Down Club Hurling & Football

[Gabriel]

Fantastic performance and result, a possible league semi-final would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago but we are not out of the woods just yet. Fifteen points on the board was a great tally against Dublin's swarm defence, which at times consisted of thirteen men behind the ball. I also thought we were far better around midfield with Hughes, Maginn and Poland helping out. Possibly our best display since the AI semi-final in 2010. We still need a left-footed free taker in the absence of Doyle though.

[MK]

Fantastic display of courage&determination in Newry today-to put this into perspective:

Tipp,who not so long ago beat Down in front of several hundred to win Div3,look set for Div4 whilst
Many of the same Down team ,in front of almost 8 000 defeated the reigning All-Ireland champions to secure Div.1 status     

Once again our best performance seems to coincide with a dry sod

[Mourne Rover]

The tone was set today by the broad-shouldered guy who belted out the National Anthem and punched the air at its crescendo. We never really looked back after that, during what was our best performance since the championship run of 2010. James can certainly reflect on a job well done, as he picked the right team, produced the right tactics and made the right substitutions.


We dictated the tempo at an early stage, which is always important for Down, and we were impose our passing and running game on Dublin in a very effective way. They knew they were in difficulty,  and they exploited the referee's determination to keep the play flowing by getting in some high and heavy tackling. However, we kept our discipline better than they did, particularly during a key moment just before the break when Connolly shoved Garvey in the face in front of the main stand, got a yellow which might have been a red and lost his sideline kick as a result.


McVeigh was excellent as captain,  making a crucial save from Connolly, placing almost all of his kick-outs well and calmly making himself available to collect passes and move the ball on smoothly, He had no chance with McManamon's goal, which was a pity as it deprived him of a third consecutive clean sheet.


McManamon is a handful because of his strength and low centre of gravity, and got round Garvey a couple of times before the goal. However, Garvey battled away and  was more than breaking even towards the end. Brannigan worked as hard as ever, and was unlucky to pick up the yellow which probably led to his replacement at half-time.


Gordon, by my reckoning, has played at full back, wing half back, centre half, midfield and wing half forward in the league before slotting in at corner back today. He was immense again, clamping down on Connolly, who got 3-3 against Armagh last week, taking some brilliant catches and getting up and down the field as well.


Dan McCartan, switched unexpectedly to half-back, had best game of the season, hassling and harrying the Dubs at all stages and using the ball very well. McKernan had an edgy start, but got better and better and is begining to look like the player of 2010. McParland was quietly excellent, took his point well and may be close to starting in the championship.


Our midfielders were up against top class opponents but disrupted them effectively, won some fine possession and generally ran themselves into the ground. It's wonderful to see Ambrose almost back to his best, but King put in a terrific shift as well.


Carr was yet another Down player to produce his best display of the year, covering a huge amount of ground and hitting his frees confidently. Hughes took some ridiculous tackles, but still had the pace and the drive to worry Dublin right until the death.


Poland was outstanding, brilliant with the breaking ball, and beating one man after another when he got into his stride. Maginn was also effective, and usually pops up exactly where he is needed.


Eoin McCartan had a reasonable day without getting on the ball much, but he made the space for Laverty, who as usual was a gem. His twists and turns had Dublin mystified, and his defending at the end, complete with dummies inside his own 20m line, summed up Down's day.


The tactic of springing Benny from the bench is undeniably working, as he looks hungry when he appears, lifts the crowd and scored with his first touch. Gerard McCartan is still looking for his best form, and may have taken a knock before he was replaced after coming on at half-time. Duffin and McArdle did not really get into the game, and Peter Turley might have been introduced much earlier.


Both BBC and RTE are reporting that we are now safe in division one, but this is almost certainly wrong. Our scoring difference remains poor, and, even allowing for

the teams who have to play each other, we could still be caught on six points if we lose our last two fixtures. However, one more point would do us and two would probably take us into the play-offs. We can only head to Armagh next Saturday night with plenty of momentum behind us.

[charlieTully]

Fantastic display of courage&determination in Newry today-to put this into perspective:

Tipp,who not so long ago beat Down in front of several hundred to win Div3,look set for Div4 whilst
Many of the same Down team ,in front of almost 8 000 defeated the reigning All-Ireland champions to secure Div.1 status     

Once again our best performance seems to coincide with a dry sod

hope you are proven right, the way this league is going there could be a few more twists and turns yet. two tough away games to finish and with donegal and laois getting wins today its all wide open. two weeks ago mayo boys were on bragging about how down were not a div one team, look at them now two defeats on the bounce and us sitting second, up from last. just wish we had a home game last.

[Dubh driocht]

Another thought from today is just how much an advantage Dublin have from playing their big championship games in Croke Park. I know they are good box-office for the GAA etc. but , on our turf, we bossed them today and I don't think we could do that at HQ.The roar of the crowd from the stand seems to lift our players at Pairc Esler - it didn't happen against Kerry and that is the only defeat in James' time.It would be good to get our troops to Armagh in numbers and maintain this mini-momentum.

[here comes 6]

Everything has been said so i'll just add my congrats and dont rest on this result.

[whitegoodman]

Very pleasing result and performance yesterday.  Well done to managment and team.   Im sure James will be smiling considering some of the abuse he has taken in the last few wks on off the fence and the like.

Il not go through the whole team but a few deserve specific mention.  If we could clone Dan Gordon it would be great as we could do with him in a few positions but imo the defence and in particular the FB line is a lot more secure when he commands the edge of the square.  One of the high catches he took yesterday was unreal and he never gave a very good player who scored 3 3 the previous wk a kick of it.  Sorry if this offends leo but for me he has to be No 3!!

Garvey had a difficult day of it on a very speedy tricky footballer but he just seems a lot more at ease when he is in the half back line rather than the full back line.  McKernan was loose in the first half but tightened up in the second and was very good going forward as he always is.

Our midfield competed admireably against a good midfield and ambrose is getting better game by game.  Him and king seem to compliment each other as well.  Id leave the 2 of them at it.

Danny worked his ar$e off as usual and apart from a few stray balls had a good game.  Poland had a great game but Brennan gave him far too much room and far too little respect.  As great a game as he had, he wouldnt be afforded that type of room in decent club game.

McGinn collects a lot of ball but remains weak in the tackle and could go with a few weights.  Lavery was lavery and was a constant menace.  I can see why people like the use of Benny as an impact sub but i would still feel we wont go very far in the summer without a flying fit benny playing from the start.

On the dubs, they were a bit of disappointment to be honest, arriving 45mins before kickoff wouldnt have helped but a lot of their boys didnt want to no on the day.

The great thing about yesterday was that we beat the all ireland champions and we could still improve on our performance.

Onwards and upwards starting on saturday night against the orange men

[PAULD123]

Superb display at the weekend. The biggest changes from the Kerry game were all in attitude and work-rate. But the changes in personnel can not be underestimated either - Rogers, McKernan, Hughes and Maginn are now fully fit and Carr brought back in.

We have quality footballers in our squad and in those two games we saw how much attitude makes a difference. If our attitude remains at the level of Sunday then we should be in for a good season. Also wasn't it great to see the defending starting so high up the pitch. Dublin were shaken by their half backs being pressurised and hassled.

I think there is no doubt that Down should win next week. Down have a virtually full-strength squad to pick from and Armagh have been decimated. If Armagh were at full strength then it would be impossible to call. If Armagh do win then it will be a superb achievement for them. Not because I think beating Down is a superb achievement or that I think we are any sort of yardstick. It will simply be a great achievement because they have been so badly handicapped by the unavailability of first-choice players.

If Down have the same attitude as we had against Dublin then I can see nothing other than a Down victory. If we have the same attitude as we had against Kerry then a motivated Armagh could win the game.

[Mourne Rover]

Recent form usually has little impact on Armagh/Down games, and they can be expected to be hugely motivated for our visit on Saturday night. Our record against even under-strength Armagh sides has been particularly poor, with the low point reached in the McKenna Cup of 2003. Armagh's AI-winning squad was on holiday, so we managed to lose in Ballykinler to effectively their third team. Paddy O'Rourke will be in the opposite corner this weekend, which is where he was when we lost so poorly in the championship at the Athletic Grounds last summer. It is a very long time since we won at that venue, possibly not since the USC of 1992, and Armagh will be desperate to avoid relegation. We will certainly start as favourites, but that has usually counted against us when the pressure is on, and we will need to display all the intensity and discipline from the Dublin match if we are to get the points this time round.

[DownFanatic]

Anybody anyword on the Down U-21's for Wednesday night? I see Antrim named their team there yesterday.

Antrim don't seem to have much pedigree at this level whilst we got to an All Ireland Semi Final at Minor level I think.

[southdown]

Very very tight!

Pos Team P W L D F A Points
1 Kerry 5 4 1 0 76 55 8
2 Down 5 3 2 0 62 73 6
3 Cork 5 2 2 1 70 53 5
4 Dublin 4 2 2 0 70 57 4
5 Mayo 4 2 2 0 52 52 4
6 Donegal 5 2 3 0 62 66 4
7 Laois 5 2 3 0 63 76 4
8 Armagh 5 1 3 1 61 84 3

[PAULD123]

The mathematics aren't fixed yet but:

If we were to lose our last two games then we would be very lucky not to be relegated because of the horrific scoreline in Cork. Short of someone taking a pasting, It would only take Dublin, Mayo, Donegal & Cork to win at least one each to send us into division 2.

If we draw one of those games then we would most likely be safe but would rely on there not being a fluke result scenario (involving Laois beating Kerry)

If we win against Armagh or Laois then we are certain to stay up.

If we win both games then we are certain to be in the semi-finals.

Basically the match against Armagh is one we need to win to ensure survival. As for Armagh, If they lose then they will not automatically be relegated. Let's say Kerry beat Laois and then we beat Laois, Dublin beat Donegal and then Armagh beat Donegal. Then Armagh would have 5 points but Donegal & Laois would both only have 4.

[here comes 6]

so what your saying is if Down win their next 4 matches we wil be league champions

[NP 76]

Would be happy enough with one more win to stay up

[PAULD123]

Would be happy enough with one more win to stay up

I have to be honest I wouldn't be happy with one more win given that the next two games are against a severely weakened Armagh side and Laois. The team got it 100% right in attitude and effort at the weekend. If they play the same then we will win both the next games. If we don't win both those games then it will mean we have gone backward again.

I really hope the boys realise themselves the differences between the Kerry match and Dublin; that they can not give less than 100% and expect to win. They have to want it badly, and want it badly in every game. Not just against the All-Ireland champions.

By the way NP, you're over 35 right? Would you have enough players at Ballyholland to form a team for an over 35s challenge match?