Down Club Hurling & Football

[Goats Do Shave]

Is Coulter & Gordon dropped from the Down panel for indiscipline??

....Or is this lies?

I find it hard to believe, though it came from a Down man! 

[Mourne Rover]

Yesterday was a grim experience at Newcastle, and would probably have to go down as among our five worst performances of the last 20 years. I was challenged on the way home by an equally depressed elderly Down fan to come up with something positive from the display, and I could not manage it.

However, having thought about it, I will name a team for the trip to Cross more in hope than expectation. I will stick to the present squad, with one exception, leave out all the u21s and assume that no one else is departing.

Goalkeeper is not a problem, as Connell, McVeigh and even McAllister will not let anyone down. The full back line is among our weakest, so, although he is probably too small to play there in the championship, Dan McCartan will have to be in the middle for this game. He showed plenty of leadership for Queen's and will get stuck in from the start. If they are both fit, McGuigan and Cole are the best bets for the corner.

Our half-back line had been doing OK in the league, until it collapsed in the last quarter against Laois. I would still give Murtagh, Rooney and Clarke another chance, but I think it's fairly clear that we need a seventh defender. The best man for the job is Alan Molloy, and he should come straight back into the team.

Our midfield was also wiped out on Sunday, so, if that happens again, there is not much point in leaving Benny up front. I would try him at midfield with McCrickard, who has not convinced in the past but was the only player who looked capable of regularly winning possession against Laois. Lynch would be a little unlucky to miss out, but he lacks the pace required at this level.

Carr must be centre forward, with Sexton and McGovern on either side.   Hughes is obviously one of our two full forwards, and, with some reservations, Gordon is the other. He has to come good eventually, and he scored an excellent goal in his last game in Cross.

Although Armagh are struggling as well, they will still be strong favourites against us. I can't remember beating them in a competitive match for over a decade, but, regardless of the result, we need a display which will put some pride back in our jersey.

[No1]

  It's too depressing to talk about Sunday past.

  However, a lot of Down supporters on here seem to be convinced that Dan Gordon "has to come good".  Why?  For me he has been the most frustrating player to watch in the last 3 years. 

Moreso than Liam Doyle and that's saying something!

[Brick Tamlin]

couldnt agree more with you there, its actually nearly as depressing as Sligo and i mean that.or maybe its just me

[spiritof91and94]

The Down Team spent 5+ hours on Sunday 'trekking' Slieve Donard. I mean am I missing the point here - what to hell is that all about?
Never mind yesterdays terrible weather conditions, we are rooted to the bottom of 1B with 1 pt from 3 games and the players are taken for a walk!!!

And I got hammered last week for questioning why a trek in the mournes was the right thing for Down a week before a very important game - i have been vindicated at least!!

[No1]

Well as long as you are right and the team are still shite, that's the main thing isn't it?

[Brick Tamlin]

thats it, nail on the head spirit as usual. We are shite becasue they went up the mournes last weekend.Now why didnt i think of that one.

[behind the wire]

right lads what about a break from depressing ourselves thinking about past performances, wat about putting forward a few ideas as to how we could improve gaa within our county.

does anyone think it would be possible to run a hurling tournamnet simply for football clubs? i.e. just to try to get more people playing and maybe they would get an interest. i come from an all football club but i know there are a few boys with a good interest in hurling and have played a bit in the past. sounds crazy but would anyone here be in support of something like that? any other ideas how to improve?

[spiritof91and94]

thats it, nail on the head spirit as usual. We are shite becasue they went up the mournes last weekend.Now why didnt i think of that one.

Obviously between yourself brick, no1 and your wee circle of friends you know everything and nobody else is entitled to an opinion on this thread so with this being the case is it any wonder so many threads run on this site. I would be as concerned with any football issue in Down as any of you lot and if I should want to raise any issues it is well within my rights to do so on GAABOARD.COM,

Down are in dire straits at the moment and all questions need answered/debated concerning the team..........

[thewobbler]

Spirit, there might be many problems in Down football at the moment, but let's be realistic, the lads going on a teambuilding exercise in the Mournes had about as much bearing on Sunday's result as what I ate for dinner on Saturday night.

[Dubh driocht]

Rover
Your team is near enough but Mickey Walsh should be a contender. Mc Govern will just be back from suspension and Half-forward is Mickey's best position- remember he was MOM in our last championship win.The auld lad I go to the matches with thinks Colly Mc Crickard is not up to county standard so your choice of him as a midfielder is puzzling.As they can only play 15 , even against Armagh, are you saying Molloy should line out as corner-forward and play half-back ?Anyway, obviously the Donard experience didn't  pay the expected dividends but fair play to Mussen for creative thinking- if we keep doing the same old things we will get the same old results. And comparing things to last year...look at the teams we beat in the first 4 games ( apart from Kildare) and look closely at the Galway game where it all fell apart -POR was found wanting again when it was an important game.

[Mourne Rover]

DD, it sounds as though your own `Donard experience' involves the bar rather than the mountain.McCrickard deserves the nod on Sunday week because he made the effort against Laois when others did not. I also seem to remember that he did OK at midfield against Derry in the qualifiers of 2005. He is probably at best a fringe player, but I think we need him against Armagh. If Molloy is to be our seventh defender, it makes no difference what number he wears. Walsh played his first county game for eight months against Laois, and would be best coming off the bench in Cross. It would not be a bad place for Ross and DJ to get their first win, although I would settle for a decent performance. 

[Pangurban]

Two major areas of concern lads
1. The state of club football in Down, where standards have markedly declined over the last two seasons. This impacts on the Co.team.
2. If as seems likely at the moment,we make the drop too Div.3, we are looking at a 2 year odyssey back to the top flight, assuming that the slower pace and lower standards in this Div. does not inhibit our revival. I fear in this situation we can only slip further.
Now is the time for radical and effective action. A commission should be established immediately to review the state of football within the county. To procrastinate and delay is foolish, lets bite the bullet now

[Colonel Cool]

Anybody at the hurling Board meeting last night? What happened about juvenile fixtures?

[Bacon]

The minor league will go ahead as listed but all others are being re-drawn. Minor league starts on 2nd April with 2 sections - Div 1 - 3 Ards clubs plus Liatroim, Ballela/Ballyvarley & Bredagh. Div 2 is made up of Carryduff, Kilclief, Warrenpoint, Shamrocks, Castlewellan and Clonduff.
There were some very weak u14 and u16 teams thrown in with the Ards and that will be changed.