Down Club Hurling & Football

[supersub]

According to Downgaa.net, the team for Laois is -

1 Brendan McVeigh,2 Daniel McCartan. 3 Dan Gordon, 4 Aiden Branagan, 5 Niall McParland, 6 Brendan McArdle, 7 Conor Garvey
8 Ambrose Rogers 9 Kalum King 10 Daniel Hughes 11 Mark Poland 12 Aidan Carr 13 Conor Laverty  14 Brendan Coulter 15
Arthur Mc Conville.

The big talking point is the dropping of Kevin McKernan, although he can realistically have few complaints. His ability is unquestioned, and he scored a wonder point againt Armagh, but he cost us two or three others through non-marking and his misplaced pass late in the game was a decisive moment. He came back from a period on the bench in 2010, and he is well capable of doing the same again.  Benny McArdle has waited quite a well for his chance and will not let anyone down. He does not offer McKernan's potential pushing forward, but he is a much more natural defender.

Conor Maginn is also left out, which looks a little harsh, although he needs to get into more scoring positions. While McConville is presumably back as a left-sided free taker, his conversion rate has not been great so far. Benny was always likely to replace Eoin McCartan, who still kicked two fine points against Armagh.

With McComiskey hopefully among the subs, we have a few options as the space opens up. It is a big match by any standards, and may be quite a tight one.

Heard Danny pulled up at training, would be surprised if he plays tomorrow!

[here comes 6]

This bullshit that players are dropped because they had a poor game is stupid.  Wee James wants to try a few players out and by givng Benny McArdle a start doesnt mean all bad for McKernan.  Are you people tring to say the Coulter was dropped this last couple of Matches?   Rested more in line

[supersub]

While I agree with this normally, given the is a must win game I don't think it's time for resting players.

[whitegoodman]

I dont think McKernan or Maginn can have to many complaints at losing their places.  They have been dropped not rested.  If we were resting players would we not be resting McParland who has started 4 games in 3 wks rather than McKernan who has played 2 games since December???

It remains to be seen whether Benny actually starts given he has been named to start in the last few games but hasnt.

McConville is a surprising/interesting one.  He came in from the cold and then wasnt seen for a while and now is back in again.  His free taking wasnt up to scatch previously and it remains to be seen whether it has improved enough.  Not for me but hope he proves me wrong to tomorrow.

At the risk of sounding like a repetative handbell the score getting remains a big issue for me.  Hopefully McCumisky is ready to make some sort of impact tomorrow but we could also do with a flying fit Benny back to his best.

On another note heard Rooney pulled up in training recently so he would be a severe doubt for championship.  The back 6 tomorrow could be very close to the championship 6 depending on whether McKernan comes back or not.  Still would have liked to see Turley tried at CHB but doesnt look like James has an interest in trying that out.

[Dubh driocht]

Danny would be a loss as he has been consistently good but we beat Donegal without him and we need to win tomorrow. Management stints seem to average out around 3 years unless you are Mickey Harte. James had a spectacular first year and a reasonable second year. So far he has had a mixed year three but tomorrow will be significant. We have a good chance to get to an Ulster Final but anything beyond that is bonus territory. If the Championship doesn't go to plan I suspect James, as a proud man, will want to leave a team in reasonable shape.To leave the team in the top division for a third successive year would be no mean achievement, especially if they also got to a Division One final or semi-final.A poor championship and relegation would not be what James would want on his CV so the significance of tomorrow is clear.
We have a bit of history with Laois as the Clancy-Dan incident left a bit of a bad taste and the two boys should be in direct opposition. Add in the Billy Sheehan/Justin Mc Nulty factor and the fact that the loser tomorrow goes down and we should be set for a third successive championship tempo game. Apart from the Cork and Kerry games, Down have given full value in this campaign.Danny's injury should allow Maginn back in and , for me, he brings an excellent balance to the team; an intelligent grafter and while Poly has rightly grabbed the headlines, I really like seeing the way Maginn literally 'slashes' through defences. While Mc Kernan may be a loose marker, is there anyone who seriously thinks Brannigan is a better footballer? Aidan gives his all and does what he is told but at this level we need our class players in the starting 15. Looking forward to it; the rain should stay off and we need to get behind our lads and get the win.

[whitegoodman]

U don't need to be a great footballer to play corner back, u need to be able to mark a man, something brannigan can do and mckernan struggles with.

I've never seen mcginn "slash" through a county defence in all my days watching down. To be fair he win some breaking ball but slashing through defences, I've yet to see it

I do agree Danny would be a big miss tomorrow.

[lucan]

any results from div 3

[DownFanatic]

any results from div 3

Glasdrumman 2-06  Bosco 1-07
Drumgath 2-13  Glenn 1-09

[knockitdown]

Drumgath beat Glenn by 8 r 9

[umpire]

Down play Cork again!!!

[Pangurban]

Third time lucky

[SHEEDY]

well done to james and all the players on qualifying for the semi finals. at the start of the campaign most people were tipping us to struggle. only 3 home games and the loss of some of players to oz being the reasons most were giving for tipping us for relegation. most supporters would have settled for survival in div1 but to get to the semi final is a great achievement.

we now get an extra game or maybe 2 before the championship. hopefully we can give cork a better game this time even though it looks like we'll probably be missing danny hughes dan gordon and niall mcparland due to injuries. great to see big arthur prove some of his critics wrong today.

[5 Sams]

Well done to James and the lads...good season so far...couldnt make it due to ACPRL games on ...anyone know how this will affect the start of the leagues next week???

[DownFanatic]

Great going by Down. I thought after the Kerry game that we would be in a struggle to keep our Division 1 status. However, I was gladly proved wrong. Four wins and a semi final place is a very satisfactory achievement considering the personnel that we are having to do without.

[Dubh driocht]

Congratulations to James, his management team and players for securing a third consecutive year in Division One and a semi-final place to boot. Strong team performance today;...however, Laois looked short of confidence and their 8 first half wides were indications of a team short of confidence. We on the other hand had strong performances from one to fifteen. I will pick out a few for mention; Brendy was super and has had a good league overall-only one poor clearance today but a commanding presence in the squad.Garvey,Mc Ardle and Quinn when he came on were solid. Ambrose in patches but particularly Kalum did well against Quigley and O'Loughlin. Carr, Laverty and Arthur Mc Conville stood up and were counted. However, the pick of the bunch- yet again- was Big Dan and his injury was the reason for a subdued journey home. Clancy never won a ball against him and he will be a loss against the big Cork men-let's hope he and Daniel are OK for Fermanagh. Not sure if there will be enough to justify opening Croke next week but hey- we'll go anywhere. Proud to be a Downman tonight.