All Ireland Quarter Final Kerry V Down

[Tyrones own]

Can't add much to what's been said other than fair play lads and hope ye go all the way!

[Hardy]

Being a long time coming but it was worth the wait , words can't describe how that felt today . Everyone of them that pulled that jersey on today done us proud . I have to say that the Kerry fans that I met today made me feel proud to be a part of this great organisation of ours . Class acts .

Best of luck . I was very impressed the way Down pulled away before half time . Meath or Kildare will present new challenges to Down but thats for another day .Enjoy you guys have been a long time in the wilderness , For us now it is post mortems and nobody does post motems like we do (rough as hell )

In the post mortems, make sure to give special honour to Colin Cooper, who was magnificent and gave his best ever performance in the green and gold today.

[western exile]

Craigavon's foremost Down supporter, Our Nail Loney, would like to report that "The boys in red an black are back!"

The spelling mistake is entirely his.

Got to like that!

[western exile]

TBeing a long time coming but it was worth the wait , words can't describe how that felt today . Everyone of them that pulled that jersey on today done us proud . I have to say that the Kerry fans that I met today made me feel proud to be a part of this great organisation of ours . Class acts .

Best of luck . I was very impressed the way Down pulled away before half time . Meath or Kildare will present new challenges to Down but thats for another day .Enjoy you guys have been a long time in the wilderness , For us now it is post mortems and nobody does post motems like we do (rough as hell )

In the post mortems, make sure to give special honour to Colm Cooper, who was magnificent and gave his best ever performance in the green and gold today.

I second that!  Unmarkable on the limited possession he  got

[Bacon]

Yes Cooper was excellent but he was on his own far too often to be reall effective.

Martin Clarke deserved Man of the Match. I can only rememeber him wasting one ball - when he kicked a wide late it the game. Every pass was perfect and he was all over the pitch winning braking ball.

[SuperDooperCooper]

First and foremost congrats to Down on an excellent display we couldn't live with. We got a hiding today (two if you count the minors).

Secondly from a Kerry perspective we handed Down a six point lead and the start the underdogs only dream of. We never reeled in this start.

Third the big calls went against us. The sending off seemed harsh (have not seen it on telly again) and the disallowed goal would have put us in the lead and that may have asked different questions of Down. I accept the Down goal was legit as well and it appeared to be no peno from first viewing either but the game was over when these occurred.
   
Fourth the future is not bright today, after approx 13 years at or close to the top we will be exiting the stage for a period. It was a privilege following Kerry in those years. I was too young to remember the 1975-86 era but I will talk fondly about 1997-2009. 2002 was the most enjoyable year the football played that year was incredible up to the second half of the final.

[Hound]

Fantastic performance by Down. Best of the championship to date. An array of scoring forwards.

I liked the way that after the result of the first game, the Down fans (at least those close to me) changed their mind about who they'd be supporting in the 2nd game!

[wobbller]

Fantastic performance by Down. Best of the championship to date. An array of scoring forwards.

I liked the way that after the result of the first game, the Down fans (at least those close to me) changed their mind about who they'd be supporting in the 2nd game!

Changed their  minds to who?

[norabeag]

First and foremost congrats to Down on an excellent display we couldn't live with. We got a hiding today (two if you count the minors).

Secondly from a Kerry perspective we handed Down a six point lead and the start the underdogs only dream of. We never reeled in this start.

Third the big calls went against us. The sending off seemed harsh (have not seen it on telly again) and the disallowed goal would have put us in the lead and that may have asked different questions of Down. I accept the Down goal was legit as well and it appeared to be no peno from first viewing either but the game was over when these occurred.
   
Fourth the future is not bright today, after approx 13 years at or close to the top we will be exiting the stage for a period. It was a privilege following Kerry in those years. I was too young to remember the 1975-86 era but I will talk fondly about 1997-2009. 2002 was the most enjoyable year the football played that year was incredible up to the second half of the final.

It certainly was an excellent performance but must disagree re the refs calls. " The Goal " was not disallowed, as the free was awarded rightly or wrongly against the hand pass and the whole Down defence stopped once the whistle was blown.
Kerry got a couple of reallly debatable frees leading up to this which brought them back ino a game they were being bossed out of.
Kerry have been a class act over the past 10 years or so and all credit to them, but all the nonsense about missing 6 from last year is total red herring. Players move on and retire from every team and no one can defend the actions of Galvin or O'Se. Thier own actions brought them the suspensions
Down could only beat the 15 /20 on the field and in the end a 6 point margin flattered Kerry.
No medals handed out yeasterday but we can all look forward to last weekend in August and plenty of club football in between

[Maguire01]

I don't think there was anything unexpected about today. And fair play to 5 Sams for pointing out the guilty parties who would know more about the nice fish supper I had next door to Meaghers after the game.

Down were great yesterday, and Kerry were poor. But it's absolute crap to say that it was expected. The bookies were clearly well off the mark as well. I assume you won an absolute fortune on the game, having put your house on Down at the very generous odds being offered?

[Maguire01]

First and foremost congrats to Down on an excellent display we couldn't live with. We got a hiding today (two if you count the minors).

Secondly from a Kerry perspective we handed Down a six point lead and the start the underdogs only dream of. We never reeled in this start.

Third the big calls went against us. The sending off seemed harsh (have not seen it on telly again) and the disallowed goal would have put us in the lead and that may have asked different questions of Down. I accept the Down goal was legit as well and it appeared to be no peno from first viewing either but the game was over when these occurred.
   
Fourth the future is not bright today, after approx 13 years at or close to the top we will be exiting the stage for a period. It was a privilege following Kerry in those years. I was too young to remember the 1975-86 era but I will talk fondly about 1997-2009. 2002 was the most enjoyable year the football played that year was incredible up to the second half of the final.

It certainly was an excellent performance but must disagree re the refs calls. " The Goal " was not disallowed, as the free was awarded rightly or wrongly against the hand pass and the whole Down defence stopped once the whistle was blown.
Kerry got a couple of reallly debatable frees leading up to this which brought them back ino a game they were being bossed out of.
Kerry have been a class act over the past 10 years or so and all credit to them, but all the nonsense about missing 6 from last year is total red herring. Players move on and retire from every team and no one can defend the actions of Galvin or O'Se. Thier own actions brought them the suspensions
Down could only beat the 15 /20 on the field and in the end a 6 point margin flattered Kerry.
No medals handed out yeasterday but we can all look forward to last weekend in August and plenty of club football in between

Agreed. Especially the part about the Kerry 'goal'. Defenders and keeper stopped playing - I could have scored that 'goal'.

[Chris agus Snoop]

Down have some leathal forwards in fairness, they could have won by 12 points if the ref didnt give Kerry some charity. Kerry have been playing with a nastiness the last couple of years that turned a lot of people off them but even with the suspended players they wouldnt have won, 3 points from play is dreadful.

[INDIANA]

Yeah have to take back what i said about Down. Really are a coming team. I still don't rate their backs having watched their alignment from the Hill but Christ they have a hell of a forward line. And a very good midfield. Still bringing on subs like Murtagh who were raking over points. Mc Cartan has a good reputation as a coach and he's s smart guy. Could make the final now. Down are hard to stop when they get on a run. They have an inner built arrogance that goes back generations and gives them a certain confidence most counties can't match.

A lof of the kerry players are bet unfortunately. Still have enough expereience however to build a new team with Cooper, Scanlon,Donaghy, Galvin and O Sullivan. Bohane impressed me when he came on and you'd have to ask why he didn't start. David Moran continues to disappoint.
But they have to find about 3/4 backs. Cooper was briliiant yesterday but he had no help.
My Kerry friends tell me they have nothing coming through and that they are gone for a few years. Personally I find that hard to believe. You'll always find footballers in kerry. Always.

[All of a Sludden]

First and foremost I have to offer my sincerest apologies to thewobbler. He was right and I was way off the mark. Down arrived in Croke Park yesterday as rank outsiders and it seems that for the first time since the qualifiers were introduced they timed their run to perfection. Unconvincing wins against Longford and Offaly, followed by a hammering of a very deflated Sligo side meant that even the bookies got it wrong.
The scoreline does not reflect Downs dominance yesterday. The referee simply rid the Mourne men all day. (wasn't he from Meath?  ) Kerry seemed to get some very handy frees yesterday and were given a very dubious penalty right at the death, thankfully the game was well and truly over as a contest by then and the goal only served to take the bad look of the scoreboard.
The much maligned Down defence seemed very comfortable yesterday, though the platform for the victory was their midfield and young Clarke. King is the perfect foil for Rogers. A big strong lad who is willing to do the dirty work for Rogers. A neighbour of mine raves about Clarke, reckons he is the best player ever to play for Down. He covered every blade of Croker yesterday and was instrumental in Downs win. He never wastes a ball and has fantastic vision, his passing and workrate is phenomenal.
Good luck to Down in the semi final, hopefully meath wont be there. A Down v Dublin final would be ideal now. No one would have said that a few weeks ago.

[gallsman]

Excellent down performance. Clarke needs to start at CHF every time. O'Connor got it very, very wrong and didn't seem to have a clue what to do.

People talking shite about Kerry missing players like Darragh O'Se. He got old, like everyone else. If you want to use that as an excuse then Down were missing Sean O'Neill and Mickey Linden ffs. Tomás and Galvin were missing through their own thuggery. Cooper was outstanding. I've never seen Declan O'Sullivan so effectively removed from a game in my life - he was less than anonymous.

Speaking of disallowed goals, has anyone seen a replay to show that Coulter's pass to McComiskey for Down's disallowed goal was any different from O'Sullivan's? McQuillan was dreadful. Cooper got a tap-over free towards the end after the Down defence cleared a high ball dropping in. Sombody (McKernan?) laid off a ball to Conor Garvey and absolutely flattened the man who tried to body check him long after the ball was gone, yet Kerry were given the free.