Antrim v Down

[Pat Mustard]

I agree with alot of the comments,if we can nulify downs attack then we will have a chance, because there own defence is poor and i feel we can get joy from dan gordon as it is not his natural position.cunningham offers nothing from play though and we cant afford to carry someone who can only kick frees, and totally agree a fully fit cj mc gourty have there anytime, he showed against tyrone last year he can do it from play and is always good for a goal as shown in previous championship campaigns, and is a reliable free taker for his club team. i feel the likes of johnston, mc sorley, crozier will all be found out against better teams such as down. coulter is a different kettle of fish altogether for johnston. and mclean is a much better footballer than johnston and can mix it up in terms of going with the physical approach and has mark coulter before. the reason antrim were so poor at midfield was due to the poor kickouts from the new lad mc sorley. This all would need to improve pronto for saturday! Rant over!

Cunningham is a better player than CJ, who shoots from anywhere. Crozier being found out? He's been about for quite a few years and hasn't been 'found out' as yet - a few below par performances but he's obviously a very good player 90% of the time. Johnston has marked Michael Murphy and held his own twice, so hardly as if he has been marking poor players. The only one to get the better of him so far is Paddy Bradley. Very harsh on McSorley after one game as well.

[Simon Says]

cunningham hides behind his man, whilst the other players earn the frees for him to tap over. Im just saying mc sorley would need to kick the ball alot better against down than what he did against carlow. I am a realist. Crozier ghosts through games, doesnt mark his man, and doesnt effect the game going forward. E.g look at the difference loughrey being back makes to the team. with his tackling and his surging runs. im saying this as i hope we can progress and have a crack at cork.

[snoopdog]

Down should win with a bit to spare and give cork a good game .Benny coulter was on fire last Saturday and will be hard to handle

Are you conor Deegan in disguise?

[waitingforsam]

I would continue to rest Danny & see how we fare out by half time.

Why did Dan McCartan not start last day out?

[PAULD123]

Does anyone know if there is any truth that Ambrose played in a challenge match for Down last night?

[NP 76]

Ambrose played last night and scored 2 - 02 . Murtagh also played and did very well

[whitegoodman]

NP who was the match against or was it an in house match?

[NP 76]

Only heard that today about Ambrose . Man said that the subs and second string team played Mayobridge . No 1st team players played so wouldnt read to much into it i wouldnt think probaly just something different to training

[DownFanatic]

The fact that Antrim as a whole are generally unfazed at the moment in relation to Saturday's game is no real surprise. There is very little to fear of Down at the moment. Scraping by Clare and playing well within themselves against Leitrim is hardly scorching Championship form.

There is still another gear left in this Down team but after that I wouldn't be too confident on what ive seen so far this year. However, I think Antrim will be put to the sword. We are well capable of extending them by 6 - 8 points on Saturday provided we lift it up a notch from last weekend's game.

As regards the team, we still possess an average intercounty defence. Our midfield is too inconsistent to be regarded as a force while we are blessed with numerous gifted forwards but we need to get the right mix on the field.

We got to last year's All Ireland Final on merit. There is no doubt about that. The personel has remained largely the same, performances haven't been great but yet expectations are still high.

Id go for: McVeigh, D.McCartan, D.Gordon, B.McArdle, C.Garvey, K.McKernan, D.Rooney, K.King, P.Fitzpatrick, Maginn, Poland, Clarke, Laverty, Coulter, McComiskey.

Danny Hughes, Caolan Mooney, Ronan Murtagh and Liam Doyle on standby for the forward line while Brannigan, Rafferty and Duffin are extra defensive options.

[whitegoodman]

The fact that Antrim as a whole are generally unfazed at the moment in relation to Saturday's game is no real surprise. There is very little to fear of Down at the moment. Scraping by Clare and playing well within themselves against Leitrim is hardly scorching Championship form.

There is still another gear left in this Down team but after that I wouldn't be too confident on what ive seen so far this year. However, I think Antrim will be put to the sword. We are well capable of extending them by 6 - 8 points on Saturday provided we lift it up a notch from last weekend's game.

As regards the team, we still possess an average intercounty defence. Our midfield is too inconsistent to be regarded as a force while we are blessed with numerous gifted forwards but we need to get the right mix on the field.

We got to last year's All Ireland Final on merit. There is no doubt about that. The personel has remained largely the same, performances haven't been great but yet expectations are still high.

Id go for: McVeigh, D.McCartan, D.Gordon, D.Rafferty, B.McArdle, K.McKernan, D.Rooney, K.King, P.Fitzpatrick, Maginn, Poland, Clarke, Laverty, Coulter, McComiskey.

Danny Hughes, Caolan Mooney, Ronan Murtagh and Liam Doyle on standby for the forward line while Brannigan and Duffin are extra defensive options.

No garvey??

[NP 76]

Would say your not far away Down fanatic cant see any big changes just hope Maginn is fit to start and Mc Comiskey finds some of last years form or if not Doyle will start with Poland in the corner . Corner back is a toss up between Brannigan, Daniel  or Gerald Mc Cartan if they are all fit  . I would have Garvey at CHB and try either Mc Kernan , Rooney at mid field take Fitzpatrick on like last week

[Square Ball]

whats the prices for this?

[Mourne Rover]

DownFanatic usually knows his stuff but Garvey is a certainty to start on Saturday and McComiskey, who sadly had a nightmare against Leitrim, is very likely to be on the bench.  It is difficult to see Doyle being dropped, even if he has to switch to the half back line, and if Hughes is fit he will be back in his normal position. Down's dreadful record at Casement has been well documented and the Mayobridge contingent will not need to be reminded that both of their Ulster final defeats were at the same venue. We only just sneaked past Offaly at this stage last year - when our form was much better than of late - and any sort of a win on Saturday would do the job.

[DownFanatic]

DownFanatic usually knows his stuff but Garvey is a certainty to start on Saturday and McComiskey, who sadly had a nightmare against Leitrim, is very likely to be on the bench.  It is difficult to see Doyle being dropped, even if he has to switch to the half back line, and if Hughes is fit he will be back in his normal position. Down's dreadful record at Casement has been well documented and the Mayobridge contingent will not need to be reminded that both of their Ulster final defeats were at the same venue. We only just sneaked past Offaly at this stage last year - when our form was much better than of late - and any sort of a win on Saturday would do the job.

Bad error in omitting Garvey. Totally forgot about him. Probably because he had been out injured. Id have McArdle move back into the corner in place of Rafferty and Garvey to wing half back.

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[Blowitupref]

Antrim struggled to beat Carlow last week i fancy Down to win this by 4-6pts