Down Club Hurling & Football

[Down Follower]

Have to agree this is getting very personal against one of Downs greatest if not the greatest managers of all time..

Pete McGrath is the  greatest Down manager in my time supporting Down from 1960 till now.
As Down CB thanks him for his time and effort, they have to move on with a new manager and we all hope he can be as half as good as Pete!!

Petes record speaks for itself - no question.  I think the only issue was that he stayed loyal to our great players too long. Its easy for us to say that though here and now - if you were given the choice of Mickey Linden or an up and coming corner forward in the late 90's, i know who i would have picked.

Big wins for Loughinisland, Downpatrick and Rostrevor at the weekend leaving Liatrom in the championship drop zone and league play off spot.  I would still expect them to stay in Div 1 though with play off match against either St Johns or Carryduff. They were in good form recently until their defeat to Downpatrick which saw the above 3 teams leapfrog them.

[whitegoodman]

Heard a rumour that the league final may not be played for another 6 weeks- this is a complete joke. There is no reason Kilcoo and Burren can't play their semi-final this Wednesday and play the final this Sunday. Clubs play midweek matches and weekend matches at the start of the season and can do it now. Making Castlewellan wait several weeks for a game is ridiculous.  The championship final in a couple of weeks is no reason to delay the league final- I can guarantee that the training both Burren and Kilcoo are doing at the minute will be as intense and any match with lads busting themselves to get a place on the team. The county board need to sort things out.

Towngael this has been happening for the last 5 years in Down making the league outcome a complete farce.  The fact that kilcoo and Burren also meet in the championship complicates matters. 

One solution would be for the team at the top of the league to simply win the league! Castlewellan have been the most consistent team throughout the league so they would be deserving winners.  It should also ensure teams take every league game seriously, Burrens two recent defeats to loughanisland and clonduff maybe showing that they have taken their eye off the ball.

The alternative would be to have all league games and playoffs played before the championship starts. Either way would be be an improvement on the current mockery where one team may not have a competitive game for 6 wks and the other may not care having either just come off a ulster championship run or a county final defeat.

Think it a bit unrealistic to ask either team to play each a week before they meet again next week.

[Town Gael]

Whitegoodman I've always thought league playoffs were wrong- top team should always win it in my opinion. The county board treating it as badly as they do devalues it. You make very valid points and something needs to be done

[Ffsref]

Who do we fancie for drumgath vs Bosco ?

[thebar]

Who do we fancie for drumgath vs Bosco ?

Should be tasty after the meeting between the pair last year!! Word coming out of Drumgath is that they are quietly confident though Bosco won't be easy turned over...could come down to the Bench and Drumgath have a very strong bench could see them through...hard one to call

[DaisyCutter]

Town Gael, I can understand your frustration with this as it has been happening for years now!
The worst case being in 2011 with Burren going on a run in Ulster and with Kevin McKernan being away with Ireland and the International Rules teams.
Mayobridge had to wait around 6 weeks after thier last league game to play Burren (who fielded a weakened side on the night) in the semi final and then the final was played a further week from this, which Kilcoo won on the night (around 10th of December I think) in front of about 300 spectators on a freezing night In Pairc Esler. Complete joke.
IMO, the CB are only to blame here as the rest of the divisional finals are completed well before this.
So it looks like your in for a long wait, but I could not fault Burren and Kilcoo for not playing it as both thier focus will always be on the County Final, rather than the league playoffs/finals.

[charlieTully]

Who do we fancie for drumgath vs Bosco ?

We fancy the gath. Best off luck to Justy and the boys.

[BarryBreensBandage]

Great day for Glenn yesterday with the U16s winning the B Final against Castlewellan and the Seniors winning the Div 2 title afterwards in Dundrum.

It was brilliant, Minus. I would say its a long time since Castlewellan got such a hammering (U16s), and the seniors coming home with the trophy finished off a remarkable season.

[Aristo 60]

Some great battlers in that Glenn outfit. Castlewellan were stunned by 2 quick goals in the first half and after that Glenn really went for the juglar and excelled in every position.

[lucan]

drumgath have the fire power to win the final but displine is crucial.incidentally  the local press coverage is poor when compared to the democrat.

[The Raven]

Great day for Glenn yesterday with the U16s winning the B Final against Castlewellan and the Seniors winning the Div 2 title afterwards in Dundrum.

It was brilliant, Minus. I would say its a long time since Castlewellan got such a hammering (U16s), and the seniors coming home with the trophy finished off a remarkable season.

2 years in a row your u16's have been hiding in division 3 pretending you can't field 15 players and then come out to win a championship.  maybe you should be honest and asked to be graded properly . if there had been a C championship you wouldn't even have been in the B, but your not alone at this game St. Pauls, Kingdom, Loughinisland and Bryansford spring to mind

[stiff breeze]

Great day for Glenn yesterday with the U16s winning the B Final against Castlewellan and the Seniors winning the Div 2 title afterwards in Dundrum.

It was brilliant, Minus. I would say its a long time since Castlewellan got such a hammering (U16s), and the seniors coming home with the trophy finished off a remarkable season.

2 years in a row your u16's have been hiding in division 3 pretending you can't field 15 players and then come out to win a championship.  maybe you should be honest and asked to be graded properly . if there had been a C championship you wouldn't even have been in the B, but your not alone at this game St. Pauls, Kingdom, Loughinisland and Bryansford spring to mind

not sure of the relevance of glenns under 16 team league two years ago is or last years for that matter. You do understand that once a player is over 16 they move on to minor. Glenn started the year with 18 eligible players at under 16 level.  Knowing three were going to the Gaeltacht for a month in the summer would you have entered them in a 15 aside league? Dont let the facts get in the way of your wee rant though .

[charlieTully]

drumgath have the fire power to win the final but displine is crucial.incidentally  the local press coverage is poor when compared to the democrat.

it would be a different story if rathfriland rangers were playing in a final.

[centre 3/4s]

Just looking at Drumgath Panel in the paper they have some very experienced guys playing for them

[passedit]

Great day for Glenn yesterday with the U16s winning the B Final against Castlewellan and the Seniors winning the Div 2 title afterwards in Dundrum.

It was brilliant, Minus. I would say its a long time since Castlewellan got such a hammering (U16s), and the seniors coming home with the trophy finished off a remarkable season.

2 years in a row your u16's have been hiding in division 3 pretending you can't field 15 players and then come out to win a championship.  maybe you should be honest and asked to be graded properly . if there had been a C championship you wouldn't even have been in the B, but your not alone at this game St. Pauls, Kingdom, Loughinisland and Bryansford spring to mind

I'd be interested to hear why St Pauls are included in this 'exalted' company?