Down Club Hurling & Football

[downtothecore]

Yes should be a good final. Kilcoo favourites as usual. Burren have many quality experienced players and would be capable of doing well in ulster. They will be eager to put a performance in after last years show. Kilcoo show no sign of waning and look to be every bit as strong if not stronger than last year so it will take a big game from burren to beat them. Kilcoo to shade it this time though....

[clonian]

I was going to buy all the games on Down TV this weekend but by Friday I decided against it. Paid to watch the Burren/Carryduff game and regretted it. Expected Kilcoo and Drumgath to win and wasn't going to be back in time for the other IFC semi.

The club football served up in the county seems to be of a poor standard at the minute. Are we worse than other counties though - maybe it's not actually that bad but it's terrible to watch.

At least you have the option. Down 'GAA' TV haven't shown one Hurling game this year AFAIK. Admittedly last round games were one sided but some good games before that. Thank God for Clubber and Antrim SHC streamed too.

I don't know if Down TV are going to show the hurling semi finals this week. You'd think it would make sense to show them but they may not - can't remember if they did last year

They showed the Ballycran V Liatroim semifinal last year.

Is there anything to stop them streaming the 2 games on Sunday JC? Internet etc?

We've fibrus to our building @100M, but they bring their own system I believe and have broadcast live from both our place and Portaferry in the not too distant past.

They must have been reading lads - both games are being streamed.

[johnnycool]

I was going to buy all the games on Down TV this weekend but by Friday I decided against it. Paid to watch the Burren/Carryduff game and regretted it. Expected Kilcoo and Drumgath to win and wasn't going to be back in time for the other IFC semi.

The club football served up in the county seems to be of a poor standard at the minute. Are we worse than other counties though - maybe it's not actually that bad but it's terrible to watch.

At least you have the option. Down 'GAA' TV haven't shown one Hurling game this year AFAIK. Admittedly last round games were one sided but some good games before that. Thank God for Clubber and Antrim SHC streamed too.

I don't know if Down TV are going to show the hurling semi finals this week. You'd think it would make sense to show them but they may not - can't remember if they did last year

They showed the Ballycran V Liatroim semifinal last year.

Is there anything to stop them streaming the 2 games on Sunday JC? Internet etc?

We've fibrus to our building @100M, but they bring their own system I believe and have broadcast live from both our place and Portaferry in the not too distant past.

They must have been reading lads - both games are being streamed.

The way the Camogie crowd are going it may be the only way for some of us to see these games!

[clonian]

They must have been reading lads - both games are being streamed.
[/quote]

The way the Camogie crowd are going it may be the only way for some of us to see these games!
[/quote]

What have the camogs done?

[johnnycool]

What have the camogs done?

They're pushing through that the senior camogie semi-finals are also to be played this Sunday and that means ourselves, Portaferry and Liatroim are double booked.

At the minute they've still to confirm on venues and times, but whatever way you cut it someone is going to be playing at the same time or not able to get from one venue to the next to see both games.

Shambles.

[clonian]

They must have been reading lads - both games are being streamed.

The way the Camogie crowd are going it may be the only way for some of us to see these games!

What have the camogs done?
[/quote]

They're pushing through that the senior camogie semi-finals are also to be played this Sunday and that means ourselves, Portaferry and Liatroim are double booked.

At the minute they've still to confirm on venues and times, but whatever way you cut it someone is going to be playing at the same time or not able to get from one venue to the next to see both games.

Shambles.

[/quote]

I dealt with them for a while with Ballela and between clashes with the hurling and the LGFA through the Annaclone contingent, they were backwards as fook. LGFA aren't much better to be fair

They have arranged camogie championship at the same time as junior hurling a few times. Ballela don't have many teams to work around either

[johnnycool]

I dealt with them for a while with Ballela and between clashes with the hurling and the LGFA through the Annaclone contingent, they were backwards as fook. LGFA aren't much better to be fair

They have arranged camogie championship at the same time as junior hurling a few times. Ballela don't have many teams to work around either

I know it can't be easy but they made a rod for their own backs by condensing the knock out stages week to week (the final is meant to be next Saturday btw) yet the Down representatives won't play in Ulster till the first weekend in November!

Even if they had agreed for our semifinal against Clonduff to be played at 4pm on Saturday we could have worked with it, but that's a non-runner for some reason that they haven't shared with anyone.

[Lowballinhigh]

Has there been any young lads that have stood out this years championship that would still be eligible for u20 next year? Or even a call up to the senior squad?

[Gaelforce123]

County Finals weekend not even upon us yet and the rumours of vacancies of club football manager hot seats is more than I think I have ever heard. Is there a club in Down finished with competition that have the same man for next year? Merry go round starts again

[supersub]

I was going to buy all the games on Down TV this weekend but by Friday I decided against it. Paid to watch the Burren/Carryduff game and regretted it. Expected Kilcoo and Drumgath to win and wasn't going to be back in time for the other IFC semi.

The club football served up in the county seems to be of a poor standard at the minute. Are we worse than other counties though - maybe it's not actually that bad but it's terrible to watch.

At least you have the option. Down 'GAA' TV haven't shown one Hurling game this year AFAIK. Admittedly last round games were one sided but some good games before that. Thank God for Clubber and Antrim SHC streamed too.

I don't know if Down TV are going to show the hurling semi finals this week. You'd think it would make sense to show them but they may not - can't remember if they did last year

They showed the Ballycran V Liatroim semifinal last year.

Is there anything to stop them streaming the 2 games on Sunday JC? Internet etc?

We've fibrus to our building @100M, but they bring their own system I believe and have broadcast live from both our place and Portaferry in the not too distant past.

They must have been reading lads - both games are being streamed.

In fairness it was on the streams for last weekends games that the hurling would be on this week.

[Truth hurts]

County Finals weekend not even upon us yet and the rumours of vacancies of club football manager hot seats is more than I think I have ever heard. Is there a club in Down finished with competition that have the same man for next year? Merry go round starts again

What have you heard? I am aware that Castlewellen and Newry Shamrocks are seeking managers.

[Gaelforce123]

Yes Castlewellan & Shamrocks, An Riocht, Annaclone, Atticall, Warrenpoint, Longstone, Mayobridge, Newry Bosco, Tullylish, Drumaness, Teconnaught, Saval (Unconfirmed). All word of mouth could be less or could be more. Some parted with outside managers during the year and maybe will continue with club people that filled in.

[ApresMatch]

Has there been any young lads that have stood out this years championship that would still be eligible for u20 next year? Or even a call up to the senior squad?

U20s - Matt Boyle - Darragh Cross

[Splash]

Ballela made great progress in trying to secure a spot in the Junior Hurling Final. That isnt to say that they're home safe and dry, but it is the best position to be in out of any of the teams in the competition.

It was a bit of a shock to some that Ballela beat Castlewellan, given Castlewellan's form as of late, but Ballela are a cute team and made Castlewellan play their game, and it worked.

Castlewellan will be dissapointed with this, but they are still very much in the hunt for the championship , and I imagine they will have learnt from last year and will carry those lessons into the next round.

East Belfast sent out a statement with a 20 point thumping of Ballyvarley. Not sure if there was extra motivation given the multiple bomb hoaxes over the course of the week into the build up of the match, or did something go wrong with Ballyvarley on the day, but a 20 point margin is a serious result.

Rumours of East Belfast demise after the first round have been greatly exaggerated, and they won't fear Ballela tomorrow.

Despite the hammering, and being winless so far in the championship, I think I'm right in saying Ballyvarley can still qualify for the final if they beat Castlewellan by a big enough margin, and their old rivals, Ballela, give East Belfast a similar beating.

Castlewellan will be more careful though than they were this time last year, and I would expect them to come away with the win tomorrow. Ballyvarley might have needed that wake up call in Henry Jones, but it will require a serious turnaround in form to make it to the final.

I would expect Ballela to beat East Belfast and top the group tomorrow. Not a certainty by any means, and East Belfast won't fear them, especially after the score they put out in the last round, but Ballela will know to play to their strengths and have a couple quality players I'm not sure East Belfast will be able to handle.

If my maths is correct, if the results go the right way with the right margins, any team can still reach the final, so it is all still to play for, and should be an interesting final weekend given there are no dead rubbers.


Intermediate semi finals are the exact same as last year's, and it is difficult looking past a repeat of last years final.

Warrenpoint and Shamrocks are probably still a wee bit off Carryduff and Bredagh but each team performed well to get here.

Shamrocks put on good displays against Kilclief and Clonduff, proving their ability, and a young Warrenpoint side showed good character to survive a scare from Clonduff and to earn a win over Kilclief.

The game between the two was also good viewing.

CPN will probably feel like they could have had a win had they done a few things differently, but they are certainly closing the gap on their neighbours, and will be interesting to see how they get on in the future. There's a couple decent players on the Point squad who could perhaps be worth looking at for the Down team.

Shamrocks look to have recovered a wee bit from where they were last year, and seemed very comfortable in the Intermediate. They will be well fit for Carryduff, but the South Belfast side's experience of playing, and competing with, senior sides this year should see them over the line.

Warrenpoint would love to give Bredagh a rattle, particularly given how Bredagh seem to have taken a step backwards, going off their performances this year in the championship. Nonetheless, Bredagh have plenty of good players all over the pitch, and when push comes to shove, I'd expect them to pull away and be heading back to Belfast with a win.

Clonduff secured their Intermediate status for 2025 with what I believe was a first competitive win of the year for the Hilltown men. Had to grind out a win over Kilclief to do it, but they live to fight another day in the intermediate. Given the brutal year the club has gone through, it is impressive they managed to find a way to come out with with the win.

All things considered, Kilclief did well in their first year back in the intermediate, and gave everyone they came up against a good game. They'll fancy themselves to be back in 2026.

A couple good games in store this weekend, let's hope it's a good weekend of small ball action   

[Splash]

Intermediate went much the way it was as expected to, albeit, a closer affair in both games than was expected.

Last years seniors relegation team went head to head with last years junior promotion team, and it went much the way anyone would expect. Wasn't as handy for the Newry men as some had predicted, but they were well worth their win. There are other games Kilclief will be targeting, and this game simply was not one of them, but there is positives to take from it all the same. Very little else to say really. Shamrocks will be happy to get the win, and onto the next one.

Clonduff almost had the shock of the weekend and got a goal to go ahead of the Point with a few minutes left, before the Point tapped in a late minute goal to come away with the win.

Both teams were far from full strength, and both missed plenty of chances, and will have a lot of work to do.

Clonduff will be backing themselves to give Shamrocks a scare based off current form, and Kilclief will be up for it against the Point. Ultimately though, it is hard to see past Shamrocks and Warrenpoint again, given both teams are at home.

There's not a lot more to be said for the intermediate teams. They just don't have the resources to be challenging in the senior championship at the minute. Hopefully some day the senior championship expands further and we have these teams getting exposure to playing the top teams more often.

Unfortunately, it is very hard to be interested in the interlace championship, given 2 of Bredagh/Carryduff/Liatroim/Ballycran will come down and  in all likelihood clean up, it is hard to get as invested as the junior or senior championships. Hopefully someone sorts that soon. The intermediate championship should be for intermediate clubs, not senior clubs who didn't win the senior championship.

One thing I think we need to point out is what bad form it was from the county board to arrange for Clonduff to play both hurling and football on the same day. That's not fair on anybody, and was always going to leave the hurlers in a bad position.  Players shouldn't be forced to choose between one or the other, and nor should spectators. Football is king in Clonduff, and that's okay, but it seems very unfair to fix a hurling game at home on a Sunday afternoon, and at the same time, most of the parish is down the road in Mayobridge watching the footballers against Glenn.

Hopefully we have more cooperation between hurling and football for our clubs and players in the future. Both a great games, no one should be having to pick between them.

Ye I am hearing that in the u16 Hurling championship the final is down for Sunday. It was postponed 2 weeks ago because Carryduff complained as one player from their u14s is involved and they had u14 football championship that weekend. Final now fixed for Sunday morning and county in their wisdom have made Castlewellan play u16 championship on Saturday with many involved in both. You couldn't make it up. There is a dual club 48 rule at adult level. Why not at juvenile. You couldn't make it up!

didn't prevent Castlewellan prevailing on Sunday so well done to them.

I know they've a few Liatroim lads in their ranks but they need to get as many to commit to minor next year and take it from there. Some really good hurlers in that team.

Underage championships all outside the Ards again for the third or fourth year on the bounce.

Minor - Bredagh
U16   - Castlewellan
U14   - Liatroim


As for your comment on linesmen wanting to overturn referees decisions I've seen it a few times by the same gentleman who when he's refereeing certainly wouldn't stand for it..
He must think he's in the Premier league.

It takes all sorts as they say JC...

Is it that many years since an underage championship has gone to the Ards? Do you think everyone else is starting to catch up, or are the Ards sides coming back to the pack? I think it is obviously a mix of both, but you know what I mean.

Castlewellan will be an interesting club to watch for the next couple years to see if they can make the breakthrough.