Down Club Hurling & Football

[ardtole]

I didnt know shieldsy was managing your hurlers no1, he's a sound lad alrite. Best of luck against leitreim

[Minus15]

On Ardtole's thoughts on the fixtures, I have to agree with a number of his points.

In previous years, there has always been 4-5 weeks at the beginning of the season where there have been fixtures Fri Mon Fri Mon and so on in order to get 8- 10 games played off in the first 5-6 weeks but this has not been the case this season.

For the first time the Master Fixture list set out at the start of the year did not include all fixtures - I think it only went to Babhta 17 for Div 3 clubs.

Also, there was a time in May where there was a 2 week break ( a blank weekend ) for no particular reason.

Last weekend was championship weekend but there was no effort made to play off some fixtures involving clubs out of the championship which would surely help things later on.

The July break this year and last was 3 and a half weeks whereas it has previously been 2 and a half.

It was obvious from very early on that there would be a backlog of fixtures later in the year. Kilclief are going to be in the Div 3 playoffs and could make an intermediate final. They could easily be going well into November at this stage.

If Down had of had a longer run this year, things would only be worse.

Now I know a lot of effort goes into arranging a fixture list and the men who give up their time to do it should be commended but really it was fairly obvious that there was going to be a backlog. As Ardtole says, I think that the smaller clubs have been let down here. Div 1 and Div 2 are wrapping up nicely around now with leagues and championships to be decided over the next month but the same cannot be said about Div 3. Div 4 I think is not as bad with less teams.

[pauly2]

Are Rostrevor the top club in the county this year??? U14s win south down championship, u16s are in final, minors are in semi final, thirds beaten finalists, seconds beaten finalists and seniors are in semi final... thats some consistency for a club throughout the age groups... fair play to them.

[DaisyCutter]

Your probably right there pauly2, Great year for the Rostrevor club as I understand they have put in alot of work at the underage this year. The only other club that really get close to this would be Kilcoo id say. I no alot of their teams are still in contention for titles.

Very interesting to see today that Clonduff have sent a senior team to the Kilmacud All Ireland 7s today, especially with the semi finals of the c-ship next weekend. Does anyone know if Burren, Kilcoo or Rostrevor sent a team down today? This to me shows were there priorities lie ahead of next weekend.

[DaisyCutter]

Apologies for my previous post there, just found out that none of the four semi finalists have sent a team down.

Although I understand that all the Down club teams are currently winning/leading there groups which consists of An Roicht, Castlewellan, Bryansford and Longstone.

More info on this can be found on the Kilmacud GAC football website.

[dundrumite]

Agree with Ardtole and minus 15 on points of season going on too long. I think the two games a week for 4 weeks at start of season is an idea county board could look at especially in divisions 3 and 4. Then come the summer break there would be up to 18 league games played. This would leave 4-5 games to be played after the break which would allow championships and play offs to be sorted out by mid October at the latest. A season going on to mid November after preseason starting in January is too long in my opinion.

[dundrumite]

Bisco 2-12 Dundrum 0-10.
Also I See the ford beat the town by a point in the kilmacud 7s final the day.

[When We Win]

Ardglass were desperate in their clash with Darragh Cross today. They were crushed in every position. Obviously suffering from lads playing soccer. but there are several teams with boys who play the no hand to ball game. many of which make the choice to put the gaa first. each to their own but i think some of the soccer clubs should try harded to encourage gaa first from an early age. the div 3 league is dragging on but i cant help feel teams are complaining more so because the gaa is interfering with their other sport. when i played football i didnt want it to end so it shouldnt matter if its going into Nov. Does the macrory cup not start around then?

[No1]

Well done to the Kilclief hurlers today, well deserved victory. Pints are flowing!

[cokers]

Well done lads

[supersub]

Are Rostrevor the top club in the county this year??? U14s win south down championship, u16s are in final, minors are in semi final, thirds beaten finalists, seconds beaten finalists and seniors are in semi final... thats some consistency for a club throughout the age groups... fair play to them.

Can't forget the ladies winning their championship too!!

[13aside]

Dont get too carried away just yet Bannaman,like yourselves Dundrum are relatively new to this stage of the championship and their confidence will have lifted coming from behind late on to win against Attical,whilst Ballymartin have a great championship pedigree stretching back many years including winning the title,Kilcleif too regularly quailfy for the latter stages and will not be lacking in motivationor ability(and remember their hurlers won at the weekend)Clann Na Banna did very well to win their two previous matches especially against another club with fine champioship credentials in Annaclone,as far as your own club is concerned it is fantastic to see your side progress and well done so far-but remember they dont hand out the cup at the quarter or semi-final stage!!

[here comes 6]

Bisco 2-12 Dundrum 0-10.
Also I See the ford beat the town by a point in the kilmacud 7s final the day.

Yous seem to be more worried about the championshipthan the league?  A league win or two would be more important??

[Lecale2]

Well done to the Kilclief hurlers today, well deserved victory. Pints are flowing!

Well done indead! Sore head this morning No 1? I heard they were far the better team. It must be 10 years since you lot beat Laitroim in the championship.

I heard the Finn beat Kilwarlin in the league yesterday. Fair play to them.

[Dannymcfella]

Dont get too carried away just yet Bannaman,like yourselves Dundrum are relatively new to this stage of the championship and their confidence will have lifted coming from behind late on to win against Attical,whilst Ballymartin have a great championship pedigree stretching back many years including winning the title,Kilcleif too regularly quailfy for the latter stages and will not be lacking in motivationor ability(and remember their hurlers won at the weekend)Clann Na Banna did very well to win their two previous matches especially against another club with fine champioship credentials in Annaclone,as far as your own club is concerned it is fantastic to see your side progress and well done so far-but remember they dont hand out the cup at the quarter or semi-final stage!!

Wouldnt worry too much about Bannaman, would actually be very surprised if he was even connected with our club in anyway. Having read his previous few posts I would be pretty confident he is not a member of Clann na Banna, and 100% confident he is not a player. Believe me no one in our club is under any illusions about the what lies ahead in the championship, and that aside we still have league games to worry about as well