Down Club Hurling & Football

[amallon]

Kilcoo the team to beat I reckon.  Bryansford will probably be their biggest threat and the rest are a long way behind at the minute.

[DownFanatic]

Kilcoo are my tip for the SFC. Saul would have to be highly fancied for the JFC. IFC is less clear. Annaclone, Ballymartin and Shamrocks will all fancy their chances. Kilclief are an outside bet.

[whitegoodman]

The way Burren are playing the stone have every chance of causing an upset.  The same would apply to Castlewellan imo.  There is usually an upset somewhere along the way and id say one of these 2 or both could be it.

Agree that it is kilcoo's to lose with Bryansford looking like the only team at the min capable of beating them.  Dont see bridge or burren being there.

[here comes 6]

all im going to say is i can see two predictions that everyone has made that will be threatened big time one of which is in the snr and one of which is int.   I hope im right

[umpire]

Ardtole

You need to reenter your selections again in Prediction League.

[spiritof91and94]

all im going to say is i can see two predictions that everyone has made that will be threatened big time one of which is in the snr and one of which is int.   I hope im right

put them up then...

[Mid Down Gael]

I see the East and South Down boards have fixed a full round of reserve league fixtures for this Sunday evening. Surely they could have realised this is championship weekend and put them back to some night during the week. The ACPRL fixtures wont be played on sunday which makes more sence to me. Many gaels will not only watch their own clubs in action but go to other championship ties. The Mayobridge v Saval and Burren V Longstone double header on sunday evening will be facinating ties for the neutral, Surely having divisional reserve fixtures at the same time will effect the possibility of this for many to attend and i suppose lessen the attendance.

[Minus15]

I would agree with Mid Down Gael. Not only will there be players wanting to watch the double header in newry, but most of the teams in the South Down league include players that also play for their Senior Teams and will be needed in the chamoionship.

[5 Sams]

Dont panic lads...switched now.

[Mid Down Gael]

Result from Senior championship Round 1

Rostrevor 1-11 Downpatrick 0-11

The hoops put up a great challange and where deprived a draw at the death with a goal bound effort being deflected for a 45.
Caolan Mooney kicked 0-3 for the reds while Sean Parr bagged 1-2.
John Connolly was outstanding for Downpatrick scoring 0-8 while Peter Turley and Kevin Gracey dominated midfield.
The reds will be relieved to come away with the victory in a game where the man in the middle was the most talked about.

[whitegoodman]

MDG, other than mooney did anyone stand out as possible county standard?

Has Parr improved enough to make an impact at county level?
Would Pete Turley be worth another look at FB or even CHB? Thought he did rightly under Ross and was always underrated.  The sort of tight no nonsense defender we could do with imo

[Dubh driocht]

WGM, Mooney was the class act on show although the reds did not use him properly IMO- if this is his last game for Rostrevor, I don't see them going much further. Sean Parr showed potential and Turley and Gracey were reasonable but not outstanding .Eugene O'Hare gave a fussy performance as ref and the umpires weren't a lot of help !

[redandblackareback]

This is a serious concern heading into the weekend and I feel that we will be unfortunately talking about it too often by next tuesday and that is the standard of officiating across the county.. I would seriously struggle to name a top 3. Possibly B Rice, K Trainor (Who has proved to be excellent) and maybe G Corrigan. Anyone at tonights game would probably agree.. Terrible!

[pauly2]

well i think terrible is a little too harsh in fairness.. i was standing listening to both sets of supporters shouting and roaring at the referee for every single thing he blew for... Their men were pulling, dragging, clamping their arms around their opponents, tackling from behind, persistent fouling in the tackle, persistent fouling off the ball when it was being played in... What is the referee supposed to do here... If he lets the advantage rule kick in - he is criticised if the play breaks down, if he dont let it kick in - he is criticised.  If he allows the pulling, and dragging thing to continue both on and off the ball - he gets criticised.  Every single aspect listed above is breaking the rules.  You may throw - ah but jaysus let common sense prevail - no - its breaking the rules and thats it.  If you continue to break them you get booked or sent off.  The players in this county are well aware of what the rules are and while clubs are partial to releasing some of their hard earned money to various managers and trainers - they would do well to actually coach the tackle and explain what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do in a game.  Training sessions usually end with a game - this is where the corrections should be made.  Stop the game if there is a genuine foul and explain why.  Maybe then people would get off referees backs and actually watch the game.  And for all the supporters of Mooney - he scored one hell of a point in the first half claiming the ball in front of the stand and hitting a 1 - 2 and putting it over the bar and his point in the second half was decent - but he should not have been on the pitch at this stage imo.  He persistently fouled in the first half and finally got booked - should have got his scond yellow card - but the referee did rostrevor a huge favour by not depleting them... but did the referee get any plaudits - na - only criticism....

[Brick Tamlin]

Pauly2, the powers that be in GAA headquarters need to actually define the 'tackle' properly before anyone can coach it to players effectively. Also the referees personal interpretation of the rules and tackle in particular vary from game to game, so all in all not an easy area to nail down properly.
For what its worth ive seen county players get way too much protection in club matches. I know sometimes they get targeted for special attention but there is a definite imbalance that exists.
Again, it might be harsh, but ye could count on yer hand the amount of decent refs in the county on one hand (maybe 3 fingers would do). 95% of them are absolutely terrible, unfit, dont know the rules and downright biased.
Anyone foresee any shocks or possible scares in the weekends ties ?