Down Club Hurling & Football

[5 Sams]

He smacked Jackie Lynch who had just come on. Jack got a dig back at him and wasnt even spoken to.

The two boys went toe to toe again after the final whistle and there was nearly a free for all in the middle of the field....it all blew over very quickly.

[No1]

and although i didnt see it he appeared to send the limerick man off for very little.

  Classic.  You aren't a Westmeath man by any chance? 

  Good to see big Jack back to his best! 

  As for boys saying we need someone like Jack in the middle, we've been there and done that.  Have you all forgotten about Sean Ward?  His spell in midfield didn't exactly coincide with a golden era and he was a much better footballer. 

  Paul Murphy should get the spot.  Ambrose has done nothing in a county jersey, ever.

  We are poor and will remain poor until we unearth/grow/steal 4 or 5 decent defenders.   

[behind the wire]

and although i didnt see it he appeared to send the limerick man off for very little.

  Classic.  You aren't a Westmeath man by any chance? 

  Good to see big Jack back to his best! 
   

sorry lads i didnt realise that he actually hit jack, just thought it was a bit of shoulder to shoulder handbags. my mistake. good to see jackie standing up for himself, alot of players could learn from him. something down are missing at present.

[5 Sams]

   
[/quote]

sorry lads i didnt realise that he actually hit jack, just thought it was a bit of shoulder to shoulder handbags. my mistake. good to see jackie standing up for himself, alot of players could learn from him. something down are missing at present.[/quote]


Agree 100%. The Limerick no 10 (Kelly) was throwing his weight about and generally acting the hard man. The guy beside me said somebody needs to nail that cnut but we realised then that we have nobody to put manners on dirty hoors like him anymore.....we need a few guys in the mould of Higgins, Blaney and dare I say it Paddy O'Rourke to add a bit of steel to that team.

[western exile]

.....
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It seems that the experiment with McArdle at full back is over, as he did not feature, but our entire full back line, while decent players, were far too small today. .....
....
....

Is that because he finally had a bad 30 minutes (in Carrick-on-Shannon) ?   If every player was dropped whenever they ever have  a bad 30 minutes we would have no one left 
Perhaps he is injured? 

.....
.....

All the options we have so far tried at the back in terms of both tactics and personnel have been found wanting, so we cannot have much optimism for the summer. Murney will probably get a run at full back, but,while he has the ability, he is probably not big enough. Colgan has leadership qualities but lacks pace. Does anyone think there is any point in trying out Ambrose at the back, even in a challenge game ? He has no experience there, but at least he has some height and pace.
....

Why not? you make a good point.   Surely the management would have considered that already. Were there not rumours of Colgan refusing that option?

[BRIDGE LAD]

Didn't get to the match yest, but sounds like stupid mistakes that they made against Leitrim. This would have been an ideal time to put pressure on Wexford, just not good enough. Some posters were saying about Danny Hughes and how he has slipped back from McKenna cup, he was prob fittest man in Ireland at that stage but now everyone has caught up with him he aint standing out now, as for all the Down lads.
The team that has learnt more and benefited more from the McKenna cup have been Derry, they are now in the division one final against Kerry, shows the difference between the two teams!

As for the issue on Mickey Walsh, he is playing out of his skin at the moment, the bridge played Errigal Ciaran yest and he ran them ragged, setting up and putting scores over from left right and centre. Another two men in bridge colours who would be worth a shout,  Shane OHare and Brendan Grant also started season well.
I dont see a better full back in the county squad at the moment than Brendan Grant. 

[Pangurban]

Totally agree Bridgelad,Brendan Grant is as good as any options we currently have in the panel, but we dont need as good, we need much better, and i cant see him making a significant difference

[Mourne Rover]

The Limerick player seemed to be sent off for very little, but then he ran on throwing punches after the final whistle and could have got another red card. The referee was pretty dreadful anyway, and stuck firmly to the unwritten rule that every decision must be given to the against the team which is in the lead.

Lynch is a limited enough player, but the physical side of his game could help what is a fairly lightweight Down side. I would certainly try Murphy at full back, but he might be more useful as an extra defender pushing up to support the midfield. We don't have much to lose at this stage.

[downredblack]

Didn't get to the match yest, but sounds like stupid mistakes that they made against Leitrim. This would have been an ideal time to put pressure on Wexford, just not good enough. Some posters were saying about Danny Hughes and how he has slipped back from McKenna cup, he was prob fittest man in Ireland at that stage but now everyone has caught up with him he aint standing out now, as for all the Down lads.
The team that has learnt more and benefited more from the McKenna cup have been Derry, they are now in the division one final against Kerry, shows the difference between the two teams!

As for the issue on Mickey Walsh, he is playing out of his skin at the moment, the bridge played Errigal Ciaran yest and he ran them ragged, setting up and putting scores over from left right and centre. Another two men in bridge colours who would be worth a shout,  Shane OHare and Brendan Grant also started season well.
I dont see a better full back in the county squad at the moment than Brendan Grant. 

Is there more to this than meets the eye ? just can't understand how a player of his quality can be left off the team never mind the panel . We are crying out for a play maker and Walsh is our best option IMO .

[downredblack]

Murtagh to miss out
15 April 2008


Down look set to be without the versatile Ronan Murtagh once again for Sunday's crucial NFL Division 3 clash with Fermanagh in Newry.

A hand injury forced Murtagh to miss last weekend's win over Limerick, and it is unlikely to heal in time for Sunday's game which Down must win to have any hope of securing promotion.

"It does not look as if Ronan will be ready for this weekend," said team spokesman Diarmuid Cahill.

"He is likely to see a specialist about the damage to his hand this week."

Mourne County manager Ross Carr could also have to plan without under 21 players Kevin McKernan, Paul McComiskey, Colm Murney, James Colgan, Cathal Magee, Packie Downey and Michael McAllister whose main focus this weekend is on Saturday's All-Ireland under 21 semi-final against Kildare in Navan.

[T O Hare]

I have been very impressed with both walsh and grant, walsh is a graet break place winner and also a great paaser to corner forwards running into space. B Grant had a stormer on sunday and put a lean looking eoin gormley in his pocket
the bridge selectors will have an awful headache this year, a lot of impreeesive minors this year who have been tried in pre-season and who have nt been found wanting!

[Fíor Gael]

There is definatley a place for Walsh in the team as breaking ball is a major weakness, snd someone who can spray passes from the forty and get the whole attack moving a lot quicker. As for Grant he has been tried and tried again and unless he has recieved an injection of pace over the winter months I cant see him being a big addition, also would he even accept a call up after being snubbed again?

[Leo]

This post from February is worth revisiting:

"Of the team that started against Sligo:

McVeigh - still not sure - prefer Alder
McGovern - lack of height exposed but his commitment should earn panel place
McArdle - worth persevering with him - very cool & learnin fast
Cole - shoe-in - class act
O'Hanlon - out of his depth
Doyle - up where he belongs - gold dust
McGuigan - shows well on the ball but defensively weak & willl have to settle for a panel place
Lynch - working really hard - lacks finesse but is an option we need to persevere with
Gordon - great second half - need more consistency
Fegan - plenty of energy but don't think he will make the team later in the year
McKernan - out odf position - possible understudy for Doyle
Hughes - in the form of his life
Clarke - the forward line needs his physicality & scoring ability
Magee - for the future - reserves this year
Sexton - indespensable

Thoise who will definitely find a place are:
Coulter
Rodgers
Carr (althoug probably not at half back which should be where he plays)

Strong contenders are:
Murtagh
Rafferty
Murphy
Colgan"

Nothing has changed.
I said Coulter Rodgers & Carr will definitely start. In the case of Ambrose this would not be on merit and his recent form confirms that but I still think his face fits with management and he will be there.

Looking at the team above it now seems we have a new crisis at full back and my earlier calls re Colgan are pertinent. He doesn't want to play there I'm told. Then off the panel with him - any player selected for Down should be honoured to play in any position. If  he's not in the running then Murney might fit the bill with Cole and Howard in the corners.

Kearney may now be in contention as will McComiskey (wrongly omitted by me previously) but Kearney has all the attributes except he just wants to get rid of the ball too much - needs to take on responsibility.

Hughes has gone off the boil a bit and seems to be undervalued by management but he is better than anything on the bench. The proper tactics for getting quick ball up to Coulter & Clarke with Hughes & McComiskey coming on in support is the way to go. Then use the other two (Sexton & Murtagh?) to fill  out the midfield area where our inability to win clean possession or break ball can be overcome by force of numbers.

Carr showed on Sunday that he can be a good half back as I suggested before. Hope Murphy is OK for the otrher wing.

[passedit]

div 3 result

Glenn 2-7
Drumaness 0-11

that's not much use minus. What about a wee report. Should we add Drumaness to the list of relegation candidates or were ye a lot better than the previous week? I noticed a few of their spys at that game, they mustn't have learnt much.

St Michaels were weaker than I expected them to be (a few of their better players missing from the last time we played them, is this a permanent situation our nail?) but we still struggled big time to beat them. Laverty looks to be enjoying the student life a bit too much, still a handfull at this level though.

[stpauls]

div 3 result

Glenn 2-7
Drumaness 0-11

that's not much use minus. What about a wee report. Should we add Drumaness to the list of relegation candidates or were ye a lot better than the previous week? I noticed a few of their spys at that game, they mustn't have learnt much.

St Michaels were weaker than I expected them to be (a few of their better players missing from the last time we played them, is this a permanent situation our nail?) but we still struggled big time to beat them. Laverty looks to be enjoying the student life a bit too much, still a handfull at this level though.

from what i heard Glenn got the 2 goals in the last 3 minutes, to win the game. that's sounds really familiar.