . Shocking from Down , as bad as they have been in a long time . So many simple things went wrong you wouldn't know where to start but the short kickouts with a gael force wind behind you and then 6 hand passes to get to the half way line , was one that I couldn't figure .
Think it's time that pride has to be swallowed and and a few boys get phone calls .
Thought the Cavan boys really scrapped for everthing and you got the feeling they waned to stay in Div.3 more than we wanted to get out of it .

[mylestheslasher]

I thought the down keepers kick outs were excptional. Ye were losing midfield badly and Cavan were dropping men back leaving Down men free. Your keeper kicked them out really well. What your players did with the ball when they got it was another story. I got the feeling that Down took Cavan for granted and then paniced and started bringing on the star players. That 2nd half display from Cavan is the best bit of ball they have played in about 3 yrs I reckon.

[downredblack]

It just wasn't the night to be building attacks from the back , it was all too slow and in them conditions there was always going to be handling errors and wayward passes and ultimately frustration . Bringing Amrose into the middle on a night like that was too much to ask , although great to see him back and better days ahead for him .

[charlie stubbs]

terrible conditions in newry lastnight.cavan fully deserved the points.  gordon didnt appear to be fit, weird selection fom carr to bring ambrose on at mf when gordon didnt appear to be fit, ambrose just cuming back from serious injury.  down half forward line just not up to it from what i have saw, never rated fegan, mcardle was quiet and have saw magin twice in past fortnight and he hasnt impressed me that much(great pass near end though last night).heard he was going great guns for queens but the step up is a bigone from sigerson. 

howard did well on johnston first half think hes youtr top defender at the minute for actually defending. 

i would say murtagh be happy to have played in the ff line lastnight as this obv his best position.   

thought cian mackey was outstanding

[Leo]

terrible conditions in newry lastnight.cavan fully deserved the points.  gordon didnt appear to be fit, weird selection fom carr to bring ambrose on at mf when gordon didnt appear to be fit, ambrose just cuming back from serious injury.  down half forward line just not up to it from what i have saw, never rated fegan, mcardle was quiet and have saw magin twice in past fortnight and he hasnt impressed me that much(great pass near end though last night).heard he was going great guns for queens but the step up is a bigone from sigerson. 

howard did well on johnston first half think hes youtr top defender at the minute for actually defending. 

i would say murtagh be happy to have played in the ff line lastnight as this obv his best position.   

thought cian mackey was outstanding

Agree with much of this although I think Magin is doing quite well and is a clever playmaker. Fegan will never be a county player but his club is Clonduff ...
Aidan Carr is a fine footballer who cannot mark or tackle, the obvious thing is to select him up front but play him from just behind the midfield. Mackey ran riot - MOM by a mile.

Wy we persist in the failed 2-man full forward on the square system (failed under POR and now failed under RC) is hard to fathom when we have fast forwards (Hughes, McComiskey & Couleter) who will skin any defender in open space.
I said 3 years ago that we neeed to take a big physical player from somewhere and mould him into a full back. Cole and Howard should fill the corneres adequately, Murphy is a really good half back and I'd like to see Duiffin given a chance.
Jackie has to go and we should definitely try and get Clarke & Walsh into our half forward line.
Going to be a short championship season.