Down Club Hurling & Football

[Brick Tamlin]

thanks, now im clear on that, glad ye cleared that up for me.

[johnneycool]

No1 I've been away a while, what did Mr Bell say about the school of hurling which was to be set up in Kilclief all those years ago?

I've also heard he's been undermining the new hurling management already as he wants them out. Allegedly the hurlers had a training session the other saturday with Paudie Butler and they had next to no sloithars to train with and had to borrow some off Ballygalget even when the sloithars were requested over a month ago as the guy who requested them printed out the email he sent to Seamus Walsh, Kevin Bell and HJ Harper after getting a bit of grief from the players.

Rumour has it that former Tipp player Joe Hayes lives in and around Rostrevor and Mr Bell wants him to take control.

[off the laces]

Good to have you back Johnnycool, i read in the paper the county board are making the hurlers get a bus down to most of their matches rather than put them up for a night in a hotel. Goes to show all the talk about promoting hurling is just that TALK!!!!

[johnneycool]

Good to have you back Johnnycool, i read in the paper the county board are making the hurlers get a bus down to most of their matches rather than put them up for a night in a hotel. Goes to show all the talk about promoting hurling is just that TALK!!!!

I think that the management need to hold their hands up to the fiasco in Tullamore at the weekend in fairness. They didn't give Seamus Walsh enough time to organise hotel accommodation and only informed him of their intentions to travel on the saturday week prior to the game. Gerard Coulter was never good at organising anything and he really needs to get someone in to take on all this stuff. A lot of the times the players aren't even sure where the training is taking place until that afternoon which isn't good enough although it's slighly understandable at this time of year due to the unavailability of pitches.

[No1]

   The county board bought a site from Kilclief to develop as centre for hurling about 7 years back.  They never developed the site and gave no money whatsoever towards development of any sort. 

  Mr Bell stated that the site was sold back to Kilclief.  It was not.   

  Despite repeated attempts by the Kilclief committee to discuss the possibility of buying the site back (so we could start to develop it in a manner we saw fit) The county board have not met with club reps and have made no effort to resolve the situation. 

  It may well be that Mr Bell was unaware of the situation and his county board colleagues forgot to inform him that the position had not changed one iota since he was last in the chair.

  On a completely unrelated note, the site at Kilclief that is owned by the county board would be worth an absolute fortune if a property developer wanted to buy it.

[johnneycool]

Where is this site in relation to your current pitch No 001?

[No1]

  Behind the changing rooms adjacent to our main pitch.  We have installed floodlights and have been using it as a traning pitch but we won't be doing anymore until we officially own it.

[johnneycool]

I didn't think that was full size, is it?

[No1]

It is not at present but the potential is there for a re-laid full size pitch.

[behind the wire]

any more word of the transfer rumours?

[DownFanatic]

In regards to transfer rumours it is 100% true that Peter McKenna (Saul) and Paul Holland (Saul) are looking to move to Downpatrick. I cant see Michael Magee (Ardglass) going. He's got too many family connections associated with the Ardglass club. Young BJ McMenamin has requested a move to Bright from Downpatrick while Mark Stitt has returned to play for the Killough club this year.
I heard also at the weekend that Niall Mulholland is going to return to Teconnaught as the Annacloy club blocked his transfer as stupidly he put his home address (which is in Teconnaught) on the transfer form. I can also discount the rumour that Padraig Mageean (Darragh Cross) is going to Loughinisland. This came from the man himself.
On the managerial front I hear that Mark Donegan (formerly Annaclone manager) has joined forces with Tom Potter at Glasdrumman. Just one question: is Stephen Kearney still playing for Mitchels this year?

[behind the wire]

cheers down fanatic. glad to hear magee and mulholland arent transfering, played against both this year and both are cracking players, especially magee, he'll be one for ross to look out for in the near future. i hate transfers between neighbouring clubs, but i can see why magee might want to, he'll achieve very little as a gaelic footballer with ardglass.

as regards kearney, i heard a rumour, and i cant confirm this, that he is transfering to saval, as is mark rooney from bosco. cant confirm this though.

[spiritof91and94]

Mark Donegan is assisting Dan Rice with Bryansford Minors this season and also will be coaching Bryansford Underage Ladies teams, that his daughter plays for. Not bad input for a former Castlewellan man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[amallon]

Anyone hear anything about the new Training and Logistics Van the Down Seniors have sponsored by Autoline Insurance? 

[Brick Tamlin]

Surgery rules Doyle out for three months
07 March 2007


Down attacker Liam Doyle will be sidelined for up to three months after undergoing surgery on a troublesome ankle injury in England at the weekend.

It means that the Liatroim star will miss the remainder of the National League and the Mourne County's Ulster championship opener against Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park on May 13.

Surgeons repaired a long-standing ankle ligament problem which Doyle sustained while playing for his club last October. The player was advised at the time that intensive rehabilitation would solve the problem, but the process proved slower than anticipated.

"A specialist in England told me that an operation was the only cure," he said.

"It was the quickest way to get back. It was painful when I ran, but when I strapped it up it wasn't too bad. After the plaster comes off, it will be all systems go to get the ankle built up."