Down v Laois

[Dubh driocht]

Neither have mine and neither will they.Right men in right job at right time.Pleasantly surprised at amount of supporters around me who said exactly the same.
Gave up a pint in the Shamrocks to rush to the car and heard Ross gave a very honest and clear assessment on radio of where we are and the pressures on players and management.Glad he's in charge.

[Trevor Hill]

Rush to the car? Park in the "official" car park and you`ll be in no rush. Traffic wasnt too bad on the way out though. Also heard that interview with Ross on Radio Ulster and I was actually pretty impressed with what he said, though it has to be said Thomas Kane dosent exactly ask the most searching questions.

[Leo]

Lads lets not get carried away, this was a dismal ill-disciplined Laois team.
We put them away as we surely should but at times we made a job of it.
What were we doing for the first 15 minutes of the second half with Benny & Danny Hughes playing in our own half back line with  a gale force wind and driving rain behind us?

A look at the players:
McVeigh - most uncertain performance seen from him although the conditions were tricky.
McGovern - best performance to date, managing for the first time to mark instead of fouloing.
Mckernan - my man of the match, didn't think he was a full back but maybe ...
Rafferty - super corner back performance
Hanna - really made his mark, close to man of the match, needs to bulk up a bit but some prospect
Murphy - I like this player but injury hampered him. We need a strong centre half like him.
Garvey - I also like this player but this was his poorest display in the shirt so far - lazy passes, conceding frees tool easily
Gordon - fits and starts but still a powerful force - McComiskey should have played him in for a sure goal in second half
Kearney - looks the part but somehow it doesn't all come together, too many dodgy passes in first half
Ambrose - clearly not fit but dont disagree with giving him 70 minutes to get on the pace
Maginn - a poor show tonight  but I still believe he is one for the long haul
McArdle - competent, good physical performer, unlucky to be called off
Coulter - invoved in everything, ran his socks off,  sometimes too deep, a few wayawrd passes, peach of a goal
McComiskey - maybe it was the condiditons but a lot of missed balls, misplaced passes, not his best
Hughes - enigmatic as ever but sometimes the lack of quick ball sees him foraging and running too far from goal
Carr - another player I rate although not at centre half, but played well
Fegan - simply  not a county player as his failure to take a gift from Benny illustrated
Murney, O'Reilly - another day will tell.

There is (and has been) the makings of a decent team therre - a team that should be buryinmg the likes of Laois and London.
So, up Down and hope we draw Kerry ( or failing that Derry).

[Dubh driocht]

Trevor, you're being much too reasonable ,makes me suspicious.
Leo, agree with most of your assessments but think you're too hard on Mc Veigh, Garvey and Mc Comiskey.Think the latter led the line well and , unlike Hughes, won clean ball and rarely wasted it - takes a lot of pressure off Benny.Took his goal well after great work by Hanna , these lads deserve every success after the Portlaoise disaster.

[Leo]

Dubh Drioct, I actually think Garvey can be a great asset to the team, a throw back to the old fashioned teak-tough wing back , but tonight was not good for him.
And while I think Alder of Carryduff is the best keeper in the county, McVeigh has acquitted himself very well and is sound - jus t thought that a couple of balls tonight had hail mary written all over them.
McComiskey is a pearl but didn't shine tonight.
That's all.
We're in the hat and the weather is sh**e but the summers' still here.

[Pangurban]

For the first time tonight we saw Benny Coulter fulfill  his potential as team player and play maker, he was the guiding hand behind so much that was good about Downs performance..The defence overall were generally more assured and competent, though the old failings of overholding and failing to clear their lines when good opportunities to do so were available, were still evident at times. Given the awful conditions and the poor quality of opposition, it would be foolish to form any sort of judgement, as to progress or lack of it. One facile win does not make a Summer, but the important thing is we are still in it, and will have another opportunity to develop and prove our worth.

[wobbller]

Again, I'm with Trevor.Mc Veigh now has a commanding presence whch can only help the most improved defence in the country ( based on one game !) and the swirly one aside, did well. LL , unless you had wife and daughter with you, don't think it was you- pity, would have liked to have discussed the Owen affair !

Fill us in as to what this is about, please!

[D4S]

Have to say i was really encouraged by last nights performance! As mentioned the conditions were atrocious and you would have to forgive Brendan McVeigh for a few of his indecisive moments, 1 in particular where the swirling wind caught the ball, there was nothing else he could have done.  He's still the best keeper in the county so we'll allow him 1 dodgy match! I though we defended superbly on a night when it wasn't easy to defend with it being so slippy.  Thought Ambrose had a steady game and settled in well particularly in the 1st half where he saw a lot of the ball...he came so close with them 2 45s! 70 minutes was probably too much for him but great to see im back and he'll hold his place for next week i'm sure! Would be great to get Kerry in Newry next saturday evening...they were diabolical in the 2nd half last night!

[bridgegael]

are the games next week not at netural venue??  wat time is draw at anyway??

[Mourne Rover]

Having had to miss the game, I'm delighted and a little surprised by the outcome. I suppose we always knew the potential was there, but three poor performances on the bounce had drained away most of our optimism. However, it sounds as though the defence, at last, has finally started to come together. That can only be down to hard work on the training ground.

McKernan is a natural footballer, and, if full back really does turn out to be his best position, the management will deserve enormous credit. He will still need a run of games there to prove himself, so hopefully we will get another favourable draw tonight.

[down6061689194]

Sorry to nit pick lads and totally off subject....but tonight in Newry they had a Scor winner singing Amhran na bhFiann .....if you are going to get some lad to sing the national anthem would you not pick someone who knows the words..he was making it up as he went along

Annoys the fcuk outta me...rant over.

Thought a few of the lines were suspect as I was going along...


The band is the best way forward, maybe not on a night like that, but for another day.

[balladmaker]

Any win for Down these days is a good win.  But I fear they are prolonging the agony, the longer they remain, the greater the chance they are going to get a stuffing, its all down to the draw now.

[behind the wire]

A win is a win. not particularly pretty but i dont think any of us sitting up in the stand realised just how bad conditions were until we all attempted to make our way back to the car.

Team looked a bit more assured last night with a number of players putting in good performances. Great to see ambrose back playing again.

At last we have what looks like a modern wing half back in Timmy Hanna, thought he had a great game. His style of play is similar to that of Jordan and Davy Harte. gives the team an extra dimension going forward. Was a bit disappointed that none of the more senior lads stepped in to have a quiet work with sheehan who was obviously sent on to give him a hard time.
I think the half back line looked comfortable and at home in their positions which is something down havent had for a lond time. however there may be some merit in switching murphy and garvey as murphy may be a better option going forward whereas garvey would be better defensively.

Coulter had a good game, displayed great work rate and hughes worked hard as ever.

some of the same problems still persist though. we need to find a quicker way of turning defence into attack. Down get men behind the ball which is great defensively but then leaves the forward department seriously understaffed. I lost count how many times Down won free kicks in defence but then had no one to kick the ball to as 8 players were within 20 yards of each other. The breakout needs to be much quicker.

while some poster have praised downs ability to keep the ball im not sure it is a great tactic to adopt. not only does it slow the play down alot but against a better team defenders will not get that much time on the ball. players like munnelly and tierney were only putting in half hearted tackles but against stronger opposition the keep ball tactic may lead to errors and easy scores conceded.

half forward line also appears to be a bit light. maginn is definitely a good player but like some of the other players doesnt seem to be able to break through the tackles. they could do with a playmaker who stamps authority on the game. too many time we saw down create great breaks out of defence only for a player to be forced to turn back when facing a tackle resulting in another bout of pass the parcel around the half back line.

All in all a decent display considering the terrible conditions and a definite improvement on the london game. however we must remember that laois looked completely disinterested for long periods.


As i have said before im no expert analyist but that is my penny's worth. the problems identified have been present in every game i have seen for a while now. sure it gets us another day out. if we get through the next round anything could happen.

[balladmaker]

As i have said before im no expert analyist but that is my penny's worth. the problems identified have been present in every game i have seen for a while now. sure it gets us another day out. if we get through the next round anything could happen.

What....win an All Ireland?

[Trevor Hill]

As i have said before im no expert analyist but that is my penny's worth. the problems identified have been present in every game i have seen for a while now. sure it gets us another day out. if we get through the next round anything could happen.

What....win an All Ireland?

No, Armagh have to be favourites for this years All Ireland.