Down Club Hurling & Football

[Lecale2]

Congratulations to Ross and the boys on winning division 3- mission accomplished - and dodgy umpire is half-way to payola

Is there not a Div 3 final to be played against Tipp?

[Mid Down Gael]

Congratulations to Ross and the boys on winning division 3- mission accomplished - and dodgy umpire is half-way to payola

Is there not a Div 3 final to be played against Tipp?

Yes there is. Promotion for Down and Tipp but a final to be played to decide winner and runner up.

[Onlooker]

After the Tipperary/Down game in Thurles, I posted that Down were my fancy for promotion, but I never dreamed that Tipp would go uo with them.  It has been a great league campaign for Tipp, even if a very much under strength team lost to Longford yesterday.  Promotion is the real prize for all teams in the Divs. 2, 3, & 4, but it is nice to have a final to look forward to without too much pressure.  It will be a great prep. game for the Championship.  Our target in Tipp was to avoid going back to Div 4.  We felt it would be hard, but thankfully things have improved greatly.  For the Championship wins over Limerick and Clare would give us a place in the Munster Final.   Maybe the year is going to get better.  Any idea where the Tipp/Down game will be played.  Could it be part of a double bill with Keery/Derry or Cork/Monaghan.  Hard enough to see it fitting in with a Sligo/Antrim game.

[Trevor Hill]

Down were poor in the first half yesterday and only for some very wayward shooting by Roscommon they could have been in big trouble by half time. Instead Down found themselves only a point at adrift at the break with points from McComiskey (2 1f), Coulter, a fisted point from the corner back Ciaran McGovern an Aidan Carr free and a point from Daniel Hughes. Down were allowing the Roscommon attack to walk through the middle of the field and Aidan Carr was very poor at full back. Carr looked a lot more comfortable when he was switched with Garvey after about 25 minutes. The Roscommon full forward who had scored 4 points in the first half was a lot quieter when he was marked by Garvey.
Down started the second half a lot better and opened up a 3 point lead with points from Carr (45), Coulter, Fegan, and a good score from John Boyle who had a very anonymous first half, but Down simply couldn't put this Roscommon team away and at times they took the wrong option, going for goal time and again, when a point was the easier and more obvious choice. Down finished the game with points from Hughes, McComiskey, Kearney who showed the forwards how to shoot from distance, another McComiskey free, points from Carr and Hughes and the final Down score of the game from Declan Rooney.
Down clung on at the end, though some credit must go to the defence for limiting Roscommon to long range shots against the wind in the second half. McGovern and Howard had decent games and Garvey did well when he was moved to full back. McVeigh didn't really have a save to make all afternoon, though his distribution was patchy. The Down half back line doesn't seem to have a clearly defined role to play and at times it is hard to know who is actally playing there. Both wing half forwards are being used as attacking half backs and indeed the centre half forward seems to have no specific role to play either, this wouldn't be so bad if we were playing good quality early ball in to the full forward line, but we seem to insist on taking too many hand passes and are far too slow at turning defence into attack. Coulter is wasted in the full forward line if he is not getting the right supply of ball. Murtagh was poor again yesterday, he seems to try to complicate everything he does, whereas if he kept it simple he would be a much better player. If I was picking the team for the championship, he would not be on it.
At the end of the day we have achieved promotion and that is what we set out to do, but that was a piss poor division and we will find the going a lot harder next year. On the plus side we achieved promotion without Dan Gordon and Ambrose for most of the league and we had a fair few other injuries which certainly hampered the league campaign, but I cant help thinking that there are better players sitting in the stand or staying at home for one reason or another.
We have a pretty meaningless game to come against Tipperary on Saturday 25th April and then Fermanagh in the championship. I still think that Down struggle against negative teams like Fermanagh, we simply cannot break their defence down, though Fermanagh have had a poor league and should be there for the taking.

[bridgegael]

Roscommon 0-15 Down 0-17

Just in from Roscommon. a good few supporters made the trip, probably more down supporters than roscommon.

A win is a win but thats about as positive as it gets. although promotion was obtained the performance still leaves alot to be desired especially considering the fact that todays opposition we poor. i dont like to criticise anyone who is obviously doing their best, but i think i can safely say that full back would not be aidan carr's best position. started very poorly and my only surprise was that ross didnt make changes earlier (he moved conor garvey to full back).

the team needs to cut out the silly mistakes before championship time. wrong options taken on several occasions and forwards were guilty of a few very bad misses. benny coulter missed with a fisted effort when a goal looked the more likely option and paul mccomiskey missed a free which he would score 99 times out of 100.

down always look dangerous when they play the early ball but it is only tried on the odd occasion. as always very slow to move the ball out of defence. there are usually about 6 players within 14 yards of the man holding the ball which usually results in alot of needless passing sideways.

roscommon looked like a poor outfit however had they been able to take some very easy chances which fell their way they could very well have won the game. they were also able to continually run through the middle of the down defence without a hit going in.

second half a bit better but the problem still remains regarding the size of the gap between the full forward line and the rest of the team, usually around 60 yards. when down turn over possession they need to break much quicker so as to make use of the forward threat.

on a positive note the long range point kicking was excellent. 0-17 is a good return. carr hughes and mccomiskey all fired over points from long range and stevie kearney took the score of the day with an effort from 50yards on the run.

glad to see another win but as i said the opposition was very poor.

referee didnt do alot to help either side, gave strange decisions both ways. roscommon had a man sent off following an off the ball incident.

p.s. hyde park is a big stadium but the facilities were terrible. the toilets were similar to what you would see in a third world country. newry is an absolute palace compared to that place.

[/b]

totally agree,  the place needs a massive facelift.  toilets were a disgrace for any ground never mind the county one!!

[Mourne Rover]

Getting promoted was absolutely essential, and, even though it was a below-average division and our form was mixed, we managed it with three points to spare - effectively four with scoring difference counted, so it was a decent outcome.

Our performances were only marginally better than last year, but the big improvement, at least according to the stastistics, was at the back. In 2008, we conceded a ludicrous 10-73 in the seven games. This time, it was only 5-72. We are still shipping too many goals, and we don't have a settled defence or an established full back, but we have to bank any progress.

Garvey apparently did a reasonable job when he was switched to no 3 in Roscommon,and Turley is supposed to be available again, so at least we have a couple of possible options.

The Fermanagh championship game is still at best a 50-50 call, which will probably come down to the match fitness of Ambrose and Dan, but we are not without hope.

[Trevor Hill]

Allianz GAA Football National League Roinn 3 Final
Sat 25th April
Final: Down V Tipperary
venue:Pearse Park, Longford, time:6 30 pm, (Ref:TBC) TG4 (Live)
In the event of a draw at the end of normal time, extra time will be played

Edited to add, this is a "double header" with Antrim v Sligo at 4.30pm

[johnneycool]

Word filtering through on the grapevine is that the hurling squad had a session with a sports psychologist the night before they played Carlow and a lot of negativity was directed at the manager.

For the life of me I cannot understand the 'benefit' these individuals bring to a team plus I think it's the easy option to berate the manager when a lot of the players just aren't up to the task. It isn't the manager who goes out the next day and doesn't mark his man or doesn't bother his hole to turn up to some of the training sessions.

now jingo has his faults but it's more to do with some of this 'support' staff and his strange expenses but some of his coaching staff are second to none in the north and highly rated by some of the better and dedicated hurlers on the team plus no one else wants the job, well anyone in their right mind that is.

some of the players need to get thier heads out of their holes in terms of their own abilities.

[dundrumite]

Word filtering through on the grapevine is that the hurling squad had a session with a sports psychologist the night before they played Carlow and a lot of negativity was directed at the manager.

For the life of me I cannot understand the 'benefit' these individuals bring to a team plus I think it's the easy option to berate the manager when a lot of the players just aren't up to the task. It isn't the manager who goes out the next day and doesn't mark his man or doesn't bother his hole to turn up to some of the training sessions.

now jingo has his faults but it's more to do with some of this 'support' staff and his strange expenses but some of his coaching staff are second to none in the north and highly rated by some of the better and dedicated hurlers on the team plus no one else wants the job, well anyone in their right mind that is.

some of the players need to get thier heads out of their holes in terms of their own abilities.

If used properly over the course of a season they can be very beneficial to teams in terms of goal setting, enhancing confidence and counteracting anxiety amongst other areas. The difference between athletes at the top level of sport where physiologically they are very similarly matched is often who has the stronger mental ability. However, as a one off session or a magical solution it can have a negative effect.

[Forgot me Boots]

Congratulations to Ross and the boys on winning division 3- mission accomplished - and dodgy umpire is half-way to payola[/b]

  What does the term payola mean?

It is a Spanish fish type soup

what is the craic with the word Payola? are you waiting on the Ulster for a double DD, do they have to beat Tipp first or do the bookies pay out as they finished top of the table? are you and Dodgy Umpire halfers on the bet?

[downman]

does anyone know if the under 21 final will be on 5 fm?

[Forgot me Boots]

does anyone know if the under 21 final will be on 5 fm?

Its not on their schd Downman

7.00pm – 9.00pm
The Country Collection
Susan McCann, Wes Piggot & Big O

    View Susans Blog
   
    View Bio O DJ Blog
   

[DownFanatic]

Word filtering through on the grapevine is that the hurling squad had a session with a sports psychologist the night before they played Carlow and a lot of negativity was directed at the manager.

For the life of me I cannot understand the 'benefit' these individuals bring to a team plus I think it's the easy option to berate the manager when a lot of the players just aren't up to the task. It isn't the manager who goes out the next day and doesn't mark his man or doesn't bother his hole to turn up to some of the training sessions.

now jingo has his faults but it's more to do with some of this 'support' staff and his strange expenses but some of his coaching staff are second to none in the north and highly rated by some of the better and dedicated hurlers on the team plus no one else wants the job, well anyone in their right mind that is.

some of the players need to get thier heads out of their holes in terms of their own abilities.

If used properly over the course of a season they can be very beneficial to teams in terms of goal setting, enhancing confidence and counteracting anxiety amongst other areas. The difference between athletes at the top level of sport where physiologically they are very similarly matched is often who has the stronger mental ability. However, as a one off session or a magical solution it can have a negative effect.

Spoken like a true sports scientist 

[DownFanatic]

Down SFL Division 1

Team 1 Team 2 Venue Date Time Referee Comment
Warrenpoint  Mayobridge  Warrenpoint 16/04/2009 19:00 Jim Burns Round 1 
Clonduff  Castlewellan  Clonduff 17/04/2009 19:00 Brendan Rice Round 1 
Saval  Loughinisland  Saval 17/04/2009 19:00 Ned Morgan Round 1 
Longstone  Liatriom  Longstone 17/04/2009 19:00 Con Reynolds Round 1 
Burren  Bryansford  Burren 17/04/2009 19:00 Declan Moore Round 1 
Rostrevor  Kilcoo  Rostrevor 17/04/2009 19:00 Neill Cousins Round 1 
Castlewellan  Saval  Castlewellan 20/04/2009 19:00 Eamon Mc Elroy Round 2 
Loughinisland  Clonduff  Loughinisland 20/04/2009 19:00 Martin Rawlinson Round 2 
Liatriom  Burren  Liatriom 20/04/2009 19:00 Gavin Corrigan Round 2 
Bryansford  Longstone  Bryansford 20/04/2009 19:00 Gabriel Tummelty Round 2 
Kilcoo  Mayobridge  Kilcoo 20/04/2009 19:00 Damien Laverty Round 2 
Warrenpoint  Rostrevor  Warrenpoint 20/04/2009 19:00 Seamus O Hanlon Round 2 


Down SFL Division 2

Team 1 Team 2 Venue Date Time Referee Comment
Darragh Cross  Clann na Banna  Darragh Cross 17/04/2009 19:00 Alan Grant Round 1 
Shamrocks  Kilclief  Shamrocks 17/04/2009 19:00 Leo Smith Round 1 
Downpatrick  Annaclone  Downpatrick 17/04/2009 19:00 Eamon Mc Elroy Round 1 
Atticall  Ballymartin  Atticall 17/04/2009 19:00 Peter Brannigan Round 1 
Carryduff  An Riocht  Carryduff 17/04/2009 19:00 Mark Lynch Round 1 
Ballyholland  Glasdrumman  Ballyholland 17/04/2009 19:00 Barry Andrews Round 1 
Clann na Banna  Shamrocks  Clann na Banna 20/04/2009 19:00 Hugh Pat McCusker Round 2 
Kilclief  Darragh Cross  Kilclief 20/04/2009 19:00 Mickey Curran Round 2 
Annaclone  Atticall  Annaclone 20/04/2009 19:00 Liam Morgan Round 2 
Ballymartin  Downpatrick  Ballymartin 20/04/2009 19:00 Sean Flynn Round 2 
An Riocht  Ballyholland  An Riocht 20/04/2009 19:00 Eugene O Hare Round 2 
Glasdrumman  Carryduff  Glasdrumman 20/04/2009 19:00 Michael Devlin Round 2 


Down SFL Division 3

Team 1 Team 2 Venue Date Time Referee Comment
Dundrum  Tullylish  Dundrum 17/04/2009 19:00 Paul Brownlee Round 1 
Ardglass  Bredagh  Ardglass 17/04/2009 19:00 Ciaran Brannigan Round 1 
Drumaness  Saul  Drumaness 17/04/2009 19:00 Shane Lowey Round 1 
St Pauls  Aghaderg  St Pauls 17/04/2009 19:00 Eamon Mulvenna Round 1 
Glenn  Teconnaught  Glenn 17/04/2009 19:00 Colm Broderick Round 1 
St Johns  Drumgath  St Johns 17/04/2009 19:00 John Killen Round 1 
Tullylish  Ardglass  Tullylish 20/04/2009 19:00 David Carr Round 2 
Bredagh  Dundrum  Bredagh 20/04/2009 19:00 Paul Gelston Round 2 
Saul  St Pauls  Saul 20/04/2009 19:00 P D Doyle Round 2 
Aghaderg  Drumaness  Aghaderg 20/04/2009 19:00 PJ Cunningham Round 2 
Teconnaught  St Johns  Teconnaught 20/04/2009 19:00 Oliver Burke Round 2 
Drumgath  Glenn  Drumgath 20/04/2009 19:00 Pat McDade Round 2 


Down SFL Division 4

Team 1 Team 2 Venue Date Time Referee Comment
St Michaels  Aughlisnafin  St Michaels 17/04/2009 19:00 Michael Cranney Round 1 
Ballykinlar  Bright  Ballykinlar 17/04/2009 19:00 Gerard Brannigan St Johns Round 1 
Dromara  Mitchels  Dromara 17/04/2009 19:00 John Mc Mullan Round 1 
Mitchels  St John Bosco  Mitchels 20/04/2009 19:00 Declan Ryan Round 2 
Bright  Dromara  Bright 20/04/2009 19:00 Peter O Reilly Round 2 
Aughlisnafin  Ballykinlar  Aughlisnafin 20/04/2009 19:00 Ned Morgan Round 2

[downman]

cheers forget me. il just sit patiently and wait for the result. has the makings of a cracking game