Down Club Hurling & Football

[southdown]

Can someone post an updated Div 1 table? I cant for the life of me find it on down gaa site.

[passedit]

Team                Pld    Won    Draw    Lost    For    Against    Diff    Points
Castlewellan                    14    11    1    2    240    150    90    23
Burren                            13    10    1    2    244    152    92    21
Kilcoo                            14    10    1    3    208    150    58    21
Saval                            13    7    1    5    195    165    30    15
Bryansford                    12    7    0    5    175    149    26    14
Mayobridge                    14    6    2    6    205    199    6    14
Annaclone                    13    7    0    6    163    171    -8    14
Ballyholland                    12    7    0    5    119    135    -16    14
Clonduff                            14    6    0    8    149    173    -24    12
Longstone                    13    6    0    7    200    227    -27    12
RGU Downpatrick            14    5    1    8    160    171    -11    11
Loughinisland                    14    5    1    8    175    189    -14    11
Liatroim                            13    5    0    8    147    190    -43    10
Rostrevor                    13    4    1    8    147    171    -24    9
An Ríocht                            14    3    1    10    165    224    -59    7
Cumann Pheadair Naofa    14    3    0    11    159    235    -76    6

[pauly2]

Clonduff by a point in this game,they are hitting form at the right time going into play the magpies. Burren were short but still a very good result which they badly needed.

This was a massive win for Clonduff because it wasnt looking especially good for them with Rostrevor and Liatrom seemingly on winning runs.  Clonduff by all accounts escaped the play off spot as a result of this win. Rostrevors win over Downpatrick and Loughinislands loss to Saval now brings those two teams back into the mix. 

Point and An Riocht gone, with playoff spot now between Rostrevor, Liatrom, Downpatrick and Loughinisland.

Loughinislands last game is at home to Burren.
Downpatricks last game is at home to Liatrom therefore one of these two will definitely escape.
Liatrom also have to play Saval away.
Rostrevor have two games left, home to Warrenpoint and home to Bryansford.

The actual play off should not overly concern any of these teams as you would expect them to defeat St Johns as it looks like in a play off.  However, unless Tullylish win the intermediate championship then the play off position will also mean the loss of senior championship status for 2014.

How long is this league format actually in place for? I have not seen many positives from it to be honest apart from the fact that for the first time in a few years the league programme will be finished in decent time.  But then when will the playoffs be done and dusted??

[DaisyCutter]

It will probably be dragged till the 15th of December pauly2 like previous years and with about 250 spectators at the final on freezing cold night.

[Down Follower]

How long is this league format actually in place for? I have not seen many positives from it to be honest apart from the fact that for the first time in a few years the league programme will be finished in decent time.  But then when will the playoffs be done and dusted??

I think it has been quite a good league to be honest.  Why is everyone giving out about it?? Yes Warrenpoint have taken a couple of hammerings in their last two games but up until that they were quite competitive - they just appear to have given up the ghost.
An Riocht above them in 2nd bottom beat Kilcoo not that long ago and have also been competitive.
Rostrevor in 3rd bottom beat Castlewellan, the top team in the league only 2 weeks ago while Liatrom, 4th bottom, beat Mayobridge.  Clonduff are only after beating Burren!

I dont think you would find too many other counties where the 13/14/15 placed teams are capable of beating the top 2 or 3 on any given day.  Obviously there are circumstances which helped these teams to win but they still did it!

Tullylish and Glenn coming up next year along with possible one other via play off. They may well go back down the following year but so what - it will be great for them to play these BIG teams for the first time in donkeys years and who is to say they wont give them a rattle when playing at home in front of a partisan crowd.

[pauly2]

How long is this league format actually in place for? I have not seen many positives from it to be honest apart from the fact that for the first time in a few years the league programme will be finished in decent time.  But then when will the playoffs be done and dusted??

I think it has been quite a good league to be honest.  Why is everyone giving out about it?? Yes Warrenpoint have taken a couple of hammerings in their last two games but up until that they were quite competitive - they just appear to have given up the ghost.
An Riocht above them in 2nd bottom beat Kilcoo not that long ago and have also been competitive.
Rostrevor in 3rd bottom beat Castlewellan, the top team in the league only 2 weeks ago while Liatrom, 4th bottom, beat Mayobridge.  Clonduff are only after beating Burren!

I dont think you would find too many other counties where the 13/14/15 placed teams are capable of beating the top 2 or 3 on any given day.  Obviously there are circumstances which helped these teams to win but they still did it!
Tullylish and Glenn coming up next year along with possible one other via play off. They may well go back down the following year but so what - it will be great for them to play these BIG teams for the first time in donkeys years and who is to say they wont give them a rattle when playing at home in front of a partisan crowd.

Lets be honest about this - in a game of football anyone can beat anyone on a given day.  The fact that there has been so much lost revenue for clubs this year where they had to travel to teams for their only fixture means the clubs are at a loss.  Every year there are the teams who lose out to their opponents in the first game and when the reverse fixture comes around they go into battle with an added edge.  thats what is missing this year.  you play the local derby and then have to wait a full year (if you havent been relegated in the meantime) to play them again at home.. That is a joke. 
The championship has been a farce - all the teams that were expected to get to the quarter finals have got there.  Now that its knockout and the "big" teams have momentum - the semi final lineup is almost going to be Burren, Mayobridge, Bryansford and Kilcoo.  Thats the first mouthwatering games of the championship and we have had to wait until the end of September for them.  Gone are the days when you claimed the big scalp in round one and lifted the parish.  Gone are the days when you had a big two pitted together in the first round and you knew at least one wasn going any further. 
Structure needs changed back to what it was - GAA is about tradition - Why do we keep breaking it...

[thewobbler]

How long is this league format actually in place for? I have not seen many positives from it to be honest apart from the fact that for the first time in a few years the league programme will be finished in decent time.  But then when will the playoffs be done and dusted??

I think it has been quite a good league to be honest.  Why is everyone giving out about it?? Yes Warrenpoint have taken a couple of hammerings in their last two games but up until that they were quite competitive - they just appear to have given up the ghost.
An Riocht above them in 2nd bottom beat Kilcoo not that long ago and have also been competitive.
Rostrevor in 3rd bottom beat Castlewellan, the top team in the league only 2 weeks ago while Liatrom, 4th bottom, beat Mayobridge.  Clonduff are only after beating Burren!

I dont think you would find too many other counties where the 13/14/15 placed teams are capable of beating the top 2 or 3 on any given day.  Obviously there are circumstances which helped these teams to win but they still did it!

Tullylish and Glenn coming up next year along with possible one other via play off. They may well go back down the following year but so what - it will be great for them to play these BIG teams for the first time in donkeys years and who is to say they wont give them a rattle when playing at home in front of a partisan crowd.

The 12 team leagues always produced a handful of dead rubbers at the end of the season. The 10 team leagues produced next to none. The 15 team leagues are awash with them this year. And next year, when there's going to be a series of fixtures between SFC standard teams and IFC standard teams, and in some cases, SFC standard teams against JFC standard teams, it's going to be even worse again.

But Wee Johnny is going to be able to say he played D1 football. Good for him.

[here comes 6]

Does anyone on here have anything positive to say? I think not! Ok so burren mayobridge clonduff kilcoo and the rest of the so call big teams are going to find it easy against the weaker teams that are already at the bottom of division 1. I do recall kilcoo a number of years back not being in division 1 clonduff also. Castwellan didn't get too many points two years ago when in the old first division. I'm not saying I'm in total favour of the way the leagues are being run at the minute but there's very little we can do only get on withit as best we can. Maybe the way the big clubs want it is to abolish all leagues and just let the big 5/6 play amoung themselves

[stiff breeze]

How long is this league format actually in place for? I have not seen many positives from it to be honest apart from the fact that for the first time in a few years the league programme will be finished in decent time.  But then when will the playoffs be done and dusted??

I think it has been quite a good league to be honest.  Why is everyone giving out about it?? Yes Warrenpoint have taken a couple of hammerings in their last two games but up until that they were quite competitive - they just appear to have given up the ghost.
An Riocht above them in 2nd bottom beat Kilcoo not that long ago and have also been competitive.
Rostrevor in 3rd bottom beat Castlewellan, the top team in the league only 2 weeks ago while Liatrom, 4th bottom, beat Mayobridge.  Clonduff are only after beating Burren!

I dont think you would find too many other counties where the 13/14/15 placed teams are capable of beating the top 2 or 3 on any given day.  Obviously there are circumstances which helped these teams to win but they still did it!

Tullylish and Glenn coming up next year along with possible one other via play off. They may well go back down the following year but so what - it will be great for them to play these BIG teams for the first time in donkeys years and who is to say they wont give them a rattle when playing at home in front of a partisan crowd.

The 12 team leagues always produced a handful of dead rubbers at the end of the season. The 10 team leagues produced next to none. The 15 team leagues are awash with them this year. And next year, when there's going to be a series of fixtures between SFC standard teams and IFC standard teams, and in some cases, SFC standard teams against JFC standard teams, it's going to be even worse again.

But Wee Johnny is going to be able to say he played D1 football. Good for him.

When there was a ten team div 1 the top 3 teams were still miles ahead of the rest, there was a middle pack and 2 or three who struggled.  The only difference now is that the middle pack is larger. As for wee johnny he wont get much of an idea of what div 1 standard football is when he plays 13 man behind the ball ballyholland.

[pauly2]

When there was a ten team div 1 the top 3 teams were still miles ahead of the rest, there was a middle pack and 2 or three who struggled.  The only difference now is that the middle pack is larger. As for wee johnny he wont get much of an idea of what div 1 standard football is when he plays 13 man behind the ball ballyholland.
[/quote]

13 man behind the ball is the new blue print for some teams.  I cant wait to see teams go toe to toe in this championship over the weekend.  a lot of teams have been guilty of negative tactics this year - but they will point to results and their position in the league and say it has been worth it as they are still in senior football next season.  There are no rules against it so why not use it.  But some clubs who set out their agenda at the beginning of the year of staying in top flight football should do so the real way.  Ballyholland, Annaclone, Laoitrim, An Riocht all play this system and although Warrenpoint are relegated already - at least they played football and were attractive to watch in most games this year.

[supersub]

In terms of the bottom few places in the league and the gulf in class etc, Castlewellen were in Division 2 not so long ago, as were Ballyholland, similarly Annaclone came up and have cemented their place in the top Division. It shows that hard work and a team of players committed to the cause can compete at the higher level. Annaclone were in a Division 3 relegation play off about 3 years ago, and now they are going to finish top half division 1 - with the same 15 men give or take a couple of squad players.

As for us, a club who played Division 2 last year and back up again having walked it really - our team has totally changed and the inexperience has showed in a lot of games this year where we just failed to get over the line. We were competitive in the majority of our matches showing great effort and despite having a depleted squad have been able to steer clear of automatic relegation and hopefully altogether over the coming weeks. A few teams shipped heavy defeats especially in the last while but most of our dropped points were tight affairs and were weren't out classed in a lot of the games. We could have beaten Kilcoo away only they got a goal at the end, we should have beaten Annaclone, An Rioct (after giving away 9 point lead), ran Burren close, could have taken Ballyholland on the night - add in our four wins and still have Point and Bryansford to play that's 11 out of 15 league games covered. The Mayobridge and Saval games were admittedly complete disasters for us and took a heavy kicking against the Bridge on an embarrassing night for all involved. This leaves away to Loughinisland and Clonduff, both very poor performances and came away with 0 points, but they are games/teams that we would not fear playing and would be confident of beating on another day for sure.

The above is not an excuse for our relegation fight over the last few weeks, it is just to show how we did compete with the other teams in the league over the season, just lacked the experience to close out games and killer instinct in front of goal in a good few. Yes the bigger teams are better, but I would certainly be confident that given the squad we had for the year and with it looking like we will be in Div 1 again next year we will be competitive and able to challenge any team in the league on a given day, hopefully finishing in a bit more comfortable position this time next year.

[charlieTully]

The annaclone blueprint for success... Poach the best players of your neighbours.

[Down Follower]

In terms of the bottom few places in the league and the gulf in class etc, Castlewellen were in Division 2 not so long ago, as were Ballyholland, similarly Annaclone came up and have cemented their place in the top Division. It shows that hard work and a team of players committed to the cause can compete at the higher level. Annaclone were in a Division 3 relegation play off about 3 years ago, and now they are going to finish top half division 1 - with the same 15 men give or take a couple of squad players.

As for us, a club who played Division 2 last year and back up again having walked it really - our team has totally changed and the inexperience has showed in a lot of games this year where we just failed to get over the line. We were competitive in the majority of our matches showing great effort and despite having a depleted squad have been able to steer clear of automatic relegation and hopefully altogether over the coming weeks. A few teams shipped heavy defeats especially in the last while but most of our dropped points were tight affairs and were weren't out classed in a lot of the games. We could have beaten Kilcoo away only they got a goal at the end, we should have beaten Annaclone, An Rioct (after giving away 9 point lead), ran Burren close, could have taken Ballyholland on the night - add in our four wins and still have Point and Bryansford to play that's 11 out of 15 league games covered. The Mayobridge and Saval games were admittedly complete disasters for us and took a heavy kicking against the Bridge on an embarrassing night for all involved. This leaves away to Loughinisland and Clonduff, both very poor performances and came away with 0 points, but they are games/teams that we would not fear playing and would be confident of beating on another day for sure.

The above is not an excuse for our relegation fight over the last few weeks, it is just to show how we did compete with the other teams in the league over the season, just lacked the experience to close out games and killer instinct in front of goal in a good few. Yes the bigger teams are better, but I would certainly be confident that given the squad we had for the year and with it looking like we will be in Div 1 again next year we will be competitive and able to challenge any team in the league on a given day, hopefully finishing in a bit more comfortable position this time next year.

So this is from a team, Rostrevor I presume, who are ranked 14th in the league this year - a lot of defeats but not hammerings bar the one exception.  I would expect a similar story to be heard from members of Warrenpoint and An Riocht (bar the Points last 2 games).  Why are people from other clubs giving out about the likes of Glenn and Tullylish coming up.  I can guarantee you that their players arent giving out about it and probably fancy themselves against the likes of Liatrom, Rostrevor, Loughinisland, Ballyholland etc etc etc.  There are only 3 teams this year who have consistently risen to a level above the others and that is the top 3 of Burren, Kilcoo and Castlwellan.  Burren and Kilcoo have been there for a number of years now so it doesnt matter whether its a 10 or 16 team league, they will be at the top, and will give the bottom teams in the league one or two hammerings along the way.

If Glenn or Tullylish, or St Johns, do end up getting hammered every week, do you know what will happen, they will get relegated!!!  10, 12, 14 or 16 team league doesnt make much of a difference to be honest.  I have seen a lot of games in Div 1 this year and the vast vast majority of them have been close hard fought affairs no matter who has been playing.

[supersub]

Yes that's the point I am making, this gulf in class doesn't come in the form of 30 point wins every game - it just shows over a season, but a lot of games are very competitive. Indeed you may ask the same question of the other lower teams, and may get the same answer. The fact in our case is we could actually finish mid table with two wins from the last two games because we have shown the effort and commitment continuously especially in the last few games to drag ourselves up despite being knocked back so many times earlier in the season.

[Town Gael]

This years senior championship will destroy next years premier reserve championship. How many teams will struggle to field due to players being tied, especially with dead rubber games meaning clubs rested their entire first 15 in some cases? Other clubs gave lads a run out in games they were winning handily who would not normally get a game. Something needs to be done or there will be no reserve championships.