All Ireland Quarter Final Kerry V Down

[snoopdog]

im gonna have many sleepless nights this week. Our defence is brutal, if anyone runs at Bgi Dan he wont stop them.
Marty Clarke froze against tyrone.
Im thinking Kerry could do to us what we did to Sligo. I will need a couple of pints before this one.
nothing to lose though as no one will give us a chance. go out and play football.
Kerry wont be worrying about their route to an All Ireland final. Meath or Kildare after us.

[Ball Hopper]

No offence to the Down lads on here but with Kerry, Down, Meath and Kildare on one side of the draw it means its difficult to see Kerry not at least make the final again this year.

7 finals in a row is some going and as far as I know has never been done in the football championship before.

Correct Cosmo...this Kerry squad and Dublin 1974-1979 share the record of six in a row final appearances.

[Kerry Mike]

7 finals in a row is some going and as far as I know has never been done in the football championship before.

Let nip this in the bud before it takes root, there is a lot of football to be played yet this year.

 

[thewobbler]

I'm looking forward to this. If Down avoid a hiding it will be a successful season.

James has a bit of a conundrum. Kerry will score 15 even if we park the bus. They can't though feasibily score more than 25 without utterly obliterating us at midfield, which I'd unlikely.

So try to chase 15 with 2 forwards, or 25 with 5 of them?

I'd like Martin Clarke at CHB either way. That'll give O'Sullivan something different to think about.

[Pangurban]

Attack,Attack,Attack, if Down go out with a positive frame of mind, and not try to pack defence to keep the score down, then they can definitely put it up to Kerry. We can break even at Midfield, our forward unit is as good as there is when they get quality ball. Kerry will be a little stale, and are generally slow starters anyway, they can be taken. The wide open spaces in Croker will suit us. We have to give it a real lash

[anglocelt39]

Huge opportunity for Kerry to lay the bogey of freezing against Ulster teams on the days that matter. Unexpected effect of the back door but their squeezing through against plucky Monaghan in the last few years could work for the kingdom. Mind you the unexpected exertion of three serious games in Munster is a bit of a history maker, interesting to see how they cope with what would already be an extended set of championship outings

[ballela-angel]

My hope is to see Down continue their fine tradition of beating Kerry in championship football, but the statistics from the championship so far this year show it to be an uphill climb for Down - Here are the numbers - Down's average score per game is 18 points and Kerry's is 21 points - If you convert goals to a simple score, so as to minimise the big score against Sligo, it gives Down 15 scores per game and Kerry 18 scores per game - So it looks like Kerry to win by 3 points or 3 scores - However, we all know the saying about statistics being used to prove anything and if some of Down's scores were to be goals while Kerry's were to be only points, well the Down tradition could very well continue, which I hope it will - I have always thought that the route to any all-Ireland was through Kerry, as was the case in 4 of our 5 wins, so sooner or later we'd have to take them on and prove out worth - Let's hope we're up to the challenge this year - Regardless, I expect it to be a great game of football (as long as it's dry conditions and not bucketing rain) - Up Down!

[dodgy umpire]

A confident Down team playing in a free spirit can beat any team in the country

[Kerry Mike]

Kerry will be a little stale, and are generally slow starters anyway

Dublin fell into that trap last year.

Huge opportunity for Kerry to lay the bogey of freezing against Ulster teams on the days that matter

There is no Ulster bogey, in the past years the core of this Kerry team have played and beaten Monaghan, Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry and Antrim, all top ranked Ulster teams and all were knock out games and all mattered.

interesting to see how they cope with what would already be an extended set of championship outings

Youre not a journalist by any chance, it so lazy some of your misinformation, we are used to long football summers in the Kingdom, since the GAA bought in the quarter finals and qualifiers to make it harder for Kerry to win AI's and we dont lose too many quarter finals 

2009 played 8
2008 - 7
2007 - 5
2006 - 8
2005 - 6
2004 - 7

[DownFanatic]

The fact that we have been consistently playing at least one competitive match a week for the past month means that we are going to be in top nick in terms of match sharpness for this one.

The key to this game, if we are going to get anything out of it, is a good start and getting goals. Easier said than done though.

However, ive a feeling we will be fiercely competitive for the 70 minutes and should make a real fist of it.

[Orangemac]

Although Kerry are rightly favourites for this one, this should be a cracker of a game.

As has been stated Down are in bonus territory now.

Kerry struggled at midfield for long spells of the Cork/Limerick games (although with Cooper and O'Sullivan only 40% possession is all that is needed sometimes).

If Down can keep their heads and learn lessons from the Tyrone game such as not missing straightforward frees and not shooting from impossible angles then they can make a real fist of this.

[Kerry Mike]

2 replies about "making a fist of it", should we be worried about a physical game ?

[bcarrier]

our forward unit is as good as there is when they get quality ball.

Cant agree with that PB. The core of this kerry forward line  have played in the last six all ireland finals. Down havent won a championship match in Croker in sixteen years.Someone like the much maligned Bryan Sheehan would be a star in Down jersey. Gooch/ Star/ DOS and the suspended Galvin are proven footballers at the very top level. Down forwards are not ( yet).

[Aaron Boone]

Kerry team selection will be interesting, but I can't see inexperienced novices replacing the T O'Se and P Galvin. Most of the subs have AI medals by now.

[5 Sams]

Kerry team selection will be interesting, but I can't see inexperienced novices replacing the T O'Se and P Galvin. Most of the subs have AI medals by now.

Most of their fans have All Ireland medals FFS.