Down Club Hurling & Football

[ranch]

The perception particularly among Armagh Folk on the run up to this game was that there a high gulf on class between the 2 teams.

I think most people on the Down forum agreed. When the game was there to be won Armagh's subs were able to make the difference, scoring each of their sides last 3 points - there's a clear gulf between the depth of both squads.

That was not apparent yesterday. Yes we lost but I am not worried how about it. We have closed the gap in laverys 2 year spell and I think this group has more potential to develop into winners in coming years. It's taken mc geeney  close to 10 years and yesterday showed they have a bit to do yet.

Down are certainly on an upward trajectory, which was probably to be expected. Laverty took over the team when they were at a very low ebb and the only way was up. I don't think using Down's progress as a tool to somehow talk down Armagh makes much sense however - they won the match, and it's the first time in quite a while they've come out on the right side of an attritional type of match. They'll have got a lot more out of yesterday's game than last years Ulster semi final. Hopefully, it can give them a bit of belief that they can win games going forward without playing well.

They may snatch an ulster but certainly not an All Ireland.

I don't think anybody is expecting Armagh to win the All Ireland, and I expect them to be underdogs in the Ulster final too, regardless of the opposition.

[Wildweasel74]

Where's all the height gone in Down football, I may be going bck a long time but i seen plenty of Down all through the 90's and the one thing they didn't lack was sheer size. They were always know as a big team.

[statto]

Beat by 1 or beat by 10, still BEAT

We were expected to get beat by 10 by most people and we should have won and in the process gave our biggest rivals a reality check..their footballers are no better than ours. Next year we can fully expect to turn them over.

On what grounds beat by 10 last year 13 scores to 8 yesterday goals kept down in the game limited enough side who failed win tailteann cup and division three this year.

[statto]

Awful spectacle, but good strategy from Lavery, nearly pulled of the shock of the season. The final free was a long-shot; did the ref tell hime he had to score direct?

Why do so many people in down call him lavery?

[statto]

I've been going to Down matches since the 80s and yesterday was nothing short of dreadful.

We were 2 points up with approx 15 mins to go v Armagh in an Ulster semi final and my main concern was, I hope this doesn't go to extra time.

If playing like that is what it takes to be competitive, it's not a price worth paying as far as I'm concerned, and judging by the size of the crowd, I'm not alone. Would there have been 2000 Down supporters in Clones yesterday?

I recognise that plenty will take positives from yesterday's performance and to a degree, I can see where they are coming from. Laverty done nothing wrong yesterday, he broke no rules as such but mother of God, the powers that be must take action sooner rather than later because as a spectacle that game yesterday is unacceptable.

And I don't think I'm looking through rose tinted glasses about games from previous era's, plenty of them were poor too. I know Jarlath Burns has put together an impressive looking task force to deal with the predicament football finds itself in, and I'm sure they can use yesterday's game as an indicator of what drastic measures are needed to cure our game.

Down are not alone either, a lot of counties employ similar tactics, at times we have played excellently under Laverty, Cavan away last year in the Tailtain cup was a great performance. But  I really do hope there are rule changes made to avoid what happened yesterday repeated. And even if we won yesterday, I'm sure I would be saying the same thing.

once you go over the 45 shouldn't be allowed back simple rule that easily policed for officials.that are no more than three consecutive handpasses and removal of advanced mark would make games alot more enjoyable.

[clonian]

It wasn't easy on the eye but fair play to the team and management for coming up with a gameplan and they nearly got it over the line. Only for some poor place kicking they could of won the game - but maybe Armagh always had enough in the tank to get in front.

You'd hope they put that disappointment to the side and go and win the Tailteann cup now.

[snoopdog]

I've been going to Down matches since the 80s and yesterday was nothing short of dreadful.

We were 2 points up with approx 15 mins to go v Armagh in an Ulster semi final and my main concern was, I hope this doesn't go to extra time.

If playing like that is what it takes to be competitive, it's not a price worth paying as far as I'm concerned, and judging by the size of the crowd, I'm not alone. Would there have been 2000 Down supporters in Clones yesterday?

I recognise that plenty will take positives from yesterday's performance and to a degree, I can see where they are coming from. Laverty done nothing wrong yesterday, he broke no rules as such but mother of God, the powers that be must take action sooner rather than later because as a spectacle that game yesterday is unacceptable.

And I don't think I'm looking through rose tinted glasses about games from previous era's, plenty of them were poor too. I know Jarlath Burns has put together an impressive looking task force to deal with the predicament football finds itself in, and I'm sure they can use yesterday's game as an indicator of what drastic measures are needed to cure our game.

Down are not alone either, a lot of counties employ similar tactics, at times we have played excellently under Laverty, Cavan away last year in the Tailtain cup was a great performance. But  I really do hope there are rule changes made to avoid what happened yesterday repeated. And even if we won yesterday, I'm sure I would be saying the same thing.

Do Down have the players to go toe to toe with Armagh? Should the ball be kicked aimlessly up the pitch to come straight back at you?  Down needed to sort out their defence and it looks like they are getting there. The forwards will hopefully improve

[urbangael]

That was a hard watch in Clones yesterday. Could've won it if we had a reliable free taker or a few lads that could stick the ball over the bar from 30 yards. Laverty had a great chance with his mark too but never looked like scoring. He initially looked to pass the ball back which tells you all. Too many athletes and not enough natural footballers in the squad.
Really poor down crowd for an ulster semi against the old enemy. Probably a number of reasons for this including the dour style of football, and our spineless county board following the ref fiasco at our county final. Attendances definitely reduced after that. 

[ardtole]

I can understand why Laverty went with the tactics that he did, but the fact Jarlath Burns has set up a committee chaired by Jim Gavin to look into changes to improve the game would suggest that there is more than me think there are problems.

[Sheedy]

I've been going to Down matches since the 80s and yesterday was nothing short of dreadful.

We were 2 points up with approx 15 mins to go v Armagh in an Ulster semi final and my main concern was, I hope this doesn't go to extra time.

If playing like that is what it takes to be competitive, it's not a price worth paying as far as I'm concerned, and judging by the size of the crowd, I'm not alone. Would there have been 2000 Down supporters in Clones yesterday?

I recognise that plenty will take positives from yesterday's performance and to a degree, I can see where they are coming from. Laverty done nothing wrong yesterday, he broke no rules as such but mother of God, the powers that be must take action sooner rather than later because as a spectacle that game yesterday is unacceptable.

And I don't think I'm looking through rose tinted glasses about games from previous era's, plenty of them were poor too. I know Jarlath Burns has put together an impressive looking task force to deal with the predicament football finds itself in, and I'm sure they can use yesterday's game as an indicator of what drastic measures are needed to cure our game.

Down are not alone either, a lot of counties employ similar tactics, at times we have played excellently under Laverty, Cavan away last year in the Tailtain cup was a great performance. But  I really do hope there are rule changes made to avoid what happened yesterday repeated. And even if we won yesterday, I'm sure I would be saying the same thing.

Do Down have the players to go toe to toe with Armagh? Should the ball be kicked aimlessly up the pitch to come straight back at you?  Down needed to sort out their defence and it looks like they are getting there. The forwards will hopefully improve

some people need to get real, Armagh have been playing consistently in the top 2 divisions for last few years, they've been in Ulster finals and later stages of all Ireland series. We've just got promoted from division 3, we couldn't win it this year or get out of it last year. We couldn't win last year's tailteann cup, that's the reality of were we are at.

But still some people think we should go toe to toe with them in a shootout. It might have been more entertaining but we would have lost by 10plus points.

The management and players had a plan to contain Armagh and keep the game close and it worked, a few missed chances ultimately cost us.

Down are definitely on an upward curve but to go to the next level we need to add quality especially in the forwards and that is easier said.

[ranch]

Beat by 1 or beat by 10, still BEAT

We were expected to get beat by 10 by most people and we should have won and in the process gave our biggest rivals a reality check..their footballers are no better than ours. Next year we can fully expect to turn them over.

In what sense 'should' Down have won? In the last ten minutes they went into their shells and Armagh got on top. As for giving Armagh a 'reality check' - you have seen Armagh in recent years? Lost every tight game they played and have struggled under any kind of pressure. If anything it'll have given Armagh a huge boost to come out of that game with a result, especially one they 'should' have lost according to yourself.
You keep celebrating your one point defeat though and another missed opportunity to make it into the All Ireland series.

[downtothecore]

We were leading very close to the end of that game and missed a kick able score so in that sense we should have won. We are not experienced as Armagh and they took their opportunity after that. They have learned from past mistakes we now need learn. I am not celebrating but rather dissapointed tbh. I will point out again that we were not supposed to be anywhere near Armagh and if if you look at some posts by Armagh people last week on the gaaboard forum they referred to Down as shite a few times last week... but it took any injury time score to defeat what they refered to as a shite Down team. I still however now think Armagh can now win the final as that tight will stand to them...

[snoopdog]

Some people expect miracles from Day 1. The fact is Down are coming from such a low ebb its going to take 5 years minimum. We can't be compared to Derry, thry had better players and a quite a bit of underage success minor finals winning minor all irelands. Not just one strong club but a few. We don't seem to have the natural forwards we once had either, so there's a lot of work to do. The Tailteann won't be easy, teams like Fermanagh, Kildare, Antrim, sligo,Offaly, we will need to win all thr group games to be guaranteed the home QF. After that it's anyone's.

[Truth hurts]

Yes, the football at times was cruel but sometimes to have to adapt tactics to suit the other team. It was so close to being the shock to the season. We just need to win the Taitleann cup to ensure we are playing Sam Maguire next season. The support was disappointing but there are a lot of factors involved like timing, cost, and scheduling of girls' games at 7pm. There were a lot of drunk people around Clones but that's to be expected.

[Gaelforce123]

I for one enjoyed the game, having went to Clones expecting Down to be on the wrong end of a heavy beating, I was hoping to see what the Management where tactically capable off in order to make a much less physical and skilfully developed team cope with a top 10 team and thats exactly what I got. It was tactically spot on! Frustrated a team in every area they thrive on and hot them for scores outselves, only issue is our pack of ability to shoot from distance. In fact, the final score from Armagh there was a foul on Doherty that the ref didnt call. Was it great free flowing football? no because we would now be reading comments about how poor we are and unable to put it up to better teams if we had of tried. Tyrone and Donegal have won Ulsters playing frustrating football, you do what you have to. There are no rules that will change football back to the 90's. Coaches and backroom teams are too smart and  professional now to use rules to advantage. Just leave game alone. Same people complaining probably spend a few hundred pound to fly to england and watch 90 mins of 0-0 scoreline and lads falling like they broke their leg and walk with the ball. Least we get it for £20