Down Club Hurling & Football

[eyeswideopen]

Fellas, Wee Pete has seen every club in Divisions I and II over the past few years with An Riocht. What he saw there would always be far more useful to him than what he sees in a trial between players who have never played together before, in crap winter conditions. You might ask what the point in a trial is? Well, a lot of the time the purpose is so that previously established players can play themselves out of contention rather than the other way around.

On top of that, he knows everyone in Down football, he knows whose opinions to trust and whose to ignore. Instead of getting your knickers in a twist over your clubmates, start naming players who should be on the panel (and not just to make up the numbers), and why they should be in the panel. I saw every player in Division I last year and can't think of any shocking ommissions, not even close.

One fella who should be in on it your man Johnston from Tullylish, but by and large it's the right squad.

This make no sense at all. Surely it would be more beneficial to see these lads competing at the level they are gonna be representing the county. Does this also suggest that you must play for a Div 1 or 2 club in order to represent your county??

[stpauls]

Gareth Johnston is definitely overage. He's a great player though and not many full forwards in Division 3 will relish coming up against him.
DannyMc, I think it was your boy Magee who kept our own Paul McComiskey very quiet last year in the League in Dundrum. Seen him play there towards the end of the season and I have to agree he looks like a very handy prospect especially as a man marker.
In regards to the picking of the Down U-21 squad. The people that are giving out about the panel are those that generally have a gripe against management because a player or players from their club have not been selected.
Also, all this talk of a South Down bias is pure drivel. It is used every year as an excuse when there is a sizeable amount of South Down lads on the panel compared to East Down. At the end of the day, the U-21 management team are going to try to pick the best panel available to them. And judging by the squad they have selected I cant think of anyone of note that they have omitted bar Magee from Banbridge.

PS - I see Bosco's appeal to stay in Division 3 has been rejected and they will now definitely be in Division 4 next year.

[/b]
What was there appeal anyway? was it to do with score difference?

OTL, as far as i know, it was more along the lines that St. john's had failed to field at least twice, and were therefore eneligble (ep) to win the league, and hence be promoted. apparently there is a rule somewhere if you fail to field more than a certain number of times, you are automatically disqualified from the league. i don't know where this ruls has been written so don't quote me on it!!

[Mid Down Gael]

You know very little then. Your club was relegated and got 3 players selected. Thats 3 under 21s, 2 seniors and a county minor and yous are relegated automatically. Something dosent tally up.Liam McKibben was on panel last year and starred from Castlewellan all year and was dropped. Joke. Look 90 per cent of squad is correct but there is about 8 players selected simply not as good as some not picked as proven in division one and in under 20 competition. and may i add, in the trials.

This is a perfect example of  the blinkered nature of most people who complaing about this squad. Any player who you come up with, such as Liam McKibbin, might be as good as some of the players on the panel, but wouldn't force their way into the team. So what difference would it make if they were on or not?

Liam McKibbin is good enough for the first 15 or one of the first subs. Your missing the point, players who deserve to be there should be there. there is at least ten players better than Havern, Haughey, Somers, Cian Slevin, Joe Starkey, Ryan McGovern and Luke Byrne. The best 30 should be selected. Club form at present should be considered instead of picking players on name and who play ok in a trial match.

[Mid Down Gael]

Down fanatic I dont think you see much top flight football then. thats where the cream of the crop are. Castlewellan, Liatriom, Kilcoo, Clonduff and Mayobridge have only 2 players selected between them  which is not right. Kilcoo Mayobridge and Castlewellan where in top 4 this year with many young stars involved and i know there is at least 5 players from the above clubs better than a third of players selected. dont get me wrong 80% of panel is correct but there are about 7 or 8 lads selected and there is better not for whatever reason.

[DownFanatic]

Down fanatic I dont think you see much top flight football then. thats where the cream of the crop are. Castlewellan, Liatriom, Kilcoo, Clonduff and Mayobridge have only 2 players selected between them  which is not right. Kilcoo Mayobridge and Castlewellan where in top 4 this year with many young stars involved and i know there is at least 5 players from the above clubs better than a third of players selected. dont get me wrong 80% of panel is correct but there are about 7 or 8 lads selected and there is better not for whatever reason.

MDG, just because clubs have Division 1 status doesn't automatically mean they have a right to representation on county squads. I don't see any injustice as to why these clubs have been wronged in that they have only 2 players on the panel between them.
There is no conspiracy here. The U-21 management have picked a panel which they feel best suit their needs. As far as I know Liam McKibben is a forward. Perhaps, the management didnt need another forward and possibly wanted to add an extra defender.
The management opted to use trials as a way of selecting the panel. They obviously had some sort of criteria in place and those that didnt come up to scratch were obviously omitted.

[T O Hare]

Down fanatic I dont think you see much top flight football then. thats where the cream of the crop are. Castlewellan, Liatriom, Kilcoo, Clonduff and Mayobridge have only 2 players selected between them  which is not right. Kilcoo Mayobridge and Castlewellan where in top 4 this year with many young stars involved and i know there is at least 5 players from the above clubs better than a third of players selected. dont get me wrong 80% of panel is correct but there are about 7 or 8 lads selected and there is better not for whatever reason.

I know that Seamus Grant and Darren Fegan could not not he commitment due to work this year, both would have made the panel !!!!!!!!!

[DownFanatic]

Just looking over in the Armagh thread there and I see that there will be 3 Down men managing Armagh teams this year. Kilcoo's Jerome Johnston is in charge at Ballymacnab, Rostrevor's Aidan Farrell is taking Tir na Og and Warrenpoint's Micheal Magill is in charge of Wolfe Tones.

[off the laces]

Just looking over in the Armagh thread there and I see that there will be 3 Down men managing Armagh teams this year. Kilcoo's Jerome Johnston is in charge at Ballymacnab, Rostrevor's Aidan Farrell is taking Tir na Og and Warrenpoint's Micheal Magill is in charge of Wolfe Tones.

add robert wilson (clonduff) at lissummon

[thewobbler]

This make no sense at all. Surely it would be more beneficial to see these lads competing at the level they are gonna be representing the county. Does this also suggest that you must play for a Div 1 or 2 club in order to represent your county??

So you reckon it is a more useful gauge of a player's ability to watch them in an under-20 club game, comprising thrown together teams of players who've not played together in a few years, have hardly trained together, and a number of whom will never play GAA again after the series ends, than it would be when watching the same fella play adult league and championship football, where he is up against dedicated, mature players? Catch a grip you looney.

Secondly, you don't have to play for a Div I or a Div II to play for the county. No. I was merely emphasising that due to his time at An Riocht, Pete has recently seen pretty much every player in the top two flights in competitive football, in their natural environment. So he can call on that knowledge rather than relying fully on a mud-splattered trial match among unevenly matched players.


Regarding the East Down / South Down thing, if anyone believes that a manager would handicap his own team's chances by leaving out better players because they happen to be from north of Hilltown, then you truly are as mad as crazy fckin mad thing.

On a slightly related note - 2 years ago, after Carryduff had suffered automatic relegation from Division II, they sent 11 players to the county under-21 trials. When clubs treat county managers and selectors with such disdain, and this was nothing less than wasting their time, it surely must be tougher for the one or two good ones from clubs like that to get their heads above the parapet; to have even half a chance of getting noticed.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Fellas, Wee Pete has seen every club in Divisions I and II over the past few years with An Riocht. What he saw there would always be far more useful to him than what he sees in a trial between players who have never played together before, in crap winter conditions. You might ask what the point in a trial is? Well, a lot of the time the purpose is so that previously established players can play themselves out of contention rather than the other way around.

On top of that, he knows everyone in Down football, he knows whose opinions to trust and whose to ignore. Instead of getting your knickers in a twist over your clubmates, start naming players who should be on the panel (and not just to make up the numbers), and why they should be in the panel. I saw every player in Division I last year and can't think of any shocking ommissions, not even close.

One fella who should be in on it your man Johnston from Tullylish, but by and large it's the right squad.

[b]This make no sense at all. Surely it would be more beneficial to see these lads competing at the level they are gonna be representing the county. Does this also suggest that you must play for a Div 1 or 2 club in order to represent your county??

[/b][/b]

I dont understand where you are going with this. I assume by "these lads" you are referring to those who were playing in the U20 series whom you think should be on the U.21 panel but who were not selected (maybe yourself or clubmates). The reality is that an U20 game is certainly not refective of "the level they are going to be representing the county" at U.21. Representing your county at U.21 means coming up against other U.21s - men & not boys - big physical players who can and will mix it with the best.  Im not surprised that the U.21 selectors have apparently ignored the U.20 competition - the mix of ages, standards, conditions etc etc would not be a good combination on which to base a selection judgement. If you're good enough, irrespective of who you are, you will make the team - I would doubt very much if the management are out to pick anything other than the best team.

[Maiden1]

Fellas, Wee Pete has seen every club in Divisions I and II over the past few years with An Riocht. What he saw there would always be far more useful to him than what he sees in a trial between players who have never played together before, in crap winter conditions. You might ask what the point in a trial is? Well, a lot of the time the purpose is so that previously established players can play themselves out of contention rather than the other way around.

On top of that, he knows everyone in Down football, he knows whose opinions to trust and whose to ignore. Instead of getting your knickers in a twist over your clubmates, start naming players who should be on the panel (and not just to make up the numbers), and why they should be in the panel. I saw every player in Division I last year and can't think of any shocking ommissions, not even close.

One fella who should be in on it your man Johnston from Tullylish, but by and large it's the right squad.

[b]This make no sense at all. Surely it would be more beneficial to see these lads competing at the level they are gonna be representing the county. Does this also suggest that you must play for a Div 1 or 2 club in order to represent your county??

[/b][/b]

I dont understand where you are going with this. I assume by "these lads" you are referring to those who were playing in the U20 series whom you think should be on the U.21 panel but who were not selected (maybe yourself or clubmates). The reality is that an U20 game is certainly not refective of "the level they are going to be representing the county" at U.21. Representing your county at U.21 means coming up against other U.21s - men & not boys - big physical players who can and will mix it with the best.  Im not surprised that the U.21 selectors have apparently ignored the U.20 competition - the mix of ages, standards, conditions etc etc would not be a good combination on which to base a selection judgement. If you're good enough, irrespective of who you are, you will make the team - I would doubt very much if the management are out to pick anything other than the best team.

If someone gets overlooked in the trials for whatever reason and then cleans out someone who is on the team in the county final then that is 2 players to look at, the player not on the team and the player that is picked on the team.  A manager watching a big match like a county final will learn a lot about there players from a game like this e.g.  who hid when the going got tough or steps up and excelled, might be useful information if 2 points down against Tyrone with 15 minutes to go.

[eyeswideopen]

I think my original point has been completely missed. I was suggesting that it would serve the selection team better to watch the games in the U20 competition rather than see a bunch of stranger attempt to impress during a trial where very often players do not display any teamwork and bring fellow club mates into the game. Resulting in not everyone getting an equal chance.

[T O Hare]

Lads the Mayobridge dinner dance tonight, predict our senior and minor players of the year and the winner recieved a signed photo of myself and a goodie bag

[bridgegael]

Lads the Mayobridge dinner dance tonight, predict our senior and minor players of the year and the winner recieved a signed photo of myself and a goodie bag

sure you'll prob not know til tomorrow who got what if last year is anything to go by

senior- gavin barry
minor-  shane mac

ya can keep your photo but i'll take the goodie bag

[T O Hare]

Lads the Mayobridge dinner dance tonight, predict our senior and minor players of the year and the winner recieved a signed photo of myself and a goodie bag

sure you'll prob not know til tomorrow who got what if last year is anything to go by

senior- gavin barry
minor-  shane mac

ya can keep your photo but i'll take the goodie bag

Last year was a lesson, No wine tonight!!!!!!!