Down Club Hurling & Football

[alba2]

At last someone with a bit of sense on the board.  I firmy believe we will win on saturday and i agree with your sentiments regarding players on the Cork team.  just one point Kevin Mc Kernan is probably the best centre half back in Ireland right now and was excellent when it mattered last season for the county.  Winning a county championship with his club has only stood him in better stead for what lies ahead this year.  He makes the game look easy and with King in front of him to help assist in defensive duties - he has the ability to bomb forward at will.  He scores regular and will prob pop over a few on saturday evening..
Based on results at the weekend - the favourites are winning all games - exception Leitrim - but games are not good so far.  Hopefully saturday night will light up the championship...

[EagleLord]

Some posters really need to be realistic. Down were beat in div 3 and div 2 finals, won a mckenna cup all in recent years. Im not saying last years run was a fluke by any means, 'we' (is that ok for me to say?) were there on merit. But it came out of nowhere, some people really need to be realistic about our support, not every game is going to be a walk in the park. I am an eternal optimist, but I am not an idiot. What I have been reading on here reminds me of Down fans I always find myself beside at Matches. Idiots. People who call the ref a tr**p after he blows for the first foul of the day, against Down after 1 minute of play. People who shout 'Yas Kildare scumbags!' after they score. I mean, what is he basing that on?

[alba2]

Some posters really need to be realistic. Down were beat in div 3 and div 2 finals, won a mckenna cup all in recent years. Im not saying last years run was a fluke by any means, 'we' (is that ok for me to say?) were there on merit. But it came out of nowhere, some people really need to be realistic about our support, not every game is going to be a walk in the park. I am an eternal optimist, but I am not an idiot. What I have been reading on here reminds me of Down fans I always find myself beside at Matches. Idiots. People who call the ref a tr**p after he blows for the first foul of the day, against Down after 1 minute of play. People who shout 'Yas Kildare scumbags!' after they score. I mean, what is he basing that on?

Yes 'we' won Mc Kenna cup and were beaten in three finals in last few years - but we are on an upward curve in the recent past.  We need to milk it while it lasts because it will only last for a while.  Quite a few of our players are the same age and will retire at the same time and leave a massive void to be filled.  We need to enjoy being better than our neighbours and giving them some of the slagging they gave us for long enough in the last few seasons.  I do agree that some people get carried away at games shouting stuff at referees and other supporters - and i dont agree with it one little bit.  But i do think we should live for now and enjoy our monent in the sunshine - lord knows it snowed on us for long enough...

[Joe Umbrella (hey)]

Have to say i agree with Alba2 on his selection of our county team and what he says about the armagh players.  I have total respect for armagh and what they have done in football terms over the last ten years - but this currect crop of players simply are not good enough.  If we are being realistic - how many armagh players would get into the Cork team at the minute?? Probably Stevie Mc Donnald and maybe Jamie Clarke - if he bulked up a bit. Whereas from down - Dan Gordon could slot in anywhere for them, Kevin Mc Kernan would replace canty the player who stole his all star last year,  King would play in midfield as a defensive foil for Walsh, Marty, Benny, Danny Hughes would all feature in their forward line.. Armagh - like many other teams were on top for a long period - but their time has come to an end and the calibre of player in their panel now is poor.  From watching their national league performances esp in newry for the second year They have no desire, hunger or trust in each other the way the armagh of old had.  I honestly believe we will win and win easily on saturday evenin.  AN DUN ABU

Is there a virus on my computor or are people really posting this stuff?

[NP 76]

Although Mc Kernan had a great year last year people tend to forget that he was dropped at the start of the championship not ideal for the best chb in the country . I think he had an average enough league campaign and for alba to suggest his passing is unbelievable is pretty wrong as in my opinion he is either very good or very very bad . I posted before that as a chb your primary job is to defend kevin sometimes forgets this with his bombing forward

[alba2]

Although Mc Kernan had a great year last year people tend to forget that he was dropped at the start of the championship not ideal for the best chb in the country . I think he had an average enough league campaign and for alba to suggest his passing is unbelievable is pretty wrong as in my opinion he is either very good or very very bad . I posted before that as a chb your primary job is to defend kevin sometimes forgets this with his bombing forward

Dropped to wake him up a little and it worked a treat.. he never looked back after it though.  Defending is priority - yeah - but look back at the league and you will see that he had the most turnovers of all the defenders.. That speaks volumes in itself... And his passing - apart from the mayo game - is on the button every time... Best CHB in the country by a country mile...

[NP 76]

He also was the most turned over . Distrubition against Armagh in first half was brutal although he was excellent in second half very poor against Kerry marking space with no great effect . He does score some great points but misses quite a few because he shoots speculatively . Alot of the scores the dubs got that night were by running right through the centre of our defence . Dont get me wrong Kevin is a great lad but he has his faults like us all

[thewobbler]

Just a few thoughts of my own.

It's hard to see Paddy O'Rourke setting up a defensive system, it's not in his nature, so it should be a 15 v 15 set-up, or at worst, eight half-forwards/half-backs in the midfield area.

My main worry from a Down perspective is setting up a shield in front of McDonnell and Clarke. Our half-back line (any three from McKernan, Rooney, Garvey, Murphy (Doyle or Carr)) will more than fancy dominating their direct opponents and will try to carry the game to Armagh. But, we will always need one of them to stay put. McKernan showed he can do this more than capably against Kerry and Kildare, but his attacking instincts got the better of him vs Cork.

Gordon will definitely start on McDonnell, and I'd be more than confident of Big Dan in the air – and even if McDonnell wins a couple in that battle, he'll still have a 6' 4" wingspan to get around, so the goal threat should be kept reasonably light. Stevie though would eat him for breakfast if the ball is thrown in regularly low and hard, and that's where we need a pivot centre half-back en situ, minimising that option. 

I'd put Dan McCartan on Clarke. Clarke isn't that quick by county standards, but he's an intuitive, smart and talented player. He mightn't touch leather for 15 minutes at a time, so the man marking him will have to be first and foremost a defender, and have the right blend of concentration and confidence. I don't think that's Gerard McCartan just yet.

Midfield should be pretty even. Armagh are useful there, but are probably not mobile enough to panic Down through a siege of overlapping runs. Colgan's physical strength and positioning might actually be more useful in this arena than Fitzpatrick's athleticism, but I'm happy that the options are there to change it up if required.

I'd like Maginn against Kernan, where his work rate will be needed, but more importantly, continually giving Kernan something to think about on the back foot. Hughes might give him more to think about again, but I've a feeling those free-spirited two would basically give each other the freedom of the park if put in direct opposition.

Up top, I imagine Clarke will have the full attention of McKeever for most of the 70, so I'd prefer to see him out the field where McKeever might get more distracted from his duties.

Down actually have a similar run at full-forward as they do at full-back. If we can manage to exploit space in front of Donaghy, he can be found out by any of Coulter, McComiskey, Murtagh. I'd fancy though that Donaghy would win the aerial battles all day long.


While my prediction skills are rotten to the point that I'm a curse on teams, I do expect Down to win. Armagh's half-forward is just too weak for them to be considered as potential champions of anything, and we really need Down to put down a marker that we're not one-season wonders. Armagh should have the experience and desire to keep it tight for most of the match, but as long as we can keep the green flags to a minimum, sheer firepower means we should win.

[NP 76]

Good post wobbler . Gordon and Mc Donnell  will be a good battle but my fear of the treaded ball in front of Stevie will do us harm this is why it is very important that Mc Kernan defends in front of Dan to cut off the ball going in . James Colgan did this job perfectly last year and was one of the reasons that the defence tightened up so much as it didnt leave Benny Mc Ardle exposed at any time

[supersub]

Any other thoughts on McKernan being the best chb in the country? Did he not play wing back most of last season then get dropped and play last 3/4 games at 6? He is very good but not the best in the country in my opinion. Agree with posters concerns re his defending/shooting priorities.

[umpire]

Down were a surprised packet last year. This year the element of surprise has goine. So its might be more difficult this year for Down even if they are a better and more wiser team than last year.

Been following the Down team from 60's and every time we have great expection from Down team, we failed.

The 1969 team to me had great hope to win back to back All Ireland but we failed to Caven.

Let hope James put the right attitude in Down players and not reading too much in lots of nonsense on this board.

Armagh are quite capable to win this Sat in front of their home crowd.

Wishing Down all the very best for this Sat in both minor and Senior.

[whitegoodman]

The down half back line will be the same as last year, cant see Carr or Doyle getting anywhere near the team having not been seen in the half back line all year.

On McKernan being the best CHB in the country, lol that is funny, he wont even be the best CHB on the park on Saturday ffs.

Id prefer to put danny on kernan, he could destroy him. McGinn tracking back to the defence will suit Kernan down to the ground imo.

[bcarrier]

McKernan was the best CHB from August on in last years championship and deserved the all star. Whether he can reproduce that form consistently is open to question but Id be hopeful he can build on last season.

I expect Down to win.

[Overthebar!]

any of yous see paddy kielty on question of sport wearing his retro down jersey? fair play!

[Banana Man]

lads whats the craic with ticket allocation? i heard the clubs are getting 2 seating tickets and the rest are terracing, is that right??