Down Club Hurling & Football

[EagleLord]

Thought Brannigan was Man of the Match tonight for me. Never put a foot wrong, disspossed his man at least 5times or forced him to overcarry, getting on the scoresheet was no more than he deserved!

[13aside]

thought Brannigan had a great game and played with more authority and McCartan also his best to date dont know what Mcardles value is just yet other than breaking the ball down although to be fair to him Aodhan is is an exceptional player in the modern game,to me doyle is far too slow and well off the pace-no time or space allowed now to pick off a pass-danny lifted the whole team and mooney added youthfulness and speed rarely seen in senior county teams today,first half was not good enough but there were signs in the second half and maybe the inclusion of Rafferty and Ambrose that things are ganiing a momentum -UP DOWN!!

[razor]

Even though Down had a convicing win. It did not tell the whole story.

The positives from last night were:
Good performances from Dan Gordon, Aidan Brannigan and Conor Laverty.
Danny Hughes coming back.
Monney played well when introduced.

Negatives were:
Marty Clarke did not want to know.
Kalum King was useless.
Lack of movement up front from the forwards
Short passing out of the defence
Substitutions did not make sense.

I dont want to be negative but Down will need to up their performance big style next Saturday in Croke Park or else they will get hammered by Cork.

[SHEEDY]

thought aiden brannigan had his best game for down last night rounding it of with a nice point. also good performances from big dan, gerard mc cartan, connor lavery and benny. great to see danny back and great to see so many down fans there cheering on the team.

[NP 76]

All in all a great 2nd half . We did what we had to do with great performances from Dan who won everything that went in high or low Brannigan who covered every blade of grass on the field and also from Gerald Mc Cartan who did nothing wrong . Glad to see the management not afraid to take Rooney off he hasnt been at his best thus far and Benny Mc Ardle will push him hard for his place next sat . Mid field did ok Mc Ardle is young but did ok . Big Kalum does alot of work that he doesnt always get praise for puts in alot of hits and always gets back to support the defence. Of the forwards Laverty was excellent as was Poland who got through alot of work . Although Marty was quiet he scored 1 - 04 not a bad contribution . We will be well fit for Cork and am quietly confident

[PAULD123]

Negatives were:
Marty Clarke did not want to know.
Kalum King was useless.
Lack of movement up front from the forwards
Short passing out of the defence
Substitutions did not make sense.

I dont want to be negative but Down will need to up their performance big style next Saturday in Croke Park or else they will get hammered by Cork.

Are you serious?

Marty Clarke never stopped running but he is now marked a lot more tightly than last year but still scored 1-04.

Kalum King tired but broke the ball really well to the foraging Down players. He wasn't brilliant but far from useless and certainly got the better of his man.

Lack of movement up front??? Were you watching Laverty and Coulter who ran their defence ragged and Mooney when he came on couldn't even be caught

Short passing out of defence allowed us to retain possession. I take it you would rather we punt hail Mary's up the pitch to isolated forwards who are in a 50-50 fight with bigger opponents? Before you complain about the strategy for moving ball out of defence perhaps you could tell me how many times our defenders turned over possession doing this?

Are you trying to tell me bringing on the fastest player in the team Mooney made no sense against a tiring defence? Mooney slamming a ball in the net made no sense? Bringing in Danny made no sense? giving him game time before Cork made no sense? His immediate impact at winning break ball made no sense? Bringing on Fitzpatrick for the tiring King made no sense? I thought you already disparaged King's performances? Taking off Benny when the game was won made no sense? Bringing on a fresh McComiskey who scored made no sense? Sorry, please tell me which substitution made no sense?

And if you don't want to be negative then don't be, we just beat Antrim by 12 points, hammered them.  Our full back line was superb. We racked up a score that hasn't been bettered by any team in the qualifiers at all. You can only beat what is front of you. More will be asked and more will be given. How about you give a team that has just won two matches by 8 points and 12 points a bit of a break?

Down will compete against Cork, let's not write them off yet? Cork didn't exactly hammer us in the All Ireland Final did they? And they didn't look like an unstoppable force against Kerry.

[here comes 6]

ive come to the conclusion that 99% of the people on these forums have not got a clue about football and just go to get out of the house.  Some of the commens on this and other forums are totally wrong and uncalled for and i think people just dont like saying good things about anybody.  Get behind the players and show them the support they deserve.   If theres negative comments on these forums its only human that players will either read or hear of them and this puts unneeded pressure on them.  Get behind the team and make them be proud of being on the Down team and let them relax, instead of them being slated all of the time..  By the way we will beat Cork by2

[DownFanatic]

Next set of ACFL fixtures will be Friday 29th of July AFAIK.

[razor]

Yes i am deadly serious.

Clarke was not good on Saturday night. He scored 1-2 out of his 1-4 in the last 20 mins.

Ok. I accept Kalum king is a nuisance in the middle of the field against teams but he was no good on Saturday night

When the defence were running out the lack of movement was evident from the Down forwards. Mooney is quick and Laverty won every ball kicked into him but Coulter hides behind the man looking the high one in when maybe he should move more.

I accept that the short passing out of defence allowed us to retain possession but it is a very very risky game and if it breaks down then we are fucked. I would rather we punt the ball up the pitch into space for the forwards. The number of times our defenders turned over possession doing this was at least 5 or 6 times

Ok. The introduction of mooney, hughes, mccomiskey and fitzpatrick were were good ideas but i think that the down management panicked and they brought off the wrong players apart from taking off Kalum King. The supporters around me were also giving off when wee James made these decisions. I can maybe understand giving Benny some rest but putting young mcardle from burren into midfield was the wrong move when your best midfielder at full back.

The scoreline on saturday night flattered down. Lets be honest because if you remember Antrim were leading by a point ten  minutes into the second half. I was at the Liatroim game as well and they were not good that day as well. Clare and Leitrim are division 4 sides and Antrim are a division 3 side so down should be beating these teams with a lot more ease. By the way there are plent of teams who scored that amount in this years championship. Laois, Meath and Limerick just to name a few.

I agree they will put up a challenge against cork. Cork should have beat us by far more in the All Ireland final. Kerry know how to play against cork though and down will have learned nothing from last september or in the league meeting this year which they stuffed.

[Mid Down Gael]

Croke Park double header for Cork-Down and Kildare-Derry

GAA headquarters will host two mouth watering All-Ireland SFC Qualifier Round 4 games on Saturday, including a repeat of last year's All-Ireland final.

The day gets underway with Kildare playing Derry at 4pm with Cork then playing Down at 6pm, with the second game to be televised live on TV3.

[5 Sams]

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/1807111507-venues-confirmed-for-football-qualifiers/

[PAULD123]

Yes i am deadly serious.

Clarke was not good on Saturday night. He scored 1-2 out of his 1-4 in the last 20 mins.

Ok. I accept Kalum king is a nuisance in the middle of the field against teams but he was no good on Saturday night

When the defence were running out the lack of movement was evident from the Down forwards. Mooney is quick and Laverty won every ball kicked into him but Coulter hides behind the man looking the high one in when maybe he should move more.

I accept that the short passing out of defence allowed us to retain possession but it is a very very risky game and if it breaks down then we are fucked. I would rather we punt the ball up the pitch into space for the forwards. The number of times our defenders turned over possession doing this was at least 5 or 6 times

Ok. The introduction of mooney, hughes, mccomiskey and fitzpatrick were were good ideas but i think that the down management panicked and they brought off the wrong players apart from taking off Kalum King. The supporters around me were also giving off when wee James made these decisions. I can maybe understand giving Benny some rest but putting young mcardle from burren into midfield was the wrong move when your best midfielder at full back.

The scoreline on saturday night flattered down. Lets be honest because if you remember Antrim were leading by a point ten  minutes into the second half. I was at the Liatroim game as well and they were not good that day as well. Clare and Leitrim are division 4 sides and Antrim are a division 3 side so down should be beating these teams with a lot more ease. By the way there are plent of teams who scored that amount in this years championship. Laois, Meath and Limerick just to name a few.

I agree they will put up a challenge against cork. Cork should have beat us by far more in the All Ireland final. Kerry know how to play against cork though and down will have learned nothing from last september or in the league meeting this year which they stuffed.

King did better than the man he was marking, therefore to say he was no good? What definition are you using?

Coulter is nursing an injury but still destroyed his man, what more do you want from him? He moved well enough to score two points and set up two goals, isn't that enough for you?

You accept short passing retains possession but you still don't want them to do it? That is just nonsensical, You want us to play risky balls long instead of retaining possession. Also if we only turned over possession 5-6 times, how many more would it have been from hopeful punts? And if we did turn over 5-6 times why weren't we "fcuked" 5-6 times? I don't remember any great disaster's in defence in fact our full back line has been praised for their efforts by everyone else

So you say the substitutions make no sense, now you say that bringing in Hughes, McComiskey, Mooney and Fitzpatrick were good ideas. You have to make up your mind, did it make sense or not? As for players coming off  - You already admit it was correct to give Coulter a rest, You don't like King so I can't see why you are complaining about him being removed. Liam Doyle was injured and took himself off, what makes no sense about that one? Did you really think Maginn was doing so well that it was wrong to take him off?  McComiskey came on for Rooney, again do you think Rooney was having a good game? Should someone else have come off before him? All the substitutions made perfect sense. McCardle wasn't a sub, he started the game. And why not? Is this not the sort of game where a little risk could be taken? The management are showing some vision for the future while still getting a victory for today. Incidentally McCardle had a better game than Rooney or Maginn. So which player was the wrong one to take off - under performing Rooney, under performing Maginn,  or injured Doyle?

So what if Antrim were a single point ahead in the second half. Football is a 70 minute game not a 40 minute game, games aren't won in the first 40 minutes (just ask Armagh minors) the better team is the team that performed over the sum of 70 minutes, yeah Antrim had a flurry but that happens in nearly all championship games. You don't empty the tank in the first half. Down played a 70 minute game and in the end cantered to a crushing victory.

I was wrong that no one has scored more in the qualifiers, Meath and Kildare have scored bigger totals but only Kildare have won by a bigger margin. So in 20 qualifiers so far we have just put up the second biggest winning margin.

Look it's simple enough, you are in fact being negative for negativity's sake. You are just complaining about things that if they were different you would complain about that too. If he hadn't made the subs you would complain that Mooney, McComiskey never got a chance. If we punted high balls in and lost possession you would complain about that. If Benny ran around like a chicken and tired himself out you would complain that he need to learn to time his runs. If they'd taken off anyone else you would have complained about that. If Marty Clarke only scores 7 points (4 from play) you complain about that, apparently he didn't score them at the right time for you, he is only any good if he scores in the first 50 minutes, I wasn't aware that scores in the last 20 don't count for anything!!!

And finally why the hell would you say Cork should have beaten us by far more? We should have been further clear of them in the first half. If Murphy hadn't come on and pole-axed Fitzpatrick they would have been in even more trouble. As for the end, Goulding scored three successive 45's, a rare feat and not one they could have won the game without. Our defence kept Cork to just 9 points from play (while we got 12), so how do you reckon they should have beat us by more, when they virtually never missed a free?

[RadioGAAGAA]

Yes i am deadly serious.

Shhhh! Ye'll have them thinking we're all eejits in Kilcoo!!

Yes, the scoreline flattered us - yes, some of the players you named have played better; but they weren't "useless" or "did not want to know".


Short passing from defence is good - quickly build some space for the defender to make a good accurate kick pass inside to the forward who knows to time the run to match it. That time spent short passing also allows a supporting runner from midfield/half forward to get up closer to the inside forwards to keep the move going.

[downjim]

Yes i am deadly serious.

Clarke was not good on Saturday night. He scored 1-2 out of his 1-4 in the last 20 mins.

Ok. I accept Kalum king is a nuisance in the middle of the field against teams but he was no good on Saturday night

When the defence were running out the lack of movement was evident from the Down forwards. Mooney is quick and Laverty won every ball kicked into him but Coulter hides behind the man looking the high one in when maybe he should move more.

I accept that the short passing out of defence allowed us to retain possession but it is a very very risky game and if it breaks down then we are fucked. I would rather we punt the ball up the pitch into space for the forwards. The number of times our defenders turned over possession doing this was at least 5 or 6 times

Ok. The introduction of mooney, hughes, mccomiskey and fitzpatrick were were good ideas but i think that the down management panicked and they brought off the wrong players apart from taking off Kalum King. The supporters around me were also giving off when wee James made these decisions. I can maybe understand giving Benny some rest but putting young mcardle from burren into midfield was the wrong move when your best midfielder at full back.

The scoreline on saturday night flattered down. Lets be honest because if you remember Antrim were leading by a point ten  minutes into the second half. I was at the Liatroim game as well and they were not good that day as well. Clare and Leitrim are division 4 sides and Antrim are a division 3 side so down should be beating these teams with a lot more ease. By the way there are plent of teams who scored that amount in this years championship. Laois, Meath and Limerick just to name a few.

I agree they will put up a challenge against cork. Cork should have beat us by far more in the All Ireland final. Kerry know how to play against cork though and down will have learned nothing from last september or in the league meeting this year which they stuffed.

I agree with you razor... King is unfit.. Anton struggles to get on the Burren team and i think we have  a better option in Alan Higgins.. Benny is like his cousin Robbie looking for the ball over the top and Garvey fouls for fun in the same way his manager Francie used to hit.. Why not put McKernan back to centre half.. Doyle adds no pace and wont start on Sat.. James need to get his lads to get the ball in early!!!

[BRIDGE LAD]

Its not Clown Jim again is it? You clueless twat! I bet you wouldnt say any of them comments to the aforementioned  faces, the four of them would take lumps out of you! Your actually being critical of Downs best player and Downs best defender! Alot of posters have stated they were glad to see Garvey back, and so what if he hits hard, someone has to lead our defence! Garvey was given the job of marking Antrims best player and kept him to one point, now i dont know what more you expect of him! Wee james and his team obviously thought he was doing ok or maybe didnt have faith in anyone else. McKernan is hot and cold, i hope the Allstar hasnt gone to his head cos he aint playing the way he did last year!

Hard to believe that Conor Laverty and Choc werent on the panel when Ross was in charge, two star performers the other night!

Is it true that Corks' Shields and Murphy are out?