Down Club Hurling & Football

[johnneycool]

Did Magic look as if he had played the game all his life? the guy is a natural athlete and has the build but does he have the talent?

Midfield, WTF, we'd never play him there in a month of sundays as he isn't the best at marking and can get a bit lazy but when he's a point to prove or someone has given him a belt he's at his best and would go through brick walls.

Hopefully Ross and DJ can get him fit for the hurling later on in the year 

[Square Ball]

Weather permitting this could be a good game, both teams need a good start under new managment and new players and no doubt in sections of both camps the knives are being sharpened for the team who looses, so what price a draw?

[Cloc Mor]

Big pitch - who will it suit?  I wonder if the team will bear any resemblance to the one which played against the championship all-star team.  I reckon Magic will start somewhere and people who were at the match will tell you he has something to offer.  It would be nice to get off to a good start.  Jody Gormley may not know alot about this 'new' Down team and I'm sure Ross and DJ would like to get one over the ex-Down coach.

[Mourne Rover]

The result on Sunday is of very little consequence for Down, and it is really only the performance which matters. I would be happy enough if we lost all three games in the McKenna Cup and came up with a decent squad in time for the National League in February. A run in the McKenna Cup would be OK, but it is far too early to be building up expectations. Sunday is for experimentation and in particular starting to put together the kind of reliable defence which we have lacked for around a decade. Our aim has to be survival in division one of the league before clearing the way for the game in which Ross and DJ will really be judged, against Cavan in the championship. We would prefer not to lose to Antrim, but no one will remember the score when the summer comes. My only concerns about Sunday are the traffic jams in Downpatrick if a decent crowd turns up and the prospect of an elderly fan (me) slipping down the grassy slopes if it rains.

[No1]

  Totally agree Mourne Rover.

  Downpatrick is a fine venue for a game (I feel dirty after writing that) if the rain stays away.  If it pishes just watch from the clubhouse with a pint in your hand, like Lecale 2 normally does 

[thewobbler]

Ah, the annual trip to the first McKenna Cup game. Every year I get sucked in to travelling along to see who the new faces year, every year within 5 minutes of the throw-in I'm blue from the cold and questioning my sanity.

Downpatrick concerns me a little. Magnificent facilities, and I imagine the bank would be a wonderful place to sit with a six pack on a sunny summer's day watching football, but if the weather does what it's been doing, there'll be very few places to enjoy the the game on a firm foothold.

[thewobbler]

Down's Squad for Sunday.

1 Bernard Connell Drumgath
2 Aidan Burns Castlewellan
3 Adrian Carville Bryansford
4 Martin Cole Rostrevor
5 Darren Cunningham Saval
6 Barry Doran Longstone
7 Kevin Gracey Downpatrick
8 Conor Gribben Bryansford
9 Eoin Henry Warrenpoint
10 Stephen Kearney Mitchels
11 Brendan Loughran Shamrocks
12 Jack Lynch Drumgath
13 Padraig Matthews Clonduff
14 Ruairi McArdle Castlewellan
15 Martin McClean Kilcoo
16 Michael McVeigh Castlewellan
17 Colin McCrickard Liatroim
18 Brendan McGourty Ballycran
19 Fintan McGreevy Castlewellan
20 Kevin McGuigan Shamrocks
21 Colm Murtagh Glenn
22 Brendan Rodgers Mayobridge
23 Brian Sweeney St Michaels
24 Peter Telford Downpatrick
25 Stephen Toner Bryansford
26 Kevin Duffin Castlewellan
27 Declan Rooney Burren
28 Peter Turley Downpatrick
29 Peter Turley Saval
30 Gareth Johnson Ballygalget


Looks like Ross is giving every big fella in the county a run out this weekend.

[Lecale2]

Even the attraction of a pint in the club house won't get me to Downpatrick on Sunday! As far as I'm concerned, this is the closed season. I haven't been to a McKenna cup match in years and I cann't see me starting this year. Besides I'm off the drink  

[charlie stubbs]

brian sweeney!used be good player havent saw him in a while, i complete mess of a lad

[Bacon]

County Board are looking for high caliber coaches to look after the new hurling development squads that are starting in March. If any of the hurling posters know anybody who may be interested could you let them know to pass their names to Sean Og through the club secretary. The commitment will be something like 8 Saturday mornings through the season with a possible weekend away as well so it can be fitted in along side other commitments.

[DownFanatic]

Im surprised Bryan Sweeney has been selected for the game on Sunday. I thought he would of been away with the Irish Jaw-breaking squad at the World Championships.

[Mourne Rover]

Ross and DJ seem to have named a development squad for Sunday, with only Marty Cole and Mickey McVeigh included from last summer's championship panel. Presumably there is a separate national league squad, with five or six places left vacant for new players emerging from the McKenna Cup. That seems fair enough to me, but, given the completely experimental nature of our likely team, the chances of an Antrim win at Downpatrick must have risen sharply. Is any bookie offering odds ?

[An Dun Deal]

Reading some of the replies on the Antrim thread they seem to be none too confident about their own chances on Sunday. It should be interesting to see what the actual starting 15 is.

[Square Ball]

Even the attraction of a pint in the club house won't get me to Downpatrick on Sunday! As far as I'm concerned, this is the closed season. I haven't been to a McKenna cup match in years and I cann't see me starting this year. Besides I'm off the drink  

another quote from Tuesady "Off the drink and going to start a fitness programme sometime soon. If I last to the weekend I'll have beaten last year's record"

getting close to the record then Lecale

[Cloc Mor]

County Board are looking for high caliber coaches to look after the new hurling development squads that are starting in March.

Should the same not apply to football?  Some of the work being done in football at developmental level is very poor.  It has been well noted on other websites that young lads don't even want to play for the development squads.  There is something seriously wrong if this is the case.