Down Club Hurling & Football

[BallyhaiseMan]

how do your break your leg and not realise?

Gary McArdle must be one hard b*astard.

Wobbler

The Down leagues must be very strong if a team backboned by Paul Murphy,Ronan Murtagh and Shane Mullholland are outside the top tier.

[Cloc Mor]

Just after checking with a few mates in Annaclone who confirmed that Gary mc Ardle has a broken leg.  They said it happened early in the first half yet he played on for the rest of the game.  Between him and Benny Mc ardle Ballyholland had no answer as well as Martin Mc Aleenan.  They said the whole Annaclone defence was oustanding and one of the boys was delighted with a shoulder tackle by County minor Niall Higgins on Rony Murtagh which put him on his arse.  I couldn't repeat what he said about the defending in the Marshes compared with young Higgins for Annaclone but he is one to watch. 

[In the Onion Bag]

Down Fanatic.  Thanks for the next round of fixtures.  Here are my predictions after these are played, wet pitches allowing of course.

Div 3 - Next Round of Fixtures:

Dundrum v Drumgath  Drumgath t/w.  With the county stars back Drumgath will shade it.
Glenn v Mitchels         Glenn t/w.   Mitchels are v. poor
St Pauls v Tullylish       Pauls t/w. Good game in prospect. Pauls have a good result waiting to happen, and with home advantage this could be it.
Ardglass v Saul           Saul by a bagful
Bright v Bosco           Bosco, best team I've seem so far this season.
T'connaught v Breda. Who knows, side issues involved here?  Teconnaght still stinging from last year's championship, Bredagh needing to avenge their only home defeat this year.  The one I want to be at.

[Square Ball]

div three is close, far too close to call for the top 3 or 4

[goldenyears]

annaclone were excellent; wanted it more than ballyholland, and introduced a hard but fair element that i hadnt seen in a couple of years....maybe their younger lads have just come on a year or two. definitely superb around the middle, and teak tough at the back.

harps were rubbish, and inconsistency is a big problem. i think just lacking players, and i envisage a year or three mid table or even skirting bottom 4 in div2.....

superb tackle on murtagh, timed it lovely, but then he did have 3 others hanging off him on a solo run!

[5 Sams]

DOWN GAA FIXTURES



Monday 18th June 7:30pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

Castlewellan v Burren

Loughinisland v Rostrevor

Div Two

Darragh Cross v Downpatrick

Div Three

Tullylish v Bosco

PRFC

Clonduff v Liatroim



Tuesday 19th June 7:30pm

Democrat Media Hurling Leagues

Div One

Ballycran v Kilclief

Ballygalget v Portaferry

Liatroim v Shamrocks

Div Two

Portaferry v Ballygalget

Warrenpoint v Bredagh

Ballycran v Clonduff

Ballyvarley v Castlewellan

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

Atticall v Clonduff

Div Two

Clann Na Banna v Ballymartin



Thursday 21st June 7.30pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div Two

Ballymartin v Annaclone



Friday 22nd June 7.15pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

Castlewellan v Rostrevor

Loughinisland v Longstone

An Riocht v Kilcoo

Atticall v Burren

Bryansford v Liatroim

Div Two

Shamrocks v Ballyholland

Kilclief v Warrenpoint

Glasdrumman v Clann Na Banna

Carryduff v Darragh Cross

Downpatrick v Saval

Div Three

Dundrum v Drumgath

Glenn v Mitchels

St. Pauls v Tullylish

Ardglass v Saul

Bright v Bosco

Teconnaught v Bredagh

Div Four

St. Johns v Aghaderg

Aughlisnafin v Ballykinlar

Drumaness v Dromara



Saturday 23rd June 6pm

RFC Replay (extra time)

Rostrevor 3 v An Riocht 3



Sunday 24th June 2pm

ACPRFL

Div One

Rostrevor v Downpatrick

Warrenpoint v Mayobridge

Clonduff v Kilcoo

Bryansford v Kilcoo

An Riocht v Liatroim (off, cemetery)

Div Two

Carryduff v Tullylish

Loughinisland v Castlewellan

Ballymartin v Saval

Kilclief v Saul



Monday 25th June 7.30pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

Burren v An Riocht

Mayobridge v Clonduff

Castlewellan v Longstone

Div Three

Bredagh v Glenn

Div Four

Dromara v St. Michaels



Tuesday 26th June 7.30pm

Democrat Media Hurling Leagues

Div One

Ballela v Liatroim

Shamrocks v Ballygalget

Portaferry v Ballycran

Div Two

Warrenpoint v Portaferry

Ballyvarley v Ballycran

Clonduff v Bredagh

Ballygalget v Castlewellan



Friday 29th June 7.15pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

Longstone v An Riocht

Kilcoo v Atticall

Burren v Bryansford

Liatroim v Castlewellan

Rostrevor v Mayobridge

Clonduff v Loughinisland

Div Two

Clann Na Banna v Carryduff

Darragh Cross v Ballymartin

Annaclone v Downpatrick

Saval v Ballyholland

Shamrocks v Kilclief

Warrenpoint v Glasdrumman

Div Three

Tullylish v Ardglass

Saul v Bright

Bosco v Teconnaught

Bredagh v Dundrum

Drumgath v Glenn

Mitchels v St. Pauls

Div Four

Drumaness v St. Michaels

Aughlisnafin v Dromara

St. Johns v Ballykinlar



Sunday 1st July 2pm

ACPRFL

Div One

Longstone v An Riocht

Liatroim v Bryansford

Kilcoo v Clonduff

Burren v Warrenpoint

Mayobridge v Rostrevor

Div Two

Saval v Carryduff

Saul v Tullylish

Annaclone v Ballymartin

Castlewellan v Kilclief



Tuesday 3rd July 7.30pm

Democrat Media Hurling Leagues

Div One

Kilclief v Portaferry

Ballycran v Shamrocks

Ballygalget v Ballela

Div Two

Ballycran v Warrenpoint

Portaferry v Ballyvarley

Castlewellan v Clonduff

Bredagh v Balygalget



Thursday 5th July 7.30pm

O'Neills International Sportswear League

Div One

An Riocht v Rostrevor

Castlewellan v Clonduff

Bryansford v Longstone

Loughinisland v Kilcoo

Mayobridge v Burren

Atticall v Liatroim

Div Two

Carryduff v Shamrocks

Ballyholland v Warrenpoint

Downpatrick v Clann Na Banna

Glasdrumman v Darragh Cross

Kilclief v Annaclone

Ballymartin v Saval

Div Three

Ardglass v Drumgath

Dundrum v Mitchels

Teconnaught v Tullylish

St. Pauls v Saul

Glenn v Bosco

Bright v Bredagh

Div Four

Ballykinlar v Aghaderg

Dromara v St. Johns

St. Michaels v Aughlisnafin

[GRASSEYBANK]

how do your break your leg and not realise?

Gary McArdle must be one hard b*astard.

Wobbler

The Down leagues must be very strong if a team backboned by Paul Murphy,Ronan Murtagh and Shane Mullholland are outside the top tier.


'I was'nt joking when I said he played on for the rest of the game'

[passedit]

Tullylish drew with Bosco last night. Bosco came back from 5 or 6 down in the last fifteen mins.

[DownFanatic]

Latest Official ACFL Division 3 Table

Tullylish   18
Teconnaught   16
Dundrum   15
Drumgath   15
Saul   15
Bredagh   15
Bosco   14
Ardglass   13
Glenn   12
Mitchels   7
St Pauls   6
Bright   6



Outstanding Fixtures:

Bredagh v Glenn
Teconnaught v Saul


Next Round of Fixtures:

Dundrum v Drumgath
Glenn v Mitchels
St Pauls v Tullylish
Ardglass v Saul
Bright v Bosco
Teconnaught v Bredagh

[Cloc Mor]

For me, this post is more relevant and true reflection of the sad situation we as a county are in:

Down Slide
Was at the Tyrone Donegal game, big difference between Tyrone & Down is that former have a real desire & will to win. That then translates into hard graft on the practice field & top class fitness levels. Some of the Tyrone tackling was awesome, not in its brute force but in its timing & execution. They have clearly spent a lot of practice time on this often overlooked skill. Not only could some Down players not tackle against Monaghan, some could'nt even catch the ball at the first attempt.
The will to win goes right through to grass roots in Tyrone from what I hear of their club, underage & school set ups. That is what is sadly lacking in Down & we are now paying the price for it. Too many primary schools with no playing facilities and no teachers who can coach. Not enough link up between local clubs & schools. Senior players not involved in coaching underage teams, parents not encouraging their youngsters to play or taking the time to go & watch them play, etc, etc. The differences between Down & the successful counties are now deep rooted, cultural & structural. It will take a mammoth effort to make up the ground (if indeed we can make it up). The rot set in after 95/96 when a toothless county board let things drift for five years & didn't make the necessary changes at management level on the senior team.
Unfortunately it is now a catch 22 situation. Without success at senior level, kids wont be galvanised to play the game & emulate their heros; without kids taking up the game in big numbers there won't be any county success. The sad fact is that for most Down youngsters, their sporting heros now play in the overblown & overhyped spectacle known as the "Premiership" rather than in finals at Clones or Croker.
I know this is a fairly depressing analysis but, without a reality check,how can we start to address the situation.

Fair play big lad - I think you have hit the nail on the head.  We are light years behind the likes of Tyrone and we all know why.

[redandblackjack]

I read that myself earlier 5times. Pretty much spot on.
'reality is that over the last few years virtually everyone who has been potentially capable of County football has been tried with limited overall benefit'.
This indeed is a fact of the matter.

'At times it appears that it is more important that one clubs under 12 team is not beaten by the neighbouring parish team than that players skills are developed for the future'

I know of one club from south down (who are a senior club) in particular who do not discourage their juvenile players from hitting their opponents off the ball- as young as u-14! The same club had a mentor on the line threaten an opposing player of 13 years of age that if he touched the ball again he would break his legs (or something to that effect).
Until we sort this sort of tripe out we as a county will go nowhere.

To be fair however as recognised by another poster on HS, there has been success underage by down teams in recent years, it is how these fellas develop- the county should start focusing on the development of players from u 21 and up aswell as grassroots, it seems after u-21 alot of our hopefuls fade away. Should the leagues be revised? 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b etc? Increase competition? Certain teams are getting thumped each week in some of our leagues and other teams are simply yoyo teams who are not good enough for the higher division and too good for the lower divisions. The motivation for these teams lessens as the years go by.

Armagh had a great foundation with Crossmaglen to work on, was Mayobridges defeat last year a true reflection of the 'bridge' and Down club football? Hopefully not.

Hopefully a good run in the qualifiers and national league next year will help install a belief among our young team and hopefully progress from their.

[redandblackjack]

If the powers that be decided to reduce the number of players (senior games only) to 13 a side i believe it would help the game greatly. Having played 13 a side in the states the football was faster with less pulling and dragging compared to club football here.

5ivetimes- Don't put up with that oul pulling and dragging craic, hit er a shoulder the next time!!!

[Whitehair]

ACFL Div2
Clann na Banna 2.4 Ballymartin 1.11

In the ACHL Div2 Ballyvarley were beaten by Ballycran by 6, I was at neither.

[Lecale2]

ACHL Div 1
Ballygalget 2-07 2-08  Portaferry
Shamrock v Liatroim
Kilclief v Ballycran OFF

ACHL Div 2
Portaferry 3-09 1-06 Ballygalget
Warrenpoint 0-08 3-09 Bredagh
Ballycran 6-15 0-04 Clonduff
Castlewellan v Ballyvarley

[Mourne Rover]

I think everyone who attends club football in Down knows that the standard needs to improve significantly.The Ulster Club championship at senior level is a pretty stark story, as it is almost two decades since it was won by a Down side. Mayobridge were unfortunate against Cross at Casement in 2004, but have clearly gone back since then, mainly due to the lack of opposition in Down, and their scoreline against Ballinderry last winter (0-15 to 0-1) tells us all we need to know. Since the Ulster intermediate and junior club championship was introduced, our teams have fared equally poorly.

Something has to be done with our leagues for a start, and the proposal for a switch to three divisions was at least a step in the right direction. It was probably not surprising that it was rejected by the clubs, who are always likely to look after their own interests, so the county board should consider handing powers to some form of task force. A two-year experiment could harm no one and might end up helping us all.

Those who dismiss our underage set-up might like to recall that we have won two of the last eight all Ireland minor titles, which compares favourably to almost anyone else, lost an u21 final narrowly in 2005 and won a Hogan Cup (Abbey CBS with half a team of Down players) in 2006 and a Vocational All Ireland (St Columban's, which is 100 per cent Down) this year. The finalists in the Sigerson Cup this spring listed a combined total of 60 players in the programme, with 20 of them from Down. This does not suggest that our juvenile coaches are less dedicated than in other counties.

The raw material is there if we can overhaul our structures. What we need is some vision and fresh thinking at county board level.