Down Club Hurling & Football

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31 DownFanatic
30 Mid Down Gael
30 souljaboy
29 Green + Gold
29 Johnnie99

[western exile]

Is it now mandatory to abuse every referee after every game?  I know that I am guilty of it sometimes... but some of the comments on here regarding the referee today are ridiculous.  He had a reasonably good game and did not make many mistakes.
It was not the referee's fault that Dan Gordon threw a deliberate elbow into an opponents face.  It was not the referee's fault that Aidan Brannigan threw a punch.  It was not the referee's fault that Conor O'Toole committed an unnecessary cardable offence at the start of the game thus needing to watch himself for the whole game. It was not the referee's fault that players got too up close and personal after the penalty save. etc. etc. etc.   Likewise, it was not the referee's fault that there were so many injuries and play had to be stopped. Player welfare is important too.

So I say, congratulations Mr. Tumelty on a job well done under the circumstances you had to deal with.

[western exile]

Of the game itself, it was a case of Loughinisland failing to win a game that was there for the taking after creating enough chances to do so.  But it was left to Kilcoo to take hold of a game in which they should have been beaten out of sight by the 45 minute mark. And that they did, with confidence.
Loughinisland appeared to lack the belief that they could win this even though they were the better team for most of the first 3 quarters.  Most of their supporters around me seemed like they came to Newry more in hope then in belief. Perhaps that feeling in the parish rubbed off on the team? I don't know.
But apart from the game, on the championship as a whole, Kilcoo deserve to be the 2009 Champions.  So congratulations to them!

[southdown]

Well done Kilcoo

[DaddyLongLegs]

Congrats to Kilcoo - its been an enviable year for the Club so very well done to all those who put the ground work in over the past number of years. Kilcoo have achieved what all Clubs up & down the country aspire to and yesterday's win by the Minors augers well for more of the same.

I do however feel that Kilcoo generally display a "win at all costs attitude" and its one that isn't pleasant to witness - diving, exaggerated reaction to contact, holding unto the ball unnecessarily when a free is awarded, kicking the ball away when a free is awarded, goalie making sure that, when in the lead, a replacement ball isnt available to kick out (by booting it to the sideline every time one appears), off the ball punching, nipping, kicking etc etc  - you can argue that this is all part of the game but is it? Is that what our great GAA is about?

But the worst example of this "win at all costs" attitude yesterday wasnt even on the field - it was the Kilcoo supporters in the stand who consistently & very loudly  jeered the hapless L'island free taker when he was lining up his frees but, even worse, cheered even more loudly when he missed - in fact an L'island miss was cheered equally as loudly as a Kilcoo score.

So Kilcoos off home with their trophies and are rightly proud of their sons and daughters who have brought so much to the Club this year. But I cant help feeling that their cold ruthless "win at ALL costs" approach  isnt totally in keeping with the ethos of Cuman Luthcleas Gael.

[Tomorrow is another day]

We do need to take a good long hard look at ourselves right across the county.

We are the GAA and proud of it - not Soccer and all the negative idiot behaviour that goes with it from supporters to players.

We can learn a lot from the respect and discipline in Rugby and try and reinstill these positive attributes to our games.

[6th sam]

Well done Kilcoo. It's been a long wait but don't enjoy it too much! The Donegal Champions are waiting for you.

Yes congratulations to Kilcoo. Well deserved over the course of the campaign, but L'island will be kicking themselves. They should have been out of site by halftime but lack of a free taker proved very expensive.
Dan almost anonymous today but that game was their for the taking.
Really cant see Kilcoo doing much damage in Ulster but here's hoping

Lastly poor Gabriel Tumelty, what can I say

Disagree completely.  Some of Dan's fielding and running with the ball was exceptional.  A good free taker and they would have been 5 or 6 up after 1/2 time.  Once Kilcoo got the first goal and got in front there was no stopping them.

Maybe a bit harsh of me to say anonymous but when his leadership was needed most in the last quarter he wasn't there.
I am a big fan and expected more

To be fair to Dan,he was involved in most of island's good work.I feel you can't underestimate the effect of missed frees on a team's psyche.To watch so many apparently easy frees missed,and then concede the McEvoy goal,any team would find it hard to lift themselves.Dan is one of the best fielders in Ireland,but how useful is this in a crowded midfield sector.Would like to see wee James try Dan on the edge of the square again,I feel his undoubted ball winning ability would be more effective if deployed at 14,on occasions.Dan's most productive period in a Down jersey was at 14 in 2003-surely worth a try.

Congrats to Kilcoo,they never panicked and all 19 players,played their part.The intelligence of Laverty ,craft of Anthony Devlin,and graft of the McEvoys were highlights on the day.Paul Devlin really seemed to be enjoying himself in the 2nd half.
To brand Kilcoo as cynical "win at all cost merchants" is unfair.They have superb footballers throughout the field,and while some players may cross the line at times-is that not the case with every team in Ireland.From where I was sitting some of the more cynical incidents   and lapses of discipline,were from Loughinisland.
Wish Kilcoo the best of luck v St Eunan's.As long as they don't overdo the celebrations,they will be hard to beat.
I wouldn't write off Loughinisland for the future,take away the missed frees,and their psychological effect,and they could have been champs.
Some of the criticism of Gabriel Tumelty's performance is unfair.He seemed to give the island  more frees,but to be fair that was probably because they had players prepared to take men on,in scoreable positions.Strictly speaking both penalties were correct decisions,and I thought he might have gone yellow as opposed to red in the Brannigan/Dan incident,but on county final day,with assessors breathing down his neck,he was always likely to err on the side of caution.The problem is not Gabriel's that Gaelic Football in Down particularly has almost become non-contact.

[Downboy]

I appreciate where you are coming from Daddy LL but to be fair to the Kilcoo players I dont think they behaved as badly yesterday as they had in earlier rounds. Surely the worst bit of "sportsmanship" came from the L'Island number 5 after the missed penalty??
As a few others have said I dont see Kilcoo getting much further. A decent team would have been out of sight with all the frees the full back line conceded.
The standard on the whole doesnt read well for Down football.

But ... A well organised colourful occasion and fair play to Kilcoo.

[Upperbann]

Heard at the match yesterday - Jerome Johnston is coming in with James in the Down set-up - any truth in this? Suppose it will even up the sides!!  Congratulations to Kilcoo by the way.

[13aside]

hardly the right time to put rugby on some sort of pedestal with its recent record of stamping,eye gouging and then there is the infamous 'Bloodgate' affair.........

[Joe Umbrella (hey)]

Well done to Kilcoo. A team I always hated playing against and a team we almost used to laugh at when my own club were picking up senior county tites, how times have changed! A brilliant underage structure, fantastic looking new facitiies still underconstruction and now a senior team that has delivered.

Although strangely I wanted my local rivals Loughinisland to win, I must applaud Kilcoo on a hard working and intelligent performance. I hope to see Laverty back in the Down squad soon, I thougth he tortured the island defence throughout and although he did'nt bring his shooting boots, he lead from the front brilliantly. I dont agree with those who say he is too small for snr county level because with his pace and brains if played as a corner forward the same ways he was yesterday, no defender no matter how big could deal with him. His intelligence and nastiness would be welcome to what I believe is a very 'nice' Down team.   

[redhandloo]

Well done to Kilcoo!  They have been knocking on the door for a long time!

[wobbller]

 Indeed well done on all fronts.Senior,Minor and U-16. I'll be watching to see what happens as regards
call-ups for the Senior County squad.

[southdown]

I see nothing wrong with "win at all costs".  Perhaps the County Side could learn something from Kilcoo.  "Win at all costs" seems to have worked well for Tyrone and Armagh over the last decade.  And it has certainly worked for Kilcoo.

[Upperbann]

Wobbller, on yesterdays performance i don't see anyone increasing thier chances of any senior county appearance in the near future and thats from both sides, although i'm sure Kilcoo won't give a toss about that at the minute.  As for C Laverty i'm still not convinved - yes he did win ball and there will be few in 'Down' that will cope with him (but other inter County defenders will not be that naive) also he was completely isolated up front - it is very easy to win ball when you have 40 yds of space in either direction infront of you for most of the game - i don't believe he scored from play! but with Jerome now involved there will probably be a few Kilcoo lads called up.