Sligo V Down Rd 4 Qualifier

[bridgegael]

Really annoyed this match is in Brefni.

Not quite half way between Sligo and Down.

Looking at another six hour round trip this wkd.

And why oh why has it been fixed for 7pm which means anyone from Down will be struggling to get home before midnight.

As for the match itself a great chance for Down to get to first all-ireland qf however if they play like they did last saturday they will not be in the draw come Sunday.

Couldn't understand some of the subs last Saturday Murtagh and Sexton have had their chance in the past and haven't proved themselves. Also the selcetion of John Clarke suprises he has never had a good game against strong opposition McCartan should be pushing the younger players like Fitzpatrick, Maginn, Hanna and Howard (who has recovered from injury) and give them a chance to show if they have what it takes.

Not that close to Enniscrone or Curry either.

What are the Down complaing at, it is as close to the Down and Sligo borders as the crow flies or distance by road. Remember the road links between Connacht and Ulster are the worst in the Country bar some roads along the very most Western Seaboard Coast. The Sligos will be in ques along windy country roads or mountain valleys. You Ulster lads would want to cop yerselves on.

calm down lad.

[paddypastit]

Sligonian, don't want to get into a row with you on this as I think that we are in agreement a lot more than not.

I don't know how much football you played as a FB but trust me from experience that if you're playing behind a beaten MF, there are times when you just can't get near the FF. In watching the game most of us only see the FF and FB when the ball arrives there but what has been going on for anything between 10 and 30 seconds beforehand? The FF will have been making darts, running left, right , stopping starting etc until he loses the FB.  Shine got three points from play and on two of those occasions he got the distance of his body away from McGuire.  How many other times did he get the ball?  How many scores did he set up for others?. I'm not saying that McGuire was good but the Roscommon FF line only got 3 points from play behind a MF that probabaly got less that 30% possession. My view is that changing the FB is treating the symptom, and not the problem.  We should change as little as possible and trust the team that we have rather than throwing in players that have limited experience and that have not played regularly together in those positions. For me there is no upside in the devil you don't know.

In terms of management, I'm sorry but if you 'dont buy the point on the management see the players 3 times a week' then what is the point in having a manager at all? I'm not saying that selections should be based on challenge matches.  What I am saying is that the managers see the players in all their moods and movements - including games, challenges, training and just how they handle themselves - and can make a more informed judgment than you or I. Again, Their track record this year has been pretty OK so I'd trust them to do their job.

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligonian, don't want to get into a row with you on this as I think that we are in agreement a lot more than not.

I don't know how much football you played as a FB but trust me from experience that if you're playing behind a beaten MF, there are times when you just can't get near the FF. In watching the game most of us only see the FF and FB when the ball arrives there but what has been going on for anything between 10 and 30 seconds beforehand? The FF will have been making darts, running left, right , stopping starting etc until he loses the FB.  Shine got three points from play and on two of those occasions he got the distance of his body away from McGuire.  How many other times did he get the ball?  How many scores did he set up for others?. I'm not saying that McGuire was good but the Roscommon FF line only got 3 points from play behind a MF that probabaly got less that 30% possession. My view is that changing the FB is treating the symptom, and not the problem.  We should change as little as possible and trust the team that we have rather than throwing in players that have limited experience and that have not played regularly together in those positions. For me there is no upside in the devil you don't know.

In terms of management, I'm sorry but if you 'dont buy the point on the management see the players 3 times a week' then what is the point in having a manager at all? I'm not saying that selections should be based on challenge matches.  What I am saying is that the managers see the players in all their moods and movements - including games, challenges, training and just how they handle themselves - and can make a more informed judgment than you or I. Again, Their track record this year has been pretty OK so I'd trust them to do their job.

I agree to disagree on the FB issue, but Paddy the difference in training pressure and big game pressure to me seperates the men from the boys and especialy so at this time of yr. Look the way i see it, is the players have been consistently very good since march, and went on a amazing run, we have an opportunity on Sat to put right what went wrong last sunday, i trust them to not go without a fight but its a big ask. Either way i wont be to hard on them, but will look to the future rather than past for solutions to some of our problems, i make no apologies for that. I am big fan of McGuire and im very grateful for his commitment but i just feel his time is up or nearly up.

[paddypastit]

Sligonian, take the point totally about the different pressures - we're in violent agreement here - but as the ad says past performance is no guarantee... management have to factor in many things. To be a lot more blunt, Noel McGuire is not the anywhere near the reason why we are not Connacht champions

[Mano]

I would have to side with Sligonian on this one. We have been beaten at full back in all our championship games thus far and if we had a viable alternative a change would have been made by now. We limited the damage by playing a sweeper between full back and half back lines - the management decided to get rid of the sweeper from some strange reason last Sunday and that decision cost us the game imo.

The management have a decision to make for the upcoming game either retain the sweeper or replace McGuire with Donovan and bring in one of the reserve defenders. I didn't see Donovan, Harrison or any of the Roscommon full back line gave their direct opponents so much space last Sunday.

[paddypastit]

Mano - doctors differ and all that but we wouldn't need a sweeper if we had a CHB.

[snoopdog]

We lost by 1 point because Roscommon are a poor team relying on Shines frees. If we weren't so ill disciplined we would have won the game as Ross didn't have enough good forwards to score. Our tactics were non-existant while O'Donnell had Ross playing the a well thought out plan.

back in 1991 we played meath in a ALL Ireland Semi final losing by one point in a game we should have won that day we scored 1-11 Derek Duggan Scored 1-8 (8 free's )

That was some goal he scored. what happened to him afterwards?

91 wouldnt have mattered, no one would have beaten Down that day.
as wee pete said that night
we are the team that beat the team that couldnt be beaten

You remind me of my dad, i remember he turned around to a celebrating meath fan & said "Down will beat ye" (he's a donegal man BTW) & TBH Down were lucky Colm O'Rourke was only half fit for the All Ireland final

Your right about Colm O Rourke. but Down built up a massive lead that Day. And as they did in nearly every game that year they had a twenty minute spell were they just about did enough to get over the line.
Was one of the best moments of my life, hill 16 was ablaze of red and black, took some hours to get home, stopped in every town and village on the way, we were congratulated by meath fans in Drogheda fair play to them.
We gave the rest of Ulster the belief that they could do it.

[ross4life]

We lost by 1 point because Roscommon are a poor team relying on Shines frees. If we weren't so ill disciplined we would have won the game as Ross didn't have enough good forwards to score. Our tactics were non-existant while O'Donnell had Ross playing the a well thought out plan.

back in 1991 we played meath in a ALL Ireland Semi final losing by one point in a game we should have won that day we scored 1-11 Derek Duggan Scored 1-8 (8 free's )

That was some goal he scored. what happened to him afterwards?

91 wouldnt have mattered, no one would have beaten Down that day.
as wee pete said that night
we are the team that beat the team that couldnt be beaten

You remind me of my dad, i remember he turned around to a celebrating meath fan & said "Down will beat ye" (he's a donegal man BTW) & TBH Down were lucky Colm O'Rourke was only half fit for the All Ireland final

Your right about Colm O Rourke. but Down built up a massive lead that Day. And as they did in nearly every game that year they had a twenty minute spell were they just about did enough to get over the line.
Was one of the best moments of my life, hill 16 was ablaze of red and black, took some hours to get home, stopped in every town and village on the way, we were congratulated by meath fans in Drogheda fair play to them.
We gave the rest of Ulster the belief that they could do it.

You sure did give the rest of ulster the Belief 91/92/93/94 & tyrone should have beaten Dublin in 2005, My dad was at the famous Down v Kerry 1960 final, hill 16 was like a tin of sardines that day

[SLIGONIAN]

Mano - doctors differ and all that but we wouldn't need a sweeper if we had a CHB.

I guarntee ye Mark Quinn is fit so theres no excuse there for the management. It was only Quinn first yr, and he did alot better than most in his first yr at intercounty, light yrs ahead of mcnamara or phillips imo, in that at least he'll defend the space and not leave FB so exposed. That to me is one of the age old question and people make excuses, does the CHB mark his man or the space, i say that decision is based on which is most dangerous, if your man brings you out on the wing id nearly let him go and cover the space in front of the goals, but it takes serious reading of the game and patterns to see if your man will get the ball, and whether to push onto him. This was Quinns strength for me his reading of the danger. From what i know he'll be expecting to be involved on sat and it will make a big difference imo. In paddys favour he could be right, if we had a CHB McGuire might play alot better, here hoping, although i still stand by what i said above but hope im wrong for sat at least.

[armaghniac]

Thats because of the poisnts you have chosen. Breffini park is probably about as close to half way as you can get

Sligo have strong views on where they should play, I am surprised that you are not in Longford!

hill 16 was like a tin of sardines that day

A type of fishy smell, I suppose. East Down folk no doubt.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Really annoyed this match is in Brefni.

Not quite half way between Sligo and Down.

Looking at another six hour round trip this wkd.

And why oh why has it been fixed for 7pm which means anyone from Down will be struggling to get home before midnight.

As for the match itself a great chance for Down to get to first all-ireland qf however if they play like they did last saturday they will not be in the draw come Sunday.

Couldn't understand some of the subs last Saturday Murtagh and Sexton have had their chance in the past and haven't proved themselves. Also the selcetion of John Clarke suprises he has never had a good game against strong opposition McCartan should be pushing the younger players like Fitzpatrick, Maginn, Hanna and Howard (who has recovered from injury) and give them a chance to show if they have what it takes.


Not that close to Enniscrone or Curry either.

What are the Down complaing at, it is as close to the Down and Sligo borders as the crow flies or distance by road. Remember the road links between Connacht and Ulster are the worst in the Country bar some roads along the very most Western Seaboard Coast. The Sligos will be in ques along windy country roads or mountain valleys. You Ulster lads would want to cop yerselves on.

Typical FG attitude from the west, you's already sold us out once before and here again we have the anti ulster sentiments from you. So your an expert on the roads from Down to Cavan are you  I'd love to know when you last made a journey from Down to Breffini. Your the one who would want to catch yourself on.

Tell you what though you will have no worries about the roads going to watch mayo play

Yawn, both the venues are in the REPUBLIC, no one sold out Ulster. Newry to Cavan Town 1hr42, Sligo Town to Cavan Town 1hr40. Soo AA Route Planner are out to get you too, typical paranoid delusional person from over there. If you took your blinkers you would see that I was sticking up for Connacht.

After the weekend I reckon Mayo people will have more teams to follow than Down.

[Banana Man]

What has both venues in the republic got to do with anything? Who mentioned AA Routefinder  You were the one claiming that the roads from sligo to ulster were bad, windy mountain roads thereby assuming that all roads from Down to Cavan were modern, state of the art roads and insinuating that it was basically a mtorway to Breffini 

You want to take a look at what you actually write, and back to the selling out of ulster, go talk to your pro treaty buddies in FG

So while saying you were sticking up for connaught you know contradict yourself and say that you were following down, we can do woithout boys like you, after this weekend you may throw your lot in with the rossies 

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

What has both venues in the republic got to do with anything? Who mentioned AA Routefinder  You were the one claiming that the roads from sligo to ulster were bad, windy mountain roads thereby assuming that all roads from Down to Cavan were modern, state of the art roads and insinuating that it was basically a mtorway to Breffini 

You want to take a look at what you actually write, and back to the selling out of ulster, go talk to your pro treaty buddies in FG

So while saying you were sticking up for connaught you know contradict yourself and say that you were following down, we can do woithout boys like you, after this weekend you may throw your lot in with the rossies 

AA Routefinder proves I was right that the distance is the same for both set of fans to Cavan, despite Nordie paranoia.

Micheal Collins, the pro-treaty groups, the National Army, Gardai, and the majority of the Irish electorate saved Ireland from utter annilation and the destruction of Ireland. You would only be happy if we were Somalia.

By the way it was when Your Earls buggered off, that sold out Ulster, not the people of the 26 counties.

Mayo minors will still be around when Down-&-Out.

Its CONNACHT by the way.

[Wee Shea]

Sad day when a Mayo man is sticking up for Sligo at the end of July.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Sad day when a Mayo man is sticking up for Sligo at the end of July.

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