Down Club Hurling & Football

[Whitehair]

Who is the fella to the left of the picture?

Jonathan McCusker, county senior hurler.

[wildrover]

Best jersey yet. About time we had a modern looking one.

+1

[Green+Gold]

Anyone know what date the ACFL's are due to start?

[NP 76]

I think the div 1 and 2 are starting on the 12th of April and Div3 and 4 to start 2 weeks earlier

[general]

I think the div 1 and 2 are starting on the 12th of April and Div3 and 4 to start 2 weeks earlier

Have the leagues not been changed to 3 divisions?

[NP 76]

Your right general 3 div I assume its the 3rd that starts earlier never thought of the change

[SHEEDY]

down team to play tyrone:
1. m cunningham
2. d turley
3. d mc cartan
4. r boyle
5. r mallon
6. a carr
7. d o'hagan
8. k king
9. k mc kernan
10. k quinn
11. m poland
12. b coulter
13. c lavery
14. c harrison
15. p mc commiskey

[Mourne Rover]

Although we have five league debuts, it is still a reasonably experienced team for early February. However, if the likes of Garvey, McArdle and Rooney are not brought in at a late stage, we look lightweight at the back. Dan McCartan has a role to play in the squad, but starting at full back on Stephen O'Neill is not likely to suit him. It is great to see Connaire Harrison getting his chance, and hopefully Paul McComiskey will be fit as well.

[southdown]

The defence does not inspire me with confidence at all, however the forward line is strong.  Should be a great atmosphere on Saturday night, looking forward to it.

[PAULD123]

In terms of the men chosen, it's probably about right. I thought Brendan McCardle was fit and if so I would have selected him in defence. Also think Rooney is potentially deserving of a shout. Is Garvey injured?

As for positional choice -

Better to have Aiden Carr in the half backs where he knows he has to defend instead of in the forwards where he doesn't think he has to and lets wing backs tear past him.

I would rather have McKernan in half forward with Keith Quinn at midfield, or Mallon midfield, and Quinn wing back.

I'd rather have Benny in the full-forward line simply because he is unlikely to work hard enough tracking back to prevent wing-backs attacking. I think half forward is a better position to use his talent, but that position is now also about defending and I suspect he may not be as diligent as required. McComiskey would be much more likely to track back.

Also I am suspicious of the merits of playing Harrison up front with two small corner-forwards. It lets the defence know straight up that we have a single target man and two guys feeding off. Better to have Benny up there too and have two target men and give the defence more to think about.

Overall it almost makes no difference who is playing and where. If defenders/midfield/half-forwards work as a unit to block, surround, track, and obstruct the Tyrone attack then we will probably win. If instead (as has been the case) our defence ends up being man-for-man defending then we will almost certainly lose.

[whitegoodman]

Would agree with MR that the defence looks very lightweight.  Would have preferred something like this;

O hagan
P Turley
McArdle
Garvey
Rooney
Quinn

If Garvey is injured then Mallon has also earned a shot in the half back line.

I fear their three main threats could take us apart tomorrow night.....

O Neill v McCartan
Harte v Carr
Cavanagh v McKernan

I hope I am wrong and we get the ball to what looks like a potentially dangerous forward line but I just don't see is winning enough ball to do it.

[whitegoodman]

Also what is it with the current managements infatuation with having a ball playing CHB??

Mckernan, Doyle and now Carr, have we not learned the lessons of prior year.

What is wrong with someone like Garvey, Turley or Rooney as a stopper who are strong, athletic, powerful and have a bit of cut about them.  All players who want to defend first and more importantly can defend.

Rant over...

[NP 76]

That's a good strong physical 6 WGM but I don't think Garvey or Mc Ardle are fit or at least havent been able to do much training of late. Rooney hasn't played many games and might not be fit to last the pace. I agree with you about Mallon think he deserves a run has been steady so far and is big and strong to go with it. But I definitely would not be happy to see P Turley left on O Neil as he is slower than Dan. To be fair to Carr and I for one am not been one of his top fans but he has done very well at CHB. He may be a ball player but he is seriously strong ,can break the tackle and deliver good quality passes. Also when he is in the back line he doesn't have as much tracking back to do as he is supposed to do when half forward this could also be a problem with Benny on the wing

[5 Sams]

Watch yourself NP 76...you're talking too much sense...you'll get a job if you're not careful!!

[ApresMatch]

People talking about Benny as if hes sum upstart. Benny will change his mentality for wing forward role,when in full-forward ya dont have the same work ethic that comes when ya play half-forward. May give him a new lease, and he has bags of experience. Against Armagh Benny seemed to be working particularly hard in that position. Benny will enjoy it there, more catching, more physical stuff and probably more touches of the ball; sometimes he is reduced to watching games in the full-forward line.