Áth Cliath V An Dún. 7 30pm 02 Aibreain 2011

[snoopdog]

just home, totally gutted after that.
We were our own worst enemy tonight.
gutted

[Class of 99]

Tough break at the end but would rather that happened now than come the Championship, conditions made for a scrappy game, The ball in the end was nearly to easy for Callum just one of those things, some nice scores tonight from
both sides mixed with dome poor wides.
All in all Down can hold there heads up and look forward to a trip to kilarney and hopefully sign off with a win.
Defence imprioved after a very shaky start, nobody seemed aware of the Dublin players running from deep, their first goal was disappointing and I normally would expect BM to come and clear the house, but I'm not going to start criticising him after last years performances.
What great value for 13 euro

[NP 76]

Although alot of silly mistakes alot were forced by poor refering thought he was desperate Dublin unbelievably negative 3 to 4 men in front of our benny at all times thought we should of pushed our men further up on them . Clarke very impulsive with the sideline at the end could of worked it better than that and Rony cardinal error not putting ball dead .Good to see Eoin Mc Cartan back in the county colours

[MK]

kk one significant touch proved to be decisive-unfortunately 
Down still  need to learn how to turn posession into scores
fantastic night for the youngsters watchin the Brogans,the mc cartans and the Grimes 

[Mourne Rover]

Condolences first of all to two police families, the Brogans of Dublin and the Kerrs of Omagh. Our thoughts are with them.

It's a measure of the progress this Down squad has made that we left Croke Park bitterly disappointed after defeat to a fine Dublin side which has just won six on the bounce. We were the better team on the night, and dominated for most of the second half, so we need to look at where the game was lost. A little more cuteness would have seen us home, and, while there is not much point on condemning referees, we had a sub-standard one who could not keep up with the play and seemed to be intimidated by the atmosphere. However, in terms of a huge game at headquarters, and a blanket defence from a very physical opposition, it really should bring us on forward regardless of the result.

McVeigh varied his kick-outs well, was slow off his line for their first goal but made a couple of fine saves and hopefully was not seriously injured by the second one. Alder was excellent again as a replacement.

Gerard McCartan found himself stretched but did well throughout and even pushed forward effectively. He is close to nailing a championship slot. Big Dan started slowly but got better and better and was in full control long before the end. McArdle had a reasonable early period, but looked a little nervous later and, after a yellow, needed to be replaced.

McKernan had a strange night, with one brilliant point, three poor wides and a dreadful flick to a Dublin forward which should really have resulted in a goal. He is still a big player for us, linking up well with the attack, but he leaves gaps down the middle.

Garvey and Rooney were similar, with decent spells and ropey moments, while it was another unusual night at midfield. Kallum was back to his best almost but not quite to the end, getting in his tackles, and largely dominating in the air. The late mistake was just one of those things, so we will forget about it quickly. Fitzpatrick was mostly impressive, with a great point, and took a couple of heavy knocks before he was replaced.

Danny took two outstanding scores and ridiculous amount of abuse from defenders as well. The ref should take a long hard video ook at the head-high swings he ignored. Poland was in and out, with a poor early free but a mountain of work as well.  Maginn was great, has fantastic energy and can take a score.

Benny had a brilliant start and won a crucial free towards the end but, as he was double marked, we could not pick him out for long spells. McComiskey punched two fine points, although the second might have been a goal, and was a little unlucky to be benched after a single misplaced pass.

Marty is Marty, so we have to accept a number of handling errors with some moments of genius. He is always there for the pass, and his vision is second to one. It was a pity about that sideline kick.

Dan McCartan had a difficult job on Bernard Brogan, and got booked for a challenge which was not even a foul, but was steady enough. Colgan did well and never wasted a ball. Murtagh is frustrating, as he has the skill and flair to make a difference, and seemed in the mood when he came on, but his final thump up the field made little sense and proved costly.

It was great to see Eoin McCartan back after fully five years, and he won an outstanding ball down the right wing but got little in the way of any other supply.

All in all, we are well ahead of where we might have hoped to be still. Kerry might be a difficult trip, but the talent is there in abundance. If Ambrose gets back as himself, anything remains possible.

[PAULD123]

Before the league started what would we have asked for?

1. Survival

2. Win our home games (especially Armagh)

3. Challenge with good performances away from home.

So in that respect we have acheived all our targets and a little bit more but football is a greedy game. You get what you wanted and you suddenly want more. I'm gutted we lost. It was a lucky goal and we just have to accept it, such bad luck doesn't come round too often. As someone said above better now than the championship.

We were by far the more skillful team. We controlled possession against the team top of the league and outclassed Dublin in their own Croke Park. To be fair 3 months ago we wouldn't have been ambitious enough to expect that.

But we couldn't break the line and we just didn't create anough scoring opportunities. However look at how good our so called weak defence was! Look at the posessesion! See how improved kickouts were! The midfield had one of their best games yet! And it cannot be ignored that the referee made some appalling decisions including two non-existant frees which they scored from! All that is missing is a bit better decision making, that will come with experience. So things are well on track.

But man, I'm flattened tonight

[Dubh driocht]

The previous posters have got it right.Our heads are high and on to Killarney we go with no fear.
The previews had all talked about our 3 All Star forwards and it was clear that Pat Gilroy had given instructions to take the 3 lads out- despite double marking at different times, all 3 were ( along with the Brogans) excellent. However, our 3 were victims to late and dangerous tackles and got no protection from Syl Doyle or his officials. Contrast that with his protection of the Dublin forwards ( the Dan Mc Cartan tackle on BB a the worst example) and you really need a strong ref who can distinguish between dirt and toughness.
Thought our MF were good and Kalum in particular makes the least mistakes on our team so when shit happens, move on- it was unlikely we would have made the final even with a win so the performance was more important and we were the better team against an outfit who are the fittest in Ireland. Great night out - Hurling was mighty and them Jedward boys are headers.

[PAULD123]

Each week we review the game on this forum. Each week we point out problems. Each following game we see that the team have improved in that area. What an incredible management we have that see these problems with us and implement changes to address them. each game we are improved and we're still improving. The result was tough but we are getting better and better. To try and cheer myself up here's a reminder of some of the things we have complained about so far, notice how they have been addressed:

Mayo - Our kickouts were terrible, our midfield hardly caught a ball, our HB line allowed the forwards to run through them, failed to win break ball in the middle

Galway - Kept going for goals when we needed points, huge lapses in concentration to let Galway back into it

Armagh - took a lot of hasty shots, again going for goals when we needed points, too much over elaboration (going for an extra pass when an easy shot was on)

Cork - Ran out of steam, gave away a ridiculous number of frees

Monaghan - we were pretty happy with this one, and by this game most of the above points had been addressed

If youu look at each problem and then look at last night's game I think it is clear how good the boys have been at addressing their issues. we can only ask that we keep improving. Last night there was still a lot of hand passes but only because the Dublin defence was superb. The lads were clearly trying to get into point scoring positions.

we must be pleased and enthusiastic about the summer because we are still on an upward curve. Last night was a step up in performance and, but for some terrible referee calls and an unfortunate goal we would have could have been discussing a victory.

[Declan]

Although conditions made it a difficult night I thought it was a terrible match and obviously after the Mayo defensive lapses that's all we've been working on cos at times it was back to the worst stuff from last year with 13/14 men in our own half and no one within an asses roar of our forwards.
Lucky to get the winning goal but considering Bastick, Flynn and Cahill missed 3 gettable chances you could argue that Dublin could have won by more. Apart from Flynn's hard work I thought our HF line was poor enough but anyway we're in a national final so looking forward to it now.

[heffo]

Very happy with the win.

Inexperienced Dublin team playing against nearly Downs full whack so to get three points while expermenting with new tactics & shape was excellent.

Most Down posters seem to be giving out about the ref, but I thought you got some very handy frees, particularly in the second half.

Down shouldn't have taken their foot off the pedal trying to wind down the clock before Dublin got their equaliser.

Looking forward to Easter Sunday now.

[NP 76]

I didnt see the handy frees for Down maybe im wrong all i saw was Down getting handy yellow cards like that Daniel got when Bernard got a real handy free but nothing can be done about it now you have to take your chances Down didnt Dublin did fair play all the best in the final good nights craic for all that great to be back in Croke park hope its not the last time this year

[Canalman]

A draw imo would have been a fair result. From a Dub perspective am very happy to  see both Kevin Nolan and Paul Flynn improving alot.................. they are the type of player we have been crying out for for years. From the heights of the upper Cusack both Devereux and Brogan P (after a shaky start) played well .

Down are a handy side who just did not read the referee at all. The ref imo continuously gave the advantage to the tackler with Dublin quicker to offload the ball and Down carrying it in to the tackle. He was consistent in his approach and is an approach that I personally favour although I realize others may differ in their views.

As a mate pointed out this is our 1st national final in Dublin  for a whole generation of Dublin supporters and hopefully we give a good account of ourselves.

Saw a very nice thing before the game. One of those hot dog vendors spilt his money pouch under the Cusack stand with coins flying all over the place. The poor fecker's face dropped but virtually every fan in the area went down on their knees to pick up the coins and handed them back to him. The only right thing to do but still nice to see all the same.

Finally, just have to point out that Down also played a defensive system also, counted 8 of them around Diarmuid Connolly at one stage in the 1st half.
Goodish crowd from Down at game.

[PAULD123]

Heffo,

Its not just about the frees its more about where they are given. Do you remember us getting any "handy" frees in the scoring zone?

Even Dublin fans have admitted Dan mcCartan did not foul Brogan when the ref booked him and gave you a 13m free. There was an earlier one on the other side of the pitch when a perfect Down tackle was given as a free and (I think Fitzpatrick was booked), Quinn missed that one. But the point is that the ref gave you that free on 55 minutes which means he effectively gave you a score. A "handy" free is not much help in midfield but getting it within 13m of goal changes the scoreboard.

Do you dispute any of the three frees we scored from? 15 minutes Danny Hughes brought down 45m out, 55 minutes coulter taken out and Down called back for a free despite already having put it over the bar for a point, 67 minutes Coulter rugby tackled as he headed along the line after turning Brogan?

Overall we feel Dublin got the decisions that caused more damage. The ref was overall very poor and the big screen replays showed how many decisions he got wrong.

No hard feelings though, this has been a respectful and friendly forum topic. Fair play to Dublin they fought to the end and took their luck when it came. A draw would have been a fair result in my opinion and to be fair I think most people agree with that.

[mournerambler]

Very happy with the win.

Inexperienced Dublin team playing against nearly Downs full whack so to get three points while expermenting with new tactics & shape was excellent.Most Down posters seem to be giving out about the ref, but I thought you got some very handy frees, particularly in the second half.

Down shouldn't have taken their foot off the pedal trying to wind down the clock before Dublin got their equaliser.

Looking forward to Easter Sunday now.

2 points for a league win in GAA Heffo 

[snoopdog]

Cork defeated today.
a win in kerry and a cork defeat would see us in the final.
tough call though.