Down v Meath official thread

[goldenyears]

Carr trying to stay positive after defeat 

By Brendan Crossan 

THE manager's assessment. It was an easy opening question for the defeated manager. Ross Carr maintained Down were still in the game at half-time, but that too many unforced errors and wayward shooting cost had them dearly.

"At half-time we were still in the game because of a slight breeze," said Carr afterwards. "I thought possession-wise, we dominated the last 20 minutes. But we cannot be as reckless with our score-taking as we were, and we paid the penalty".

The questions started to get a little tougher. Your first year, Ross. Your assessment.

"It's moments like this that you definitely question yourself," said the Down manager. "But when we came into it, we felt it was going to be a long job. How long it's going to be only the people on board can determine that."

He added: "I still think we've made progress this year. Obviously, we didn't win a game in the National League and we didn't set the world alight in the Championship, and yet the teams that have beaten us – Monaghan and Meath – haven't thrashed us."

Raw materials, Ross. Does Down have enough to be challengers? The Clonduff clubman paused. He didn't want to drive the knife through the players he'd been building up all year. But the question called for a candid answer.

"I don't think we've the best panel of players in the country," he replied. "Obviously, we've deficiencies. I know our defence comes in for a lot of criticism, but in today's football, defence starts when you don't have the ball – no matter where you are on the field.

"I felt Meath got out of their defence too easily to launch attacks."

Meath manager Colm Coyle pointed to his side's defence as the key to their five-point victory.

"I thought defensively we were very good," said the former Meath player. "I didn't realise that Down only scored one point from play, so our defence was our foundation."

[corn02]

I can't believe that some people think Meath are a poor team. They have the forwards to do damage and could go further than people think this year. Hopefully anyway.

[bcarrier]

Well done to Meath . Also one of my favourite teams. Particulary grateful for giving us the 91 all ireland.

Where are all the ' bridge lads ?

[Leo]

I can't believe that some people think Meath are a poor team. They have the forwards to do damage and could go further than people think this year. Hopefully anyway.

Down are abysmal and Meath just about managed to beat them  not forgetting definitely peanlty not given for fould on Coulter and some Down near misses at end. Spirit of Fay and superb Moyles dispays kept meath afloat with occasional glimpses from Bray and Farrell. So, no, not a gooid Meath team. However, a kind draw in the next round will see Geraghty back and another shot at progress.

[corn02]

Leo, I feel if Meath needed to up the ante they certainly could of. The second half was as comfortable as you will see and if it wasn't for the fact Crawford went off with fifteen minutes still to go, Down probably would not have dominated the end proceddings.

[Jinxy]

I can't believe that some people think Meath are a poor team. They have the forwards to do damage and could go further than people think this year. Hopefully anyway.

Down are abysmal and Meath just about managed to beat them not forgetting definitely peanlty not given for fould on Coulter and some Down near misses at end. Spirit of Fay and superb Moyles dispays kept meath afloat with occasional glimpses from Bray and Farrell. So, no, not a gooid Meath team. However, a kind draw in the next round will see Geraghty back and another shot at progress.

Tyrone nearly lost to Fermanagh. Derry and Donegal beat Armagh. Leitrim nearly beat Donegal. Monaghan beat Derry. Mayo conceded 3 goals against Cavan. Sligo beat Galway. Not that many good teams in the top 10 if you were to base your opinion on their merits on their poorer games alone.

[goldenyears]

down posters slabbering about how poor meath are/were, should really shut up. its embarassing that after watching saturday's game some of you have the bottle to log on here and slag off meath.....!

[Brick Tamlin]

it was nearly as bad a sligo last year.
we were rank, absolutely crap, and yet we owned the ball for the last 20 mins and still couldnt put up any meaningful scores or threat.
Lets just call a spade a spade here..imo They were/are all crap apart from Clarke & Scullion and maybe Mc Veigh.

Scullion is a no-nonsense defender who rarely gives his man little or no space/time on the ball, he is always up his mans ar*e and just comes across as a guy who would die on the ball and always gives of his best, rarely looks disinterested or preoccupied with anything other than the task at hand. if only we had a few more players with his attitude and desire. Im no carryduff man, nor do i rate him highly as a "footballer" and ive seen him get skinned a few times at club level but what i do admire are his other qualities,(see above).

Clarke did little wrong for me, for a guy (like so many others) who is moved around more than often in the down team this last 3 yrs, he did simple things so well, he won ball in the air, layed it off to team mates and was (like scullion) tight on his man and won his individual battle.

Murtagh experiment is over - a disater waiting to happen, was skinned most of match and possibly should have released ball earlier to attack, if he wants to carry ball then play him in forward line (where he belongs) where resulting free kicks wont cost as much. an undoubted talent but saddened to see him made look so ordinary on saturday.

Most of our defence was a yard or two behind their men mostr of the game.
Question ; how often in 1st half especially did meath forwards win ball out in front uncontested and have time and space to turn, look up and pick a pass or hit a score (or wide in most cases)?..vey depressing to see no tackle or challenge of note.

Declan Rooney is a quite an average club player-outstanding by no means , but yet he is suddenly thrust into the limelight as captain and leader of the senior team in his full debut year. Maybe less pressure from captaincy role and a stint at wing half back would see a better return.

I hate to be personal on here and have tried not to get into slanging matches about individuals but im just calling it as i see it.
Kevin mc guigan has played in nearly every down match this year and still our management sees something that the rest of the county cant see. If he is a county standard corner back then my arse plays the banjo. again not questioning comittment or hunger the lad just doesnt have it. anyone notice how many times this year he has ended up on the wrong side of his man or his man has beaten him on the outside.

our forward line whether individually or collectively are not the most talentless bunch ever but by christ when are we going to have a set system of play with a set gameplan (excluding benny) where we can maximise potential from the attacking line. Every man should know his role, and should be carrying that role out to full potential. at the minute we are rudderless up front and seems to me that half of them dont want to shoot from distance or are looking to pass the ball when th shot is on.
Dont even want to comment on Coulter because its all been said before.

and again not wanting to harp on..i for one do not truly believe that our county senior panelists are leading the correct lifestyle required (or befitting semi-professional footballers) to compete or indeed conslidate with the top 15 teams in the country at the present time.
i also agree that the leagues need to be seriously looked at and revamped..

[Leo]

down posters slabbering about how poor meath are/were, should really shut up. its embarassing that after watching saturday's game some of you have the bottle to log on here and slag off meath.....!

Golden years with wool in your ears. No one is slagging off Meath. You have genuine Down fans trying to put a series of dreadful performances into a wider context and recognising that these defeats are not being inflicted by kerry, Cork or Tyrone but by average teams (like Meath) who honestly will not count come September. Take off the blinkers.

[Leo]

Brick Tamlin - now there's a name!
Agree on most points.

Have we lost the entire U21 team from two years ago?
Is there nobody in Castlewellan, Liatroim or Kilcoo who warrants a try instead of the same failures being rotated like deck chairs on the Titanic?

Hard to believe DJ - the essence of commitment and leadership - is associated with this abject outfit.

[goldenyears]

leo i didnt say you were slagging off meath, but you were talking rubbish when you called them a bad team. I dont think we are in any position to say whether they are a bad team or not having watched our own serve up that shite. lets wait for the rest of the summer to see just how bad meath really are.....i think rather than being bad, they were brought down to a level - our bad awful terrible level! remember they were but a kick away from beating dublin, so called all ireland contenders|!

[lecale3]

Can't disagree with what has been said by most Down fans - the quality isn't there.
But what annoyed me on Sat night was the obvious lack of an attacking game plan.
Meath had one - in the first half they isolated the ff line and once they got the ball they hit a diagonal pass out in front of the corner men, who had already started running. They got every pass.
The defence  - much criticised - did well enough, especially Scullion and Clarke. The forward line was clueless and leaderless. Benny should have been switched back to the ff line sooner. When our half backs got the ball they didn't know what to do with it - nobody moved, nobody knew where to move to - surely the managements fault if they hadn't been told - most of them don't have the class or wit of a Mickey Linden or James McCartan.
Totally depressed - we need to start from scratch again.
Well - not totally depressed at least the Orangemen got what was coming to them - 8 years of domination and one AI - don't make me laugh!!

[Fear Boirche]

I think it's too easy to say we just don't have the players. We've won two All-Ireland minor titles and got to an All-Ireland U21 final in the last eight years. I'd say lots of county's would be envious of that sort of talent at underage level. I believe the talent is there, the one thing that's missing is the hunger. I remember reading an interview with Ross Carr before the first Cavan game in the Sunday Times. He admits that when he started playing for the county, it took him a while to understand the seriousness of it. He also said it took players like Greg Blaney to put him in his place and teach him that he needed to get his attitude right.
That's what I think is wrong with the current panel. There is undoubted talent there, but too many of them are arsing about. The effort is always there in the Ulster Championship, but once they're out of that, they don't want to know in the Qualifiers. The Qualifiers should have been an ideal system for a transistional team like Down, but I think they have only beaten Carlow in the six years of the back door.
Talent-wise, there is little that can be added. We have missed Dan McCartan, Dee Rafferty and Liam Doyle from the defence and Martin Clarke would certainly be playing senior football had he not gone to Australia. James Colgan should be back next year and I think he is future captain material. Ross and DJ will have learned a lot from this year, but I don't think there will be wholesale changes for next year. I'd say about 8-10 of this year's regular starting 15 will be regulars next year, maybe some of the supporting cast will be change. Division Three is about our level, but the minimum requirement should be promotion next year.

[Fear Boirche]

Anyone know of a good sports psychologist?

What about Mr U R Dropped? He'd be a great motivator.

[Mourne Rover]

Fear Boirche, Down have managed the magnificent total of two wins in seven seasons of the qualifiers. We gave Armagh a bit of a scare in 01 before fading away, we were well beaten away to Longford in Pete McGrath's last game in 2002, well beaten by Donegal in 2003, won at Carlow in 2004 and then started well against Tyrone but collapsed in the second half, had a decent win at home to Fermanagh in 2005 and then gave away three very poor goals in losing to Derry, and had another disaster in Sligo last year before this year's defeat.

According to the match programme on Saturday, our record in the back door was the 24th worst in the country going into the game. All the counties below us in the table are now in the Tommy Murphy Cup, where there must be a danger we are heading unless we start to turn things round.

The firm evidence is that we lack any real self belief and, when we go out of the championship, always look a very vulnerable side in the qualifiers. We actually started quite well on Saturday, but, when their goal went in, slightly against the run of play, we collapsed again.

Television replays show that Benny had a stonewall penalty turned down, but, even if it had been scored against a good keeper, Meath would probably have upped their game and pulled away.

I believe our division three rivals in next year's league are Fermanagh, Leitrim, Limerick, Louth, Longford, Sligo and Wexford. On this summer's form, Sligo and Louth would be the favourites to go up. We have to regroup, get off to a good start and somehow build a squad with some mental and physical toughness.

If we don't, and we fail to win our early home games, another relegation is not out of the question. I prefer to look on the bright side, and hope for promotion followed by a reasonable draw in the championship. Division four would of course mean the Tommy Murphy Cup instead of the qualifiers, so, if that prospect does not motivate our players, nothing will.