Down Club Hurling & Football

[lucan]

drumgath put up a spirited display against  truagh to go down 2-10 to 0-10 at ballybay the gath;s supporters did their team proud and shamed those so-called supporters who attended esler park. against a team  first div. in all but name they nearly sprung a surprise.inspite of loosing their left full- back before the game started with an ankle injury they clawed their  way back in the second half to a 4point defecit when they lost a player with two yellows.lads we are proud of you [down intermediate champions] # UP THE GATH.

[The Diarrhoa Divil]

Managerial merrygoround update.
Hearing that Declan Mussen taking Warrenpoint next year.
They change managers every year down there??

[Down Follower]

Kilcoo Cross was one of the most physical games i have seen in some time.  Most of it genuine hard hitting that was given and taken fair and square without any complaints. Like any game there was always the odd dirty move but all in all a thoroughly enjoyable game.  Did Kilcoo miss the boat? I am still not sure.  I knew they would give Cross their fill of it in the first game but they shipped a lot of injuries in that game to vital players, Jerome Johnston, Anthony Devlin to name 2.  Dont know if Kilcoo can replace like for like the way Cross can.

[southdown]

Cross definitely there for the taking, fully expect Kilcoo to progress now.

[supersub]

[5 Sams]

Good stuff Supersub....a great initiative and a very worthwhile event. I would encourage everyone to call down on Saturday night.

I should also point out that this is the programme cover hence the price.....it is £10 or €10 per ticket for the event. Looking forward to it.

[supersub]

Yeah posted a pic of the ticket as well in the general thread when realised programme didn't have time and price! Gates open at 6pm.

[Minus15]

drumgath put up a spirited display against  truagh to go down 2-10 to 0-10 at ballybay the gath;s supporters did their team proud and shamed those so-called supporters who attended esler park. against a team  first div. in all but name they nearly sprung a surprise.inspite of loosing their left full- back before the game started with an ankle injury they clawed their  way back in the second half to a 4point defecit when they lost a player with two yellows.lads we are proud of you [down intermediate champions] # UP THE GATH.

Lucan, not taking away anything from Drumgath who are deservedly Intermediate champions, but the account I received of the game was that Truagh were extremely comfortable throughout.

Honestly, how well prepared were Drumgath for Ulster, I think in Down and Intermediate and Junior levels in Down, many clubs celebrate winning the county title a little too much and take their eye completely off the ball when they step into Ulster.

[5 Sams]

Yeah posted a pic of the ticket as well in the general thread when realised programme didn't have time and price! Gates open at 6pm.

Just noticed that...good stuff!

[DownFanatic]

drumgath put up a spirited display against  truagh to go down 2-10 to 0-10 at ballybay the gath;s supporters did their team proud and shamed those so-called supporters who attended esler park. against a team  first div. in all but name they nearly sprung a surprise.inspite of loosing their left full- back before the game started with an ankle injury they clawed their  way back in the second half to a 4point defecit when they lost a player with two yellows.lads we are proud of you [down intermediate champions] # UP THE GATH.

Lucan, not taking away anything from Drumgath who are deservedly Intermediate champions, but the account I received of the game was that Truagh were extremely comfortable throughout.

Honestly, how well prepared were Drumgath for Ulster, I think in Down and Intermediate and Junior levels in Down, many clubs celebrate winning the county title a little too much and take their eye completely off the ball when they step into Ulster.

I've said it before but we have a terrible record at IFC and JFC level in Ulster. This has been a feature since the competition's official inception around a decade ago.

Warrenpoint broke the mould last year with their IFC final appearance as the trend before that for Down teams was generally first round exits.

Our record in the JFC is even worse. St Johns were the last team in this grade to even win a game when they beat Fermanagh's Coa in the quarter finals back in 2008. Correct me if im wrong but I think our only other win in the competition was a Bredagh victory over Donegal opposition in 2006 in the quarter finals.

The problem over the past ten years has been that our league and championship setup in Down was as honest as they come. We had four competitive divisions with championship grading based on your league position.

This was not and still isn't the case in some other counties. In Armagh, Cavan and Antrim you choose what Championship you want to compete in. Annaghmore will be playing Division 1 football in Armagh next year but yet they were in their counties' JFC this term. Lacken from Cavan finished fourth in Division 1 in the Breffni County last year yet they played in the IFC.

However, our poor representation on the provincial scene could change next year. I am a big critic of our new three division structure but one positive that has come out of it is that we are now more in line with most other Ulster counties in terms of quality at each grade.

Liatroim, Warrenpoint and An Riocht are three teams who would be ultra competitive at IFC level in Ulster while the likes of Kilclief would be one of the strongest JFC outfits about the province.

Our poor record was probably less to do with over celebration and more to do with the fact that we had 'proper' Junior and Intermediate teams entered at those grades compared to the representatives of other unbalanced counties.

[ardtole]

Id agree with you 100% there DF. What goes on in other counties particulary Armagh and Antrim is ridiculous. The Ulster Council should insist on consistent criteria for all counties for entry to these prestigious competitions.

I would still prefer to have the four divisions in Down though, we had a very competitive league system in place and the new system has too much of a gulf between each league and too many one sided games in each of the leagues.

[brokencrossbar1]

Id agree with you 100% there DF. What goes on in other counties particulary Armagh and Antrim is ridiculous. The Ulster Council should insist on consistent criteria for all counties for entry to these prestigious competitions.

I would still prefer to have the four divisions in Down though, we had a very competitive league system in place and the new system has too much of a gulf between each league and too many one sided games in each of the leagues.

I can't speak about Antrim but Armagh are going to the same as Tyrone and Monaghan in regards to 3 Divisions with each one being Senior, Intermediate and Junior, though the Junior will have a Junior A + B league but they all play the one championship. 

[ardtole]

I still think the Ulster Council should have set down a strict qualification criteria years ago. They didnt and it was abused. Hopefully things improve, better late than never.

[No1]

Liatroim, Warrenpoint and An Riocht are three teams who would be ultra competitive at IFC level in Ulster while the likes of Kilclief would be one of the strongest JFC outfits about the province.

DF, agree with all you say except about Kilclief. The IFC win a couple of years ago was a last hurrah. The team has been decimated with retirement, emigration and one transfer! Squad size has been 16/17 over the last couple of years. There have been very few players coming from the juvenile set up over the last 10 years also. The current 16's and 14's look promising but I fear it's gonna be a long barren next few years and the main challenge is to merely keep the club going in the meantime.

[DownFanatic]

Liatroim, Warrenpoint and An Riocht are three teams who would be ultra competitive at IFC level in Ulster while the likes of Kilclief would be one of the strongest JFC outfits about the province.

DF, agree with all you say except about Kilclief. The IFC win a couple of years ago was a last hurrah. The team has been decimated with retirement, emigration and one transfer! Squad size has been 16/17 over the last couple of years. There have been very few players coming from the juvenile set up over the last 10 years also. The current 16's and 14's look promising but I fear it's gonna be a long barren next few years and the main challenge is to merely keep the club going in the meantime.

Looking at some of your Championship results last year (beating Tullylish+Atticall) and the quality of the likes of Ciaran Sloan, Ricky Kerr and Fintan Conway etc coupled with the relatively poor standard of Division 3, I'd still say that you have the potential to be a major force at Junior level next year.