Down Club Hurling & Football

[dodgy umpire]

Refereed a minor game of ours two years ago and had a dispute with one of our players then who also played today, seemed to have remembered him and ignored the said player being struck in the face right infront of him, as well as being pulled to the ground off the ball before that. Also gave a line ball that was not out resulting in a vital Downpatrick score.
Why did they decide to change the rule on rolling subs today, given it had been in place for the whole competition?

[Dubh driocht]

Dodgy, on a different subject, who were you supporting last night at the marshes ?

[dodgy umpire]

Dodgy, on a different subject, who were you supporting last night at the marshes ?

An Dun, with the hope of Owen putting in a good performance for Queens.

[Dubh driocht]

The right answer.

[DownFanatic]

Thats a very encouraging win for Downpatrick today. A good few of the players on that team have been playing for the RGU Seniors over the past couple of years and that experience in Senior football has probably edged them home.

Bredagh have been fiercely competitive this past 6 or 7 years in East Down and I would of thought that we would have seen some of these players making a mark on their Senior team this past couple of years.

Maybe a Bredagh poster could enlighten me: where are the majority of players going when they come out of Minor/U-20's?

This is a personal opinion and may not be received well but I do feel that if the flow of Derry ex-pats had of been stemmed over the past few years then Bredagh Seniors would be in a much better position than they are now.

On many occasions I have gone to play Bredagh and have seen boys that Ive played against as Minors sitting on the bench while some mid thirty something who probably couldnt cut it with Slaughtneil Thirds, is hobbling about the pitch contributing very little.

Id say a lot of young players coming through the ranks have seen the influx of players coming into the Senior team from other clubs/counties and due to the buddy system that has been in place, they have just thrown in the towel.

In my opinion Bredagh's future lies in the youth that have been playing at a very high level in the underage ranks. By continually relying on players in the twilight of their career, Bredagh are severely restricting their chances of progress up through the Divisions when the potential to do so is clearly there.

Cue backlash...

[gorm agus bui]

Refereed a minor game of ours two years ago and had a dispute with one of our players then who also played today, seemed to have remembered him and ignored the said player being struck in the face right infront of him, as well as being pulled to the ground off the ball before that. Also gave a line ball that was not out resulting in a vital Downpatrick score.
Why did they decide to change the rule on rolling subs today, given it had been in place for the whole competition?

In fairness Downpatrick were the much better side today and 13 scores to 7 says it all really with a dodgy penalty thrown in
There's no love lost with this particular ref and the Hoops and one of their guys was saying to me that they cant remember the last time they won a championship game with him in charge
their free takers were very good when it mattered but John Connolly and Seam Bell were immense.
Connolly wins some unwinnable ball and draws a fantastic amount of fouls.
Nice to be able to call on a keeper of Nathan Curran's ability as a reserve at U 20 level

[dodgy umpire]

Refereed a minor game of ours two years ago and had a dispute with one of our players then who also played today, seemed to have remembered him and ignored the said player being struck in the face right infront of him, as well as being pulled to the ground off the ball before that. Also gave a line ball that was not out resulting in a vital Downpatrick score.
Why did they decide to change the rule on rolling subs today, given it had been in place for the whole competition?

In fairness Downpatrick were the much better side today and 13 scores to 7 says it all really with a dodgy penalty thrown in
There's no love lost with this particular ref and the Hoops and one of their guys was saying to me that they cant remember the last time they won a championship game with him in charge
their free takers were very good when it mattered but John Connolly and Seam Bell were immense.
Connolly wins some unwinnable ball and draws a fantastic amount of fouls.
Nice to be able to call on a keeper of Nathan Curran's ability as a reserve at U 20 level

The corner forward was clearly fouled and it was a penalty. What about the foot block that nothing was done about when Bredagh shot for goal in the first half? Would you deny that Downpatrick deserved (under the rules of the game) to have a man sent off for striking? Downpatrick are a very good side but to say they were "much better" than Bredagh today is laughable.

[gorm agus bui]

Refereed a minor game of ours two years ago and had a dispute with one of our players then who also played today, seemed to have remembered him and ignored the said player being struck in the face right infront of him, as well as being pulled to the ground off the ball before that. Also gave a line ball that was not out resulting in a vital Downpatrick score.
Why did they decide to change the rule on rolling subs today, given it had been in place for the whole competition?

In fairness Downpatrick were the much better side today and 13 scores to 7 says it all really with a dodgy penalty thrown in
There's no love lost with this particular ref and the Hoops and one of their guys was saying to me that they cant remember the last time they won a championship game with him in charge
their free takers were very good when it mattered but John Connolly and Seam Bell were immense.
Connolly wins some unwinnable ball and draws a fantastic amount of fouls.
Nice to be able to call on a keeper of Nathan Curran's ability as a reserve at U 20 level

The corner forward was clearly fouled and it was a penalty. What about the foot block that nothing was done about when Bredagh shot for goal in the first half? Would you deny that Downpatrick deserved (under the rules of the game) to have a man sent off for striking? Downpatrick are a very good side but to say they were "much better" than Bredagh today is laughable.

I'm not from Downpatrick and have no intention in getting involved in whataboutery. Just giving a neutral opinion.
Don't recall the strike you refer to but am not saying it dodn't happen, but equally there was ahead thrown by Bredagh no 7 mid 2nd half.
Connolly being constantly fouled never got  one yellow against the defenders.
Bredagh scored 3 times with a;stronger second half breeze and one of those was a penalty.
Downpatrick scored 7 against and 6 with the breeze
End off

[Square Ball]

No backlash DF, some good points raised.

last year a lot off the times we had 13 players on the field who came through the juvenile ranks at the club, and going by this year this will continue. about 8 years ago a major youth drive was launched and a lot of the boys who played today in the team are part of that drive. Yes we have been competitive at underage levels but that means nothing if they dint come through to the senior ranks  imho.

the age profile for the team has reduced over the last few years as the young players have arrived on the seen, and todays team contained 3 players from last years u16 team.

[In the Onion Bag]

No backlash DF, some good points raised.

last year a lot off the times we had 13 players on the field who came through the juvenile ranks at the club, and going by this year this will continue. about 8 years ago a major youth drive was launched and a lot of the boys who played today in the team are part of that drive. Yes we have been competitive at underage levels but that means nothing if they dint come through to the senior ranks  imho.

the age profile for the team has reduced over the last few years as the young players have arrived on the seen, and todays team contained 3 players from last years u16 team.

Down Fanatic. Have to agree with Sq Ball, you make several points that are right on the nail. In the 12 year past our young lads played gaelic just for something to do, now they are developing a serious GAA appreciation and with it a success mentality.  I feel certain this will produce dividends in the not too distant future. Local management and parental support are the key I believe and we have that in abundance at present.

In today's game Downpatrick were always stronger and I agree that Div 2 experience of several of the players made a real difference.  That said, we could have taken it but well done RGU they were the best today.

By the by, heard Calrke's 'Mark' was captured on video and is somewhere on the web - anybody got the link please?

[mournerambler]

No backlash DF, some good points raised.

last year a lot off the times we had 13 players on the field who came through the juvenile ranks at the club, and going by this year this will continue. about 8 years ago a major youth drive was launched and a lot of the boys who played today in the team are part of that drive. Yes we have been competitive at underage levels but that means nothing if they dint come through to the senior ranks  imho.

the age profile for the team has reduced over the last few years as the young players have arrived on the seen, and todays team contained 3 players from last years u16 team.

Down Fanatic. Have to agree with Sq Ball, you make several points that are right on the nail. In the 12 year past our young lads played gaelic just for something to do, now they are developing a serious GAA appreciation and with it a success mentality.  I feel certain this will produce dividends in the not too distant future. Local management and parental support are the key I believe and we have that in abundance at present.

In today's game Downpatrick were always stronger and I agree that Div 2 experience of several of the players made a real difference.  That said, we could have taken it but well done RGU they were the best today.

By the by, heard Calrke's 'Mark' was captured on video and is somewhere on the web - anybody got the link please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBt4HxxQ7Vw

[norabeag]

No backlash DF, some good points raised.

last year a lot off the times we had 13 players on the field who came through the juvenile ranks at the club, and going by this year this will continue. about 8 years ago a major youth drive was launched and a lot of the boys who played today in the team are part of that drive. Yes we have been competitive at underage levels but that means nothing if they dint come through to the senior ranks  imho.

the age profile for the team has reduced over the last few years as the young players have arrived on the seen, and todays team contained 3 players from last years u16 team.

Down Fanatic. Have to agree with Sq Ball, you make several points that are right on the nail. In the 12 year past our young lads played gaelic just for something to do, now they are developing a serious GAA appreciation and with it a success mentality.  I feel certain this will produce dividends in the not too distant future. Local management and parental support are the key I believe and we have that in abundance at present.

In today's agme Downpatrick were always stronger and I agree that Div 2 experience of several of the players made a real difference.  That said, we could have taken it but well done RGU they were the best today.

Was a good game today given the blustery conditions, and thought we did enough to deserve the win, especially in the last quarter.
Bredagh are definitely doing the right things by building up their underage structures as can be witnessed by their increasing competitiveness at all ages and this can only be good not just for the club but also for Down football in general.
No doubt the senior experience of the spine of RGU came to the fore, particularly Bell, Connolly, Damien Turley, Jarlath Brannigan and Collins, but must say I was impressed by two of the younger guys, Ryan Slevin and Declan Turley who must be pressing for a minor recognition this year.

[In the Onion Bag]

Cheers Rambler,
Clarke came from nowhere for that one.

[WhoAreYaWhoAreYa!]

No backlash DF, some good points raised.

last year a lot off the times we had 13 players on the field who came through the juvenile ranks at the club, and going by this year this will continue. about 8 years ago a major youth drive was launched and a lot of the boys who played today in the team are part of that drive. Yes we have been competitive at underage levels but that means nothing if they dint come through to the senior ranks  imho.

the age profile for the team has reduced over the last few years as the young players have arrived on the seen, and todays team contained 3 players from last years u16 team.

Down Fanatic. Have to agree with Sq Ball, you make several points that are right on the nail. In the 12 year past our young lads played gaelic just for something to do, now they are developing a serious GAA appreciation and with it a success mentality.  I feel certain this will produce dividends in the not too distant future. Local management and parental support are the key I believe and we have that in abundance at present.

In today's game Downpatrick were always stronger and I agree that Div 2 experience of several of the players made a real difference.  That said, we could have taken it but well done RGU they were the best today.

By the by, heard Calrke's 'Mark' was captured on video and is somewhere on the web - anybody got the link please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBt4HxxQ7Vw

Quality

[Mourne Rover]

We cannot place too much weight on McKenna Cup games in January, but it might be worth looking at the competition for places which is emerging in the Down squad. Against QUB, we used 20 players in all. Just as a talking point, here is another possible team entirely composed of those who were either unused subs last night, did not make the panel or were unavailable for various reasons.

Brendan McVeigh; Luke Howard, Declan Rooney, Martin Cole; Timmy Hanna, Liam Doyle, Paul Murphy; Dan Gordon, Kallum King; Conor Maginn, Michael Walsh, Aidan Carr; Ronan Sexton, Michael Magee, Ronan Murtagh.

It is not a bad line-up, and it does not include the likes of Michael McAllister, Joe Ireland and Colm Murney, who are all on Sigerson duty, and Peter Turley, Ciaran McGovern, Kevin Duffin and John Fegan, who all  played in the championship last summer.

Our difficulty is that we clearly have strength in depth for some positions, but our first choice defence still needs to take shape and we are still relying very heavily on a small number of key figures overall.