Down v Cork, Park Esler, Newry Sunday 3rd March 2013

[extra time]

Thought the ref let Cork away with cynical fouling from the start, and they went about it Donegal style the whole game. Very poor performance by Deegan in a time when these tactics are being discussed so much. Not the reason for that unlucky defeat though. That was down to individual errors for their 3 goals.

[Aristo 60]

Sport is a cruel mistress and she was brave and cruel today in Newry! How and ever there are some positives for us. We matched a much more physical team and without the errors we'd have have 2 well deserved points on the board. Would we have played as well had we been in Croke Park who knows.

I hope today doesn' t define our year in Div 1.

[Pangurban]

That was hard to take, but we are heading for Div.2 in good shape for the Championship and possible redemption. We are improving with every outing and come Summer there could be a battle for places

[Line Ball]

Just frustrating that we cannot hold on to a lead.  A win today would have been immense and great for the confidence.  We are making progress I believe and the likes of Donal O Hare are playing out of their skin.  Simple errors cost us in the end.  Deegan-what they hell was he at?

[SHEEDY]

really frustrating result but an encouraging performance. to score 1-17 against cork and still lose is hard to take. donal o hare was brilliant. aiden carr and ryan boyle also stood out in a good team performance.

the only downside for me was some baffling subsitutions. how shea mc ardle jerome johston and eoin mc cartan are ahead of ryan kelly and arthur mc conville in the pecking order is anbodys guess. none of the above mentioned subs really made any impact.

encouraging signs in defeat but still hard to take.

[5 Sams]

really frustrating result but an encouraging performance. to score 1-17 against cork and still lose is hard to take. donal o hare was brilliant. aiden carr and ryan boyle also stood out in a good team performance.

the only downside for me was some baffling subsitutions. how shea mc ardle jerome johston and eoin mc cartan are ahead of ryan kelly and arthur mc conville in the pecking order is anbodys guess. none of the above mentioned subs really made any impact.

encouraging signs in defeat but still hard to take.

You are right Sheedy. We have a weak bench. Need the the two Dans &@ Ambrose back

[SHEEDY]

really frustrating result but an encouraging performance. to score 1-17 against cork and still lose is hard to take. donal o hare was brilliant. aiden carr and ryan boyle also stood out in a good team performance.

the only downside for me was some baffling subsitutions. how shea mc ardle jerome johston and eoin mc cartan are ahead of ryan kelly and arthur mc conville in the pecking order is anbodys guess. none of the above mentioned subs really made any impact.

encouraging signs in defeat but still hard to take.

You are right Sheedy. We have a weak bench. Need the the two Dans &@ Ambrose back

plus connor garvey and darren o hagan.

[Line Ball]

Its an awful thing to say but I'm not convinced that Ambrose can be the force he was a few years back and we shouldn't be heaping all that expectation on him.  He has had several serious injuries which have taken their toll on him and for a fine big lad he has just had some bad luck. 

We need Dan round the middle as King just isn't mobile enough, as well as not delivering consistently at this level. 

Things can only get better (apart from the manager continuing to play his clearly unfit brother).

[Mourne Rover]

Today's result was a bitter pill, as we were by some distance the better side and the win would have left us with all to play for in the league. However, even if relegation seems a certainty, we need to take the lessons on board and move on.

Concentration was the biggest problem, as three lapses cost us three pretty dreadful goals, two of them unforgivably with the last kick of each half. We also hit a number of aimless passes, including a couple from frees for which we had worked hard to get in the first place.

The other huge difference between the teams was long distance free taking, as almost all of the Cork efforts sailed over the bar and we seem to have no one with the confidence to take on kicks outside Donal O'Hare's range.

It would be a pity if we overlooked the fact that it was still a tremendous performance in the face of adversity by a predominantly young team who are clearly responding strongly to their manager, and it's hard to remember the last time we got 1-17 and lost.

You would have to sympathise with Michael Cunningham, as his distribution was generally good and he is a fine shot-stopper, but the second goal was a small disaster and his confidence seemed to go downhill afterwards. Brendy McVeigh probably made a worse mistake in the league play-off against Cork last Spring, so it can happen to anyone, but McVeigh will probably and justifiably return against Mayo.

Our much maligned full back line did well and again Daniel McCartan was excellent. He covers gaps brilliantly and the moment when he anticipated the breaking ball in our square, carried it out of danger and played it calmly up the field summed up his display. Ryan Boyle was also solid, while Benny McArdle was generally decent but may have been caught out for at least one of the goals.

Ryan Mallon is a confident and improving defender, and took a fine point, while Aidan Carr was almost always in control at centre half and made a couple of outstanding blocks. His man, Sheehan, finished with two goals, but they were both freakish scores. Paul McComiskey, amazingly, spent most of the game at wing half back and completely dominated Kerrigan. He also used the ball effectively, until a cruel misjudgment in injury time when he really should have thumped it anywhere.

Kallum King worked as hard as ever without winning enough ball while Kevin McKernan had his best match for probably a couple of seasons and was the dominant midfielder on display.

Keith Quinn had a mixed day, covering plenty of ground but not creating much, while Mark Poland, after a difficult start to the season, is starting to look himself again. Conor Laverty was excellent, continually finding time and space, and his brilliant run and fisted point really should have clinched the result.

Connaire Harrison took his goal expertly and it was a pity that his only real mistake led fairly quickly to their second goal shortly afterwards. Benny did not score but switched effectively between midfield and full forward while regularly winning balls when double marked. Donal O'Hare was man of the match, and nine points from nine shots, five from play, tells its own story.

Of the subs, Jerome Johnston is on the small side but has pace and determination, while Eoin McCartan and Shea McArdle saw little of the ball in the closing stages.

[5 Sams]

Today's result was a bitter pill, as we were by some distance the better side and the win would have left us with all to play for in the league. However, even if relegation seems a certainty, we need to take the lessons on board and move on.

Concentration was the biggest problem, as three lapses cost us three pretty dreadful goals, two of them unforgivably with the last kick of each half. We also hit a number of aimless passes, including a couple from frees for which we had worked hard to get in the first place.

The other huge difference between the teams was long distance free taking, as almost all of the Cork efforts sailed over the bar and we seem to have no one with the confidence to take on kicks outside Donal O'Hare's range.

It would be a pity if we overlooked the fact that it was still a tremendous performance in the face of adversity by a predominantly young team who are clearly responding strongly to their manager, and it's hard to remember the last time we got 1-17 and lost.

You would have to sympathise with Michael Cunningham, as his distribution was generally good and he is a fine shot-stopper, but the second goal was a small disaster and his confidence seemed to go downhill afterwards. Brendy McVeigh probably made a worse mistake in the league play-off against Cork last Spring, so it can happen to anyone, but McVeigh will probably and justifiably return against Mayo.

Our much maligned full back line did well and again Daniel McCartan was excellent. He covers gaps brilliantly and the moment when he anticipated the breaking ball in our square, carried it out of danger and played it calmly up the field summed up his display. Ryan Boyle was also solid, while Benny McArdle was generally decent but may have been caught out for at least one of the goals.

Ryan Mallon is a confident and improving defender, and took a fine point, while Aidan Carr was almost always in control at centre half and made a couple of outstanding blocks. His man, Sheehan, finished with two goals, but they were both freakish scores. Paul McComiskey, amazingly, spent most of the game at wing half back and completely dominated Kerrigan. He also used the ball effectively, until a cruel misjudgment in injury time when he really should have thumped it anywhere.

Kallum King worked as hard as ever without winning enough ball while Kevin McKernan had his best match for probably a couple of seasons and was the dominant midfielder on display.

Keith Quinn had a mixed day, covering plenty of ground but not creating much, while Mark Poland, after a difficult start to the season, is starting to look himself again. Conor Laverty was excellent, continually finding time and space, and his brilliant run and fisted point really should have clinched the result.

Connaire Harrison took his goal expertly and it was a pity that his only real mistake led fairly quickly to their second goal shortly afterwards. Benny did not score but switched effectively between midfield and full forward while regularly winning balls when double marked. Donal O'Hare was man of the match, and nine points from nine shots, five from play, tells its own story.

Of the subs, Jerome Johnston is on the small side but has pace and determination, while Eoin McCartan and Shea McArdle saw little of the ball in the closing stages.

Good summary MR. However you glossed over the performance of Coulter. He was immense. iMHO shields is the best full/corner back in Ireland over the last 5-6 years apart from Marc Sé and Coulter won EVERY ball in front of him.

[DownFanatic]

Excellent game today in Newry. Very enjoyable.

Down very unlucky to lose. A tremendous performance from all involved.

Agree with 5 Sams in that Benny was brilliant. Id go as far to say that it was one of the best performances I've seen from him in terms of pure ball winning ability.

Very hard to fault anyone else as they all had their moments. Mayo will be a tough gig but a Down win is very much a possibility.

On a sidenote, one player I saw on the bench today that I hoped would have got game time was Kilcoo's Darragh O'Hanlon. He is exactly the type of player that would fit into the current system.

[No1]

Best team lost today, although we mixed the sublime with the ridiculous.  It's not often you see Kerrigan and O'Connor both being taken off so some credit to a much maligned defence must be given. 

Only for a goalkeeping error we'd have won and it was a sickening way to lose the game but there was much to take heart from. 

Couple of negatives were the performance of Cunningham in goals (who up to today has played very well and looked very assured) but perhaps I am being too harsh on him and the subbing of Donal O'Hare and his replacement, I have no idea what that was supposed to achieve.

I think we'll stay up.

[Line Ball]

Excellent game today in Newry. Very enjoyable.

Down very unlucky to lose. A tremendous performance from all involved.

Agree with 5 Sams in that Benny was brilliant. Id go as far to say that it was one of the best performances I've seen from him in terms of pure ball winning ability.

Very hard to fault anyone else as they all had their moments. Mayo will be a tough gig but a Down win is very much a possibility.

On a sidenote, one player I saw on the bench today that I hoped would have got game time was Kilcoo's Darragh O'Hanlon. He is exactly the type of player that would fit into the current system.

Top class footballer with an excellent attitude I believe and he would be playing if his name was Mc Cartan or Johnston. I can't believe that in this day and age that people are so blinkered to the extent of putting on relatives ahead of those who can do a much better job.

[whitegoodman]

Think Ohare was injured No1, seen him stretching his calf a couple of times before coming off.

Ach Jesus lineball are we back to that old chestnut, thought we had finished with that a while back

[Line Ball]

I thought that too but when there are better options on the bench rather than resorting to siblings, what are we to believe? Eoin doesn't train with the squad, Jerome trains with U.21's, surely we have better options in Ryan Kelly or Danny Savage?