AI Football Final 2010: An Corcaigh vs An Dún

[leenie]

i'm so excited about going, first senior all ireland as a neutral......

dilema in who to support... lived in cork but down is in ulster..... hmmmm,

well i just hope for a good game

[lynchbhoy]

cork - due to scoring frees.

[Chris agus Snoop]

Claims on here that Cork will try to rough up Down are laughable Cork dont roll like that, if anything I think Down will try some rough stuff. Cork have been very disciplined in defence only giving away 2 scorable frees against dubs.

I think that noel o'leary may be the one to man mark CLarke exclusively, Shields will mark Coullter, talk is that Canty wont start and Miskella will replace him. Cork have very solid fullback line, same lads played U21 together.
Down seemed to tire against kildare and let them back into it, cork have finished strongly in games and if its tight with 10 to go cork should close it out.

[MCMLX]

AS DOWN prepares to go head to head with Cork, cross county efforts are being made to raise awareness of potentially life-saving screening for young people.

Two 16-year-old boys from Newry and Mourne will be much missed amid the All-Ireland clash festivities this Sunday.

Patrick Dinsmore from Warrenpoint and Oisin McGuinness from Newry should be cheering on Down in the game they both loved.

But the seemingly fit young men were tragically taken while themselves playing matches Patrick during a Gaelic game in August and Oisin on the soccer pitch in March 2009.

Now Oisin's parents Joan and John are urging local clubs and schools to use the thousands of pounds raised in their son's memory to fund screening. And a Cork man who lost his brother to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome is asking people to get involved in an awareness raising text campaign.

Stephen Comerford made the move in the wake of Patrick Dinsmore's death, which he said brought back memories his own brother, Gary's, passing. The 15-year-old was playing football when he died in 1996.

Two tragedies one solution

"IT was like a carbon copy. Both 16, both the only son, both leaving behind one sister. The only difference is one was playing soccer and one was playing Gaelic."

With these words John McGuinness, whose son Oisin died on the soccer pitch and who was there when Patrick Dinsmore died playing Gaelic, sums up the striking similarities between the two tragedies.

And both he and Oisin's mother Joan are warning that, sadly, it's only a matter of time before the same thing happens again. It's this fear that has spurred them to once again highlight the fact that there is a straightforward and effective way to detect the risk of cardiac problems in young people.

"Screening is the most simple process and really does make a huge difference," John said.

"Unfortunately we've found that people aren't taking advantage of it."

It's been less than a year-and-a-half since John and Joan's energetic and athletic son collapsed and died during a soccer match.

Despite their own heartache, they've used the time since losing Oisin to campaign tirelessly for local clubs to take up screening and have raised thousands of pounds to buy defibrillators.

Now with another all too familiar tragedy taking the life of Patrick Dinsmore, who died after collapsing during a minor match in August, they are re-issuing their plea for local sports clubs and schools to take up screening.

"We've had quite a lot of interest in our defibrillators but the response to our offer to pay for screening has been disappointing," John said.

"Defibrillators are brilliant, there's no doubt about that, but Patrick was treated with one to no avail. Whereas perhaps if he'd been screened and a potential problem spotted he might still be alive today – that's the heartbreaking possibility.

"The sad truth is that, until something happens like Oisin and Patrick, the momentum just isn't there – people tend to see it as a rare risk.

"As far as we're concerned clubs have a responsibility to their young people.

"It's so simple – if screened it can be spotted, if spotted it can be treated or at least monitored. If not spotted it can kill."

John and Joan McGuinness still have thousands of pounds that they want to give to local clubs and schools to cover screening costs. They can be contacted on (028) 30265193 or 07714422803.

Text campaign between rivals

A CORK man who lost his brother to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome has launched a nationwide text campaign to raise awareness of the condition and funds for vital screening and life-saving equipment.

Stephen Comerford launched the campaign after hearing of the death of Warrenpoint footballer Patrick Dinsmore.

The 16-year old St Peter's defender collapsed on the pitch during a minor match at Petit Park in Rostrevor.

Medical staff at the match rushed to help Patrick, but attempts to revive him with a defibrillator were unsuccessful.

Mr Comerford said news of Patrick's death brought him back to his own brother's passing.

"I was travelling home from the Cork/Dublin semi final when I heard of Patrick's death on the radio, and the similarities immediately brought me back to Gary's death," he said.

"Gary was 15 years old and playing football when he died. I have done campaigns on this issue in the past, but I just felt like there had to be more I could do."

While discussing possibilities with a number of Cork players about ways to highlight the issue, Stephen struck upon the idea of a text campaign.

Despite some early uncertainty the campaign is now fully underway thanks to the support of 'The Cormac Trust', and Stephen is hoping to hit 100,000 texts by full time of the All Ireland Final on Sunday.

Each text will cost 60 cent, and money raised will go towards a number of purchases, including defibrillators for clubs in Cork and Down, regular scans for GAA players, and funding for a mobile scanning unit to travel around schools and clubs.

However Stephen says as important as the life saving equipment is, it's his secondary concern.

"The most important thing is to get the message out there," he said.

"If we make 5,000 euro that's great, 50,000, that's even better, but the main thing is to get the message out there, and if we can convince just one player to get a scan, and it ends up saving that person's life, then it was all worth it."

Anyone wishing to contribute to the campaign should text "sads" to 81108 (cost 50p per text, the Cormac Trust receives 90 per cent after network costs).

[Hardy]

Down for me. We're taking too much on trust from Cork and most analysis is based on their form of last year. They could finally find that form on Sunday, but what are the odds? On this year's form, I don't think they have the forwards or the system to unlock Down's defence often enough to run up the 14 to 17 points they'd need to win an AIF. I think Down could win with 40% of possession. Goals may be key and I wouldn't be surprised to see Down score two, and Cork score none, which could mean Down could win it with 10 scores.

[AZOffaly]

Spoken like a true Meathman exiled in Rebel country.

[bennydorano]

I still don't believe it's possible to progress so far so fast, Down have had some serious rub of the green, if it deserts them i could see a Cork win by 4 or 5 points.  The northern journos tend to lose the run of themselves when an Ulster team is in the final (a la England in any competition) and I think they have done so spectacularly this year.  I thought sensible analysis of the Kildare game was pretty much non-existent.

Talking about taking too much on trust from Cork is a bit dubious, not sure who wrote the article in today's Racing Post but he basically said do a critical analysis to Cork, whatever the result you come up with, do the same for Down and compare. When you see where both teams have come from and even what they done this past few years, there's surely only one statistical outcome possible.

At the risk of making a tit of myself I'm going to back Cork minus 4/5.

[jas376]

 

  Cork footballers have been criticised a lot here and elsewhere for the type of football that they have played this year with many commentators saying that they played much better football last year. Well, I saw Paul Kerrigan on TV  yesterday address that very point. He said that last year the Cork players  tended to play every ball ''as if it was their last' -  this led to an expansive brand of football that was entertaining to watch. In contrast, he said that this year they were playing a more cautious game with an emphasis on 'using our heads more' and retaining possession.
   The Cork game-plan is all about retaining posession at all costs and keeping the ball away from the opposition as much as possible. This type of game plan was introduced by Billy Morgan back in the eighties and has been continued by Conor Counihan with this present team since Conor played in Billy's teams for many years.
    The 'possession game' is not pretty to watch but it has served Cork well in the past as Cork usually manages to score more than the opposing team does. Therefore I expect Cork to continue playing in this way on Sunday. Many people are hoping for a huge expansive display from Cork in the final. I for one don't expect to see this  as instead I expect Cork to continue to do what it does best.
So, on Sunday when you see the Cork players hand- passing the ball around the middle of the field don't think that they have lost their way. Just  remember that their slow, laborious style of play is all part of their game-plan and is geared towards winning rather than entertaining.

[Leo]

Claims on here that Cork will try to rough up Down are laughable Cork dont roll like that, if anything I think Down will try some rough stuff. Cork have been very disciplined in defence only giving away 2 scorable frees against dubs.

I think that noel o'leary may be the one to man mark CLarke exclusively, Shields will mark Coullter, talk is that Canty wont start and Miskella will replace him. Cork have very solid fullback line, same lads played U21 together.
Down seemed to tire against kildare and let them back into it, cork have finished strongly in games and if its tight with 10 to go cork should close it out.

That has never been the hallmark of a Down team. Expect tough uncompromising tackling and they won't be rolled over but we don't do a Keneally. What Murphy suffered last year was a disgrace but Cork should have sorted that out big time on the field at the start. Try that out on Down and you will get your answer but Down never have gone out to play that game.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Logically:          Cork
Psychologically: Down

The Psychos have it for me 

[BarryBreensBandage]

Completely off-topic, but I know James McCartan senior was from Donaghcloney.  How did the current manager end up with Burren?  Did the family leave Donaghcloney and move down Burren way?

Be careful not to open a can of worms! 
Short answer is, that Wee James transferred to Burren after the heart of a local lady. He formally played for Tullylish.

So is he now a resident of Burren or does he live up the Donaghcloney way?  Is James Snr still about there?

Yes, resident of Burren.  afaik James Snr is still in Donaghcloney

i thought James senior now lives in Mayobridge/Saval??
Was James senior not originally a Glenn man, i know he played for Glenn.

Both James and Dan played for Glenn, although they were from Donaghcloney.

When Maurice Hayes rolled out his plan in 1956 for Down to win an All Ireland within the next ten years, one of the theories was that for county standard players to achieve and maintain a high level of playing they had to be competing aginst other county standard players.
Therefore eight teams were picked to form division 1 in Down, Glenn being one of them. All the quality players and prospects were then placed with one of the big eight, if they were not playing for one already.

With the family ties to Glenn, their father Briney played for them, they joined the club and the rest is history...

EDIT: Correction - Briney hailed from Hilltown/Cabra direction - James was playing for Glenn from 1954, two years before Hayes put his plan in action.

[Rossfan]

I dont know who is going to win and I find it hard t even hazard a guess.
As the cliche goes it will be all "on the day".
If it's a tight finish I suspect Cork's greater experience of the big day might just see them keep their nerve and squeeze through.

[ardchieftain]

Down have exceeded all expectations in reaching the final. Even the most die hard Down supporter must admit that. They have developed and improved in leaps and bounds since McCartan took charge but i think this match will be a bridge too far, Cork to edge it by 1 to 3 points.

[BarryBreensBandage]

As said in one of the previous posts, it will be about who handles the pressure best - who can produce their best when the heat is really on.

Both teams want the win as badly as the other, both teams have been trained and conditioned so that they succeed. The winners will be the team with the most conviction, focus and guts for a fight.

And, for me, that team is Down.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

There'll be a few of us (mise, ONeill, SS2, Lynchbhoy (probably) so far) meeting up in the Hill 16 on Gardiner street around midday -- turn right in the door for a great time!