Down Club Hurling & Football

[corn02]

Francie Bellew was never the quickest but maybe the most effective fullback of his generation.
Our last decent full back Brian Burns wasn't the quickest.

And where a player operates at club level is not really relevant. If he has the brains and phtsique for No. 3 he can be moulded into that position.

Sloan's clubmate from the late 60's Brendan Sloan (no relation I'm told) was as good a club midfielder in his day as there was in the county  and played most of his county football at corner back.

I think it's called thinking "outside the box" in modern parlance but I'm looking for a remedy on the edge of the box!

Did he do fullback for the club last year, always had him in my head as a defender not a midfielder. To be honest there are not many lightning fast full-backs and no need as most teams are reverting to the target man.

[Leo]

Did he do fullback for the club last year, always had him in my head as a defender not a midfielder. To be honest there are not many lightning fast full-backs and no need as most teams are reverting to the target man.

The very point.

[buglebhoy]

Is Mickey Walsh not going to receive another chance for Down? what about Peter Turley, L Howard, Murney, Murtagh?? these boys injured or something??

[Maiden1]

Big change from 91 and 94 when 1/2 the starting 15 where from east down.  Now only 4 out of the whole panel from east down.

[corn02]

Is Mickey Walsh not going to receive another chance for Down? what about Peter Turley, L Howard, Murney, Murtagh?? these boys injured or something??

Walsh should be involved but wont be. Howard and Murney on college duty.

[Blue Island]

Is magic likely to get a proper chance?

I have heard good things about Sloan.

Don't know if magic is the answer. very effective at club level but dont think he would be a long term solution at full forward. he played well in champiuonship semi final but he was alot taller than dan mccartan. conor garvey gave him very little in the final.

Too early to say if Magic is the answer. I would have to say that watching how far he has come in such a short period of time, he could be the answer. His main trouble relates to the amount of time he can devote to football. He needs to play regularly to master the finer details of the game and if that does not happen he may fall just short. His athletic ability is second to non and if he does focus on football, I could see him making a good full forward for Down.

You are correct that Conor Garvey did not give him much room in the final and it is obvious that he is still on a learning curve, but in his defence, we as a team hardly tried to kick the ball into him in the final. Granted, Garvey may still have bettered him, even if we did, but if you starve a full forward like we did, the blame lies elsewhere.

[eyeswideopen]

Position played for the club is not relevant to that played for the county.
Conor Degan played midfield for Downpatrick but full back for county.
Cormac McAnallin (RIP) is the best example of a player adopting to a position when asked.

East Down representation is very poor.
Of the Senior Championship semi finalists we have.
Mayobridge------- 4
Burren ------------ 3
Saval  ------------- 2
loughinisland -----1

Then league champions
Kilcoo ------------ 0

South Down------- 24
East Down ---------  4

Do Ross and his team not like to travel far to watch matches or is this another symptom of the credit crunch and the price of diesel??

[Mourne Rover]

The main surprise for me is Turley's absence. He did relatively well when he came in for the qualifiers and looked as though he would benefit from a run in the McKenna Cup, but Ross must not rate him and it seems as though McArdle or possibly Garvey will be at full back.

Rooney only came back from injury towards the end of the summer, and definitely improved things when he came on at Croke Park, so he will probably have been expecting a further chance in January. Murtagh may be only rested, but he had another poor championship and it could be over for him.

I hope that big Fitzpatrick gets a few games at midfield, and it's good to see Eoin McCartan back after his long injury. He had a nightmare in his last county game, against Donegal in the 2006 championship, but he was excellent in the 2007 Sigerson final.

However, if Dan and Ambrose are still missing, it's very difficult to see us coming anywhere close to retaining the trophy

[Bitta-Banter]

Has anyone any news on Turley?has he been dropped?

[behind the wire]

Has anyone any news on Turley?has he been dropped?

No hes hasnt been dropped. work committments at present. seems like a good player. hope to see him get a good run of games at full back.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Do Ross and his team not like to travel far to watch matches or is this another symptom of the credit crunch and the price of diesel??

eyeswideopen, I dont think the price of diesel is a factor. Probably more like the standard of football in South Down is much higher than East Down. The ratio (4:24) that you have highlighted also coincides with the divide of the management team (E vs S) and is probably about right.

[Maiden1]

Do Ross and his team not like to travel far to watch matches or is this another symptom of the credit crunch and the price of diesel??

eyeswideopen, I dont think the price of diesel is a factor. Probably more like the standard of football in South Down is much higher than East Down. The ratio (4:24) that you have highlighted also coincides with the divide of the management team (E vs S) and is probably about right.

If 6 players from Newry Shamrocks get a trial with Down then there are plenty of players from east down who should be getting trials.  It seems the scouts are watching South Down teams more.

[Mourne Rover]

Kilcoo is not a long way from the south/east Down dividing line (about a mile ?), and it's pretty surprising that yet again none of their players have made the cut even for an experimental squad. Conor Lavery is their main man, but sadly, although he is an exceptional talent, he is almost certainly too small to make it at county level. However, they have some of the best underage prospects in Down who are bound to come through the system over the next couple of years. The indications are that some starting places for the championship are up for grabs anyway. Murtagh is unlikely to return, among others, and Benny is probably the only forward sure of his jersey for the summer at this stage.

[Open yer eyes Man]

How many of last year's championship panel will return and more importantly , how many do we want to return?  Basically, its been the same team for a few years now with just the odd change here and there.  The subs two years ago were slated for lacking ambition and just happy to be part of the panel and get the gear etc.

Were last year's panel any different?  Until we get a totally focused panel actually pushing for places, with few guaranteed starting slots, then we are going nowhere.  We need realistic competition for all jerseys or we'll continue to be also rans and second rate.

There were some excellent performances last year but we need consistency - particularly in the Summer months and not in the Mc Kenna Cup.

[T O Hare]

I know Paul Devlin is still at school but i think he deserves a run out in the league, if your good enough your old enough!!!