Down Club Hurling & Football

[whitegoodman]

Down team that was sent to clubs:

M Reid

R Mcaleenan
G Mcgovern
D O'hagan
D O'hanlon
C Mcgovern
C Mooney

A Carr
P Turley

K Mckernan
C Maginn
J Murphy
S Millar
B O'hagan
R Johnston

Swap that team about a bit

Reid
McAleenan
G McGovern
O Hanlon
R Johnston
Mckernan
O Hagan
Carr
Turley
C MCGovern
McGinn
Mooney
Murphy
O Hagan
Miller

Swap Jerome for Miller, Madine for O Hagan, Devlin for McGinn, McParland for Carr and Conor Toner for Turley and it's not the worst Down team I've ever seen.

[ApresMatch]

Can't believe that county board statement. They go to lengths to explain why and how Mallon and McMahon left, yet give no explanation about Damien Turley (half a sentence) who obviously left in a less favourable fashion that they don't want to talk about. 

[Smurfy123]

Good first half from Down.The subs that have come in are making a massive difference
We will win this pulling up.The say we are poor Meath are pathetic

[wobbller]

 Congratulations to players and Management on great win. Down 1-13 Meath 0-14

[Smurfy123]

Great win for Down.Brilliant 2 points another win next week will ease the pressure of relagation
What a difference a win makes

[snoopdog]

Great win. Down needed that. Listened on LMFM and Down were always in control. Kicked alot of wides thiugh. Need to keep moving forward. Its a tough league. Doesnt resolve any of the current wrongs in Down gaa they need to be sorted . But nobody here wants the team to suffer but changes are required. Delighted for Eamon Burns.

[rosskarr]

 Great Down win.The players stood up and were counted.

[thebar]

Great win. Down needed that. Listened on LMFM and Down were always in control. Kicked alot of wides thiugh. Need to keep moving forward. Its a tough league. Doesnt resolve any of the current wrongs in Down gaa they need to be sorted . But nobody here wants the team to suffer but changes are required. Delighted for Eamon Burns.

Pretty much agree with all said here.  There are problems & need to be addressed. Regards tonight at last a performance, even if Down had of been beat I still would of been happy because at last there was a sense of urgency & will to win again. And for periods Down played some decent football.....congratulations to the team & management well deserved.

[SHEEDY]

great win. some great determination, urgency and will to win by all the players got us that much longed for win. the players that came into the team tonight made all the difference and their experience saw us over the line. still loads of work to do but tonight was very encouraging.

[Ed Hardy]

Great to finally get a win! Good atmosphere in Newry aswell, nervy last 5mins let Meath back into it, but understandable given how long it's been since we last won a league game! The team all worked tirelessly, Barry O Hagan had an off night, not much stuck with him.. Mooney and O Hanlon excellent, joe murphy and Miller with their best games to date for Down..

[whitegoodman]

Good to get the win, if we had of played something close to this team in the first two games we might have more than 2 points.  With Kildare, Cork and Galway to come, Derry away next week should be considered must win.

That said Mooney, the two Johnstons and the two O Hagans provide serious pace which we should be trying to use to the max.  If we have a full team out we should be more than capable of holding our own in a competitive but ultimately average division.

[thewobbler]

Down are lining out with one inside forward - O'Hagan. There simply isn't more than 10 pts in that forward line over 70 minutes of football. That's just maths.

Down will need goals or else Meath will win this without leaving 3rd gear.

Genuinely delighted to be proven wrong tonight!

[Mourne Rover]

Many Down supporters had forgotten what it like to experience  the emotion of winning a serious match, and will now know that it feels good and we would like to go through it again. Fair play to our management who have had a tough time, and picked a few dodgy teams along the way, but got it right tonight and sent out a side which played with a spirit and an edge which we have not seen for quite a while.

Meath were ordinary, and we are about their level, but we were due a break and a fortunate goal with our first attack pushed us in the right direction. The early stages of the second half were crucial and gave us the momentum to survive a considerable scare in injury time.

Reid is a confident keeper, and will do well when he avoids the overly adventurous kick-outs. Our full backs were decent throughout but our best line was at half back. Conaill McGovern is a battler, and there is a touch of quality about O'Hanlon and particularly Mooney when we can get the best out of them.

There may not be much pace about our midfield but the cuteness of Carr and the physical presence of Turley was effective. Murphy, Millar and Maginn worked  exceptionally hard and O'Hagan ran himself into the ground. Ryan Johnston has had better nights but produced a brilliant point at an important time, while McKernan was everywhere, got a vital late score and may have just about been MoM.

We are well capable of a similar result at Owenbeg next week which would leave us within a point or two of an unlikely survival in the division. In all the circumstances, staying up would be a notable achievement.

[oileain blues]

Few doom and gloom merchants on here have been proven wrong tonight, particularly Mr Woobler , we all want to see Down do well, realism with a tinge of patience is what's needed. We are a work in progress , we have some some terrific footbaiilers but at this stage not enough of them, congrats to the management and players on beating Meath , take the the praise because you have had loads of criticism on here, as the wise men on here will tell ye , your only as good as your next game, I for one hope there's better to come when we meet Armagh but for now I will take that win and move on to Derry who without the Slaughtneil players might be vulnerable.

[snoopdog]

Few doom and gloom merchants on here have been proven wrong tonight, particularly Mr Woobler , we all want to see Down do well, realism with a tinge of patience is what's needed. We are a work in progress , we have some some terrific footbaiilers but at this stage not enough of them, congrats to the management and players on beating Meath , take the the praise because you have had loads of criticism on here, as the wise men on here will tell ye , your only as good as your next game, I for one hope there's better to come when we meet Armagh but for now I will take that win and move on to Derry who without the Slaughtneil players might be vulnerable.

Everyone on here knows where the problems lie within Down football. Were people blaming the players?
Down football needs a clearout at couny board level thats where the problem is. That silly statement during the week proves that.