Ulster Senior Football Final, Donegal v Down 22nd July .

[Orchardman]

Aiden o rourke brought a great defensive system to down this year, one of the super coaches mentioned by many for the armagh job. Or maybe the players just not good enough

[borderfox]

Aiden o rourke brought a great defensive system to down this year, one of the super coaches mentioned by many for the armagh job. Or maybe the players just not good enough

[Brick Tamlin]

Congrats to Donegal on what was an excellent victory.
Still not convinced they have what it takes to go all the way though.
Down showed that for the first 40mins that Donegal were no big shakes and the capitulation by them after the 2nd goal pretty much allowed for shooting practice for Donegal.

Funny how alot of the apple-munching brethern are on here like proverbial rats up a drainpipe right after the game to offer opinion.
Im just glad that Down are back in an ulster final again after so long in the wilderness after watching the kingpins of Ulster, Armagh dominate the game for so long throughout the last 20 years. Sure we know we are shite and just cannon-fodder but sure we just give it an oul lash anyway. Live to fight another day.

[yellowcard]

The bookies had it right marking Down up at 4/1. They were abysmal and Donegal never had to get out of 2nd gear. Hard to know exactly how good Donegal are after today but I suspect they will take a bit of beating.

[EC Unique]

Well done to Donegal. They are getting more watchable.

[cadence]

well, i enjoyed that. we kicked as much long ball, as quickly as possible, as we could and got into scoring positions before the down defence could get set up properly. once we got ahead, down had to commit more in attack and we capitalised. hope our lads have a celebratory pint or two. they'll be well deserved i thought we were killer in the second half. two-in-a-row!

best of luck to down against tip.

[SHEEDY]

well done to donegal. well deserved victory. as for down what can you say. the 2nd half was as disjointed as i can remember from a down team. donegal were far superior, fitter and faster all over the field. thought at half time we still had a decent chance but after donegals 2nd goal the heads dropped. have to lift it somehow for tipp in 6 days time.

[Wildweasel74]

Down were fairly disjointed in the 1st half against Monaghan, too many people read into the 2nd half of that game as to how Down would perform in the final

[southdown]

Congrats and fair play to donegal, hope you go all the way, you are a formiddable side and will take some stopping now.

[ross4life]

Well done to Donegal back to back Ulster titles is a fine achievement especially when you consider where they were before Jim McGuinness took over, goes to show what a good manager can do.

[Mourne Rover]

Congratulations to Donegal, who are the coming force in Gaelic games and are certainly entitled to be regarded as genuine AI contenders. It is verging on the astonishing that, with barely five minutes to go to the break, we were in front, had held them to two points and were actually largely in control of the game at that stage. As soon as we conceded a defensively poor goal, confidence spread through their team and they produced a level of football which was way ahead of anything we could attempt.

From our point of view, we realistically knew that we were some distance behind the leading contenders from the start of the season. We had a fairly long list of injuries, but the unavailability of Clarke and Mooney (both unavoidable) and McComiskey (something which should have been resolved)  was a hammer blow. Staying in division one and getting to an Ulster final was a decent achievement in the circumstances, and we can be under no illusions about the scale of the gap we still need to bridge.

It was also evident that many of our players were struggling for fitness by the last quarter and some fresh legs will be necessary if  we are to avoid a disheartening end to our year. The likes of McParland, Duffin and McConville have plenty to offer and deserve their chance next Saturday.

None of our substitutions worked today, apart from Eoin McCartan, so there is a clear need to shake things up. In fairness to our management, there was little they could do against the tidal wave we faced in the second half.

McVeigh will be disappointed to have been beaten twice, although both were smart finishes. His kick-outs were mostly reasonable, apart from a couple which put us under pressure, but it is already known that Harrison, who has a longer clearance and is a fine shot-stopper, is pushing him hard.

Dan McCartan did well in the first half, but ultimately could not cope with a top class opponent in McFadden who was given a fantastic supply line. Gordon was excellent during his time on Murphy, and largely dominated him, but was less effective when moved out the field as our overall display fell apart. McArdle was among our best performers, as usual, has the pace required at the back and even got up to support the attack.

McKernan, sadly, was a shadow of the player of a couple of years ago, and the lapse in concentration which led to the crucial first goal was not unexpected. He still covers a huge amount of ground and we managed to get worse after he was replaced. Branagan will run forever and is always available for a pass but may be more of a squad player than a starter. O'Hagan had some decent moments but was struggling like all the rest long before the end.

Ambrose tried his heart out, and his point might even have been a goal, but he is not a miracle worker and he lacked support as Donegal men appeared from all directions. King, apart from one fine catch, did not look himself, and may either have been carrying or picked up an injury.

Carr spend most of his time very effectively in our half, and it was a pity that a couple of long-range frees did not work out for him. His replacement was a surprise, and did not help us. It was wonderful to see Doyle back kicking elegant points and playing intelligent passes. He understandably tired, as one missed free showed, but it was his first championship start for over four years and he should hopefully be better again the next day. Poland had some brilliant runs, but only set up a couple of our scores and could not get into many dangerous positions.

O'Hare took one fine point, although he might have gone for goal, but is probably a year ahead of himself. With Benny, the choice was between starting our most inspirational figure in what may be his last Ulster final or waiting for the lift his appearance in the second half would have given us. It turned out that he was nowhere near full fitness and got a poor supply anyway. He was also lucky to avoid a red card after a rare moment of indiscipline when he responded to a series of off the ball shoulders with a punch to his marker's ribs. Laverty was targeted in a particularly cynical way by Donegal, with different defenders queueing up to foul him and the full back even escaping with a yellow for a stamp. He looked brilliant early on but he was a bit of a lost soul towards the end.

Eoin McCartan, as mentioned, clearly made a difference when he came on, but Maginn and Hughes were unable to get to grips with an opposing side which has set a standard well ahead of our present capabilities.

[thewobbler]

I'm still in a bit of shock at that second half.

At every level of football I've ever watched, there is a tendency for the team chasing the game to throw caution to the wind and drive forward en masse - even though all this ever does is reduce space at the end you're attacking, while opening space at your own end. It's human nature I suppose.

But I've never seen any other team throw caution so quickly and so pronounced as this Down team. We're football's equivalent of masochists.

Given that it's basically a semi-pro team, this is inexcusable. Our poor, poor full back line.


Congrats Donegal by the way; an outstanding display.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Threatened to become a very good match in the latter stages of the first half but Donegal are simply on another level. 3 points was as far as Down could let them get ahead so the second goal killed it. I was seriously impressed by Donegal, they've made real improvements from last year and look like genuine All-Ireland contenders at this stage. Thought Ryan Bradley was superb at midfield for Donegal. Their system is so hard to play against, its almost like rugby the way they attack in a line at times.

Dispiriting enough one for Down, realistically their Ulster championship is probably an accurate enough reflection of where they lie at the minute; better than mediocre outfits like Monaghan and Fermanagh but likely to fall short against the top sides. Is the Tipperary match in Newry now? Was glad to see Eoin McCartan doing well when he came on. Down probably needed the goals to have any chance but the best chance fell to O'Hare and he skyed it over the bar.

[Onlooker]

No word yet where the Tipperary v. Down game will be played, but it won't be Newry as neutral venues apply for Round 4 of the qualifiers.

[borderfox]

Portloaise or  possibly Navan Id guess.