Down Club Hurling & Football

[snoopdog]

The last time Wicklow beat us in the championship we got to the All Ireland final the following year.

Maybe history will repeat itself, and maybe go one step further.

Do we have a Beirne, kobi coming through?. Down are Mentally weak. Mayo went to croke pk on sunday with no baggage no fear of losing, they didnt have the anxiery of previous years. They didnt collapse when 7 pts down early on. Football has been brought pack to the pack, a lot of teams will fancy their chances next year. Remember Monaghan shouldve beat Mayo in Clones in the 2nd half. Meath had a massive lead on thrm in Castlebar. There isnt a massive gulf now.
 For those calling for new management, who would they suggest. Laverty needs years to sort the mess out that went before him. A mess that started in 2011 when Tally left McCartans set up.
Downs goal next year is to stay in Div 2. Anything after that is a bonus. Consistency is key. Mayo are always in Div 1.

[clonian]

The last time Wicklow beat us in the championship we got to the All Ireland final the following year.

Maybe history will repeat itself, and maybe go one step further.

Do we have a Beirne, kobi coming through?. Down are Mentally weak. Mayo went to croke pk on sunday with no baggage no fear of losing, they didnt have the anxiery of previous years. They didnt collapse when 7 pts down early on. Football has been brought pack to the pack, a lot of teams will fancy their chances next year. Remember Monaghan shouldve beat Mayo in Clones in the 2nd half. Meath had a massive lead on thrm in Castlebar. There isnt a massive gulf now.
 For those calling for new management, who would they suggest. Laverty needs years to sort the mess out that went before him. A mess that started in 2011 when Tally left McCartans set up.
Downs goal next year is to stay in Div 2. Anything after that is a bonus. Consistency is key. Mayo are always in Div 1.

It all seems to be a bit unsettled at the minute but I can't see them making a change with Lav. If they don't stay in div 2 he will be under pressure though.

We thought Tally was a problem and he seems to have done ok since, granted not as the nr 1.

There's not a lot of young stand out players coming through in Down that are ready to make a big change but Mayo haven't been flying at underage lately either. We beat them at minors this year in the B championship.

[Ed Hardy]

Any more word on #TesticleOperation after the Loughinisland game?               

Whats this about?

[manwithnoplan]

Any more word on #TesticleOperation after the Loughinisland game?               

Whats this about?

A Kilcoo man, with previous form for striking players with sucker punches off the ball, done the same again. Ended up getting clipped with a knee down below and apparently had surgery as a result. From the video doing the rounds, it looks like the man who started it  has came off worse.

[Mourne Red]

Any more word on #TesticleOperation after the Loughinisland game?               

Whats this about?

A Kilcoo man, with previous form for striking players with sucker punches off the ball, done the same again. Ended up getting clipped with a knee down below and apparently had surgery as a result. From the video doing the rounds, it looks like the man who started it  has came off worse.

Ball(s) was there to be won...

[Get Over]

As the league season concludes tonight, which teams and players have established themselves as the definitive contenders and standout performers ahead of the upcoming championship?

[Realdownman]

Guessing this forum is anonymous?

[maldini]

As the league season concludes tonight, which teams and players have established themselves as the definitive contenders and standout performers ahead of the upcoming championship?

Kilcoo won't be stopped, the only team who could possibly catch them on an off day is Clonduff I think, but that's a long shot.

Drumaness should win the Junior

Rostrevor probably favorites for an open looking IFC. You've also got Annaclone, An Riocht, Longstone, CNB, Darragh Cross and Liatroim any of whom could go far.

[befair]

Castlewellan relegated to Div 3; is soccer too strong in the town? Same problem as Newry?

[downtothecore]

As the league season concludes tonight, which teams and players have established themselves as the definitive contenders and standout performers ahead of the upcoming championship?

Kilcoo won't be stopped, the only team who could possibly catch them on an off day is Clonduff I think, but that's a long shot.

Drumaness should win the Junior

Rostrevor probably favorites for an open looking IFC. You've also got Annaclone, An Riocht, Longstone, CNB, Darragh Cross and Liatroim any of whom could go far.

Clonduff and Burren will have right good go this year. There is enough pain built up from previous years it now geels a bit like a Mayo scenario.

[snoopdog]

As the league season concludes tonight, which teams and players have established themselves as the definitive contenders and standout performers ahead of the upcoming championship?

Kilcoo won't be stopped, the only team who could possibly catch them on an off day is Clonduff I think, but that's a long shot.

Drumaness should win the Junior

Rostrevor probably favorites for an open looking IFC. You've also got Annaclone, An Riocht, Longstone, CNB, Darragh Cross and Liatroim any of whom could go far.

Clonduff and Burren will have right good go this year. There is enough pain built up from previous years it now geels a bit like a Mayo scenario.

Clonduff have a chance. Burren, not so much.

I see Kerry have let Cian O'Neill go. He woukd be a great addition to Lavertys backroom.

[johnnycool]

First round of the senior hurling championship games last night.

We were up at Bredagh where we've struggled the last 2 visits and last night was no different only coming away with a 2 point win in the end.
A cagey enough affair where we probably hurled OK in the middle third, but our shooting and attack play was poor. Hit 9 wides and left at least one goal, if not two behind us. Bredagh were managing to create a bit of space down the left side of our defence and got most of their scores from that side and they too hit some poor wides. Bredagh deservedly went in at half time with a 2 point advantage.
We'd a much better second half (barring the shooting still) and tightened up defensively to deny the same easy scores that Bredagh availed of in the first half.
We then got the goal which gave us the gap Bredagh failed to close out. And shortly after that goal we missed yet another sitter into the side netting from what looked like 8 yards out and kept Bredagh within a score of us, but we held out in the end.
For us, there's a lot of work to do, a lot of our forwards are out of form, three got taken off and the three that remained wouldn't have had any qualms if they'd been called to shore.
Defensively we know we don't have much strength in depth and need to keep this 6/7 lads fit to go anywhere this year. They did tighten up a bit and maybe were a bit too passive in their tackling especially with Peter Owens on the whistle who does allow the spare arm tackle (something our "in-house" referee tried to eradicate from them).
He was pretty lenient when a Bredagh sub, just on the field clattered his hurl into the back of our centre backs head. A yellow was shown, there was no malice or intent in the contact, but by the letter of the law could easily have been a red which Peter took some time to ponder. Probably the right decision on how it happened but most other referees would have shown the red.


For me Bredagh do lack a serious scoring threat in their full forward line. Their young lads just out of minor the last 2 or 3 years are all tidy hurlers but aren't going to deliver the killer blow (yet).
If they could afford to play Donal Hughes further up the field they could cause teams more issues, but then they'd leave themselves a bit more exposed at the other end. Hobsons choice.


Liatroim failed to grasp a good opportunity to derail Ballycran at home. They would surely have been targeting that one for the win.
Ballycran had a winning league campaign albeit in Div2 in Antrim, but winning is a habit no matter the level and they do seem to have gotten a few lads back that hadn't committed for a few years, Boyd, Watson and Bell in particular who were all handy enough a few years back. The reliance on the older lads like Woods, Hughes and the Nicholsons is still there though. All well into their 30's.

In the other game Portaferry do what they do best, they put teams to the sword in a big way unless you are prepared to go toe to toe with them and make it a dog fight.
Their ability to manage game time of their older lads, and those carrying injuries makes a big difference to them come the business end of the championship.
Same will happen this year.

[Sandstorm]

Disgusting the team a certain Div 1 club fielded in the latter part Of the ACFL.
Seems they have been targeting the premier reserve championship with little respect for other clubs, especially those fighting relegation. Not showing much ambition and let's hope it backfires on them in the final and also senior championship.
Up the yellows.

[County Star]

Castlewellan relegated to Div 3; is soccer too strong in the town? Same problem as Newry?

They do have a strong soccer set up but it's a wide catchment not just local players by the looks of it.

Senior team has been on the decline in recent years. St John's and Dromara have improved greatly and so have Drumgath. Hard to believe that there are now two divisions between Bryansford and Castlewellan.