USFC Round 1 : An Cabhan V An Dun

[Fear Boirche]

Yes, I've often thought he would make a better forward myself for the county team. Even as a wing-back, he enjoys the odd raid forward but whether we can afford him AND Murtagh on Sunday doing that is another matter. Where's Murtagh playing for Ballyholland, wobbler?

[bridgegael]

clarke was tried,  in half forward before and it def didnt work,  i personally would rarther see him playing half back.   i don't think there was much surprise in the team,   as someone said we need to win the midfield battle first and foremost.  get good early ball into our forwards who i think will cause too many problems for the cavan defence.  Down to win by 5.

[Fear Boirche]

I think Downey is a good selection. He will give us a good presence at FF. He'll probably form a two-man FF line with Benny which would stop Benny getting isolated so much. I've said all along that I think Cavan will win, but the more I think about, we have a decent chance if we can click from midfield up. Will be interested to see how McGovern gets on, think he deserves his chance in the team and is another scoring option.

[Dubh driocht]

Best team in the circumstances and delighted to see it on a Thursday- more like it Ross and DJ.

[Fear Boirche]

Think that probably had more to do with the publishers of the programme to be honest.

[Dubh driocht]

Doubt it. During the POR era not one Down team was available before the day. That really put the wind up the opposition!

[BallyhaiseMan]

what your full forward Packie Downey like?
Please tell me hes not massive ,fast and great under the high ball or we are f**ked.

[Pangurban]

Probably our best available team, and one which should be capable of asking serious questions of Cavan. If we win MF we will win the match

[anglocelt39]

Cavan are 4/7 with the books to win this one. Amazing in my less than optimistic opinion and I wonder if Benny has been tempted to have a serious flutter. What these odd's suggest to me is that the bookies reckon that either, (a) Down are in a serious state of shite and/or (b) Cavan's performance levels in lower reaches of the league are not a serious reflection of the team's ability.

I would be interested in the opinions of the Down posters on point (a). Regarding point (b) I can only comment on the basis of the  two games I saw in the flesh this season-our last two against Waterford and Roscommon. A massive improvement on those performances are needed if we are to get up on Sunday. Changes of substance since those games-Forde out of full back line which is a positive, Mulvey into midfield-the best option we had but a junior club footballer un-proven at this level-it's a big ask for the lad, Larry in at half forward-hmmmmmmmmmmmm, Pierson into full forward line instead of Gallagher which is a potential plus.

Taking a line on last years match is little help from our point of view-we were seriously mullered with injuries, morale was at an all time low after the Waterford debacle. I recall us putting out a number of forwards on the day that did not look fit to play in a Junior club team let alone. This year at least we seem to have an improvement on the injuries front with the possibility of a few blokes to come off the bench and help out (Brady/Lyng/Walsh).

So now I am totally bloody confused. What really worries me is if  people were to go back one year on the Cavan thread there was an almost unanimous view that the, ahem, Heroes of 97 had their day. We line out on Sunday with four of the very lads on board. We continue to have a situation where big, strong Cavan men of inter county football ability are as rare as rocking horse shite.

My conclusion from all this-the bookies are either un-informed (does not happen) or else they reckon Down are in a desperate state. Comments please from our Mourne friends.

Speaking as a Cavan man I am puzzled that Down are not pushing hard at the highest level. They have a level of underage success in the past 10 years that we can only dream of-two minor All Irelands, one Under 21 final-correct? Why has this not translated by now.

[TORGAEL]

Ballyhaise.......Packie Downey is a big[6'3],very quick,mobile player. he has a good all round game-he can be a real handful-whoever is marking him will have plenty to do.just doesnt have the experience of playing at this level..........but then how do you get this experience !

[charlie stubbs]

regarding boyle instead of carr,i was at the sigerson final when both where playing chf and carr hada far better game also heard boyle wasnt 2 hot in u21 though reports where he was one of jtowns best players this year.ps no different standard of football

[cavanmaniac]

Ballyhaise.......Packie Downey is a big[6'3],very quick,mobile player. he has a good all round game-he can be a real handful-whoever is marking him will have plenty to do.

Bugger.

[Mourne Rover]

Anglocelt39, there's no doubt Down would have hoped to do better with the products of our minor and u21 teams than has so far been the case. However, the 1999 AI winning minor side will give us five starters on Sunday - the entire half back line of John Clarke, Grant and Murtagh, plus Sexton and Coulter up front. If Walsh and Doyle were fully fit, that would be seven, which is a very high percentage to move up to senior intercounty from even an excellent minor side. It could only have happened because our senior team went into a steep decline from 1996 onwards, with the result that promising youngsters were regularly thrown in prematurely. Some disappeared immediately while others took much longer to develop their potential.

Hopefully, we will not make the same mistake with the 2005 equivalent. Downey (who, for the information of Ballyhaiseman, is indeed big, strong and reasonably fast) has made the first 15 on Sunday, Marty Clarke would be there if he was not on a professional contract in Australia and McComiskey is on the bench. That is plenty for now. Colgan and McKernan are certainly good enough for the squad and probably for the first team, but holding them back for a year will do no harm.

The u21s who made the AI final were not as talented overall as the minors from the same year, but Henry, Cunningham, McClean, Carr and McGovern are all in Sunday's squad and Rogers is injured.

Down should have won the Anglo-Celt in 2003, and the players probably concluded that they were bound to make a breakthrough over the next couple of years. The evidence is that they did not work hard enough, and we have since failed to get past the first round for three consecutive seasons.

We have a new management in place this time round, but we are facing a Cavan team which is probably just as desparate for a win as ourselves. I'm not at all convinced that both teams will line out as selected. McCabe may start at midfield. but he is highly unlikely to finish there. He could make an early switch to the square, with Walsh taking over in the centre. Both are forceful players, with Walsh having a bit of a reputation for mixing it. That is probably why Lynch is there for Down, as, although he is physically strong enough, there are doubts over his speed of both movement and thought.

I'm concerned about our half forward line's ability to get possession, and Aidan Burns might have been a decent option there to win the ball for others. However, he has lacked confidence so far and must not have impressed in training.

Cavan, even with a seriously understrength team, should have beaten us at Casement last year, and we completely threw away a game which was effectively in the bag at Breffni in 2004. This has been a largely unpredictable fixture in recent times, and luck will play a big part on Sunday. We will travel more in hope than expectation, but the funny thing is that the boost which will go to the winners on Sunday could easily take them to an Ulster final.

[Uladh]

Ballyhaise.......Packie Downey is a big[6'3],very quick,mobile player. he has a good all round game-he can be a real handful-whoever is marking him will have plenty to do.just doesnt have the experience of playing at this level..........but then how do you get this experience !

He ain't quick and he has a nice shiny pair of wing mirrors...

[BallyhaiseMan]

i cant see McCabe at midfield
he got destroyed at Midfield by Seamie O Neil and later Michael Finneran against Roscommon.
i could see him at Full Forward with Jayo making way and Nicko Walsh at midfield.
the Full Back has recently been a problem position for Down,Have you got that sorted with this lad Declan Rooney?