Down Club Hurling & Football

[Square Ball]

Kilcoo - K Lacey
Burren - E McCartan
CPN - J Boyle
Clonduff - G Adams
Mayobridge - B Murray
Carryduff - F Moriarty
Loughinisland - C O'Toole
Bredagh - ?
Ballyholland - S Mulholland
Castlewellan - C McCabe

Longstone - C Brannigan
Bryansford - J Magorrian
RGU - K Duffin & C McCrickard
Rostrevor - DJ Morgan
Saval - P Morrison
Saul - D Lynch
Liatroim - P Murray
Shamrocks - DJ Kane
An Riocht  - C Kelly
St John's - S Curran

Glenn - S Clark?
Drumgath - P Hynes
Annaclone- J Clarke
Ballymartin- Barry Cunningham
Attical - M Rafferty
Tullylish - R McShane
Drumaness - L Sloan
Banbridge- P Feeney
Bosco - M McVeigh
Finn - M Copeland


Darragh - B Mason
St Paul's- P Hannigan
Bright - Aidan Clark
Dromara - J Fegan
Teconnaght - C Laverty
Kilclief - S Curran
Ardglass - K Smyth
Dundrum - R McCartan
East Belfast - C O'Neill
Aghaderg - K Blaney
St Michael's - L McAlinden
Glasdrumman - N McKibben


Would this list of Down senior football club managers for 2024 above be correct??

S Curran not with Kilclief and pretty sure K Smyth gone from Ardglass.

Bredagh.
Deaglan Bunting and Kieran McGourty

[Splash]

The craic I heard was McCusker is away, but the Belfast men are staying.

Who knows until the leagues get up and running I suppose.

Liatroim may be the team to watch this year. The Fontenoy men I was speaking to felt last year was some opportunity that got away.

They'll have their eyes on the prize come the championship I'd say.

Of course, that's not to say they'll go hammer and tongs at the league, and things are never as simple as that come the championship.

I expect Bredagh and Carryduff to be stronger than they were last year, and Ballycran will never want a scare like that ever again. Add in trying to balance senior football now alongside senior hurling and who knows what way they'll get on.

Still though. Be an interesting team to watch imo.

Ballycran lads I know are expecting them to drop off a bit this year at senior (not Div1) due to a few retirements and lads off to Australia plus they've very little coming through from underage.
Donal Hughes back is a big plus for Bredagh, he's their main scoring threat and a real pain in the hole for our lads who struggle to get a grips with him and they do have some very good underage hurlers in the pipeline if they commit to hurling. Being relegated to Div 3 in Antrim may give them a chance to bring some of those lads through at an easier pace whereas we might end up throwing some of our lads in at the deep end in Antrim Div1 and that IMO isn't a good thing short term or indeed long term as it's a huge step up.
Liatroim certainly won't be taken lightly by anyone, I think they're still a bit weak defensively and need a dog or two of corner backs to hold out the better forwards around. That was their Achilles heel against us and we left a few sitters of goals behind us that night in Kilclief.

Ports will still be strong favourites come championship but complacency has historically been a problem for them.

Agreed. Looking at Ballycran, would expect them to regress a bit in the next few years. I think they could well claim this year's championship though, simply because I don't see Portaferry doing 3 in a row, and think everyone else is at least a wee bit off them two.

Bredagh will be very glad to have Hughes back, and they have some other great hurlers. Obviously a great generation of hurlers coming through for them, too.

You're spot on about Liatroim's defensive issues.

Could be an interesting year.

[Splash]

Big chance tomorrow for the hurlers.

Beat Meath, and there's a good chance we're looking at league semi final.

Kildare beat Carlow this evening, which makes things a bit more difficult, but if we beat Meath by enough I think Down go through on points difference?

Meath didn't look great at all last week, so it's not out of the realms of possibility.

Meath have definitely caused us heartbreak over the past couple years, but Down have looked good this season.

Down know the target that has to be met. Hopefully they can do it.

[Sandstorm]

I am not big into hurling but love Splash's posts. Very informative and no resorting to abusing anyone.
Great to see the hurlers making the league semi finals. Let's have an update on yesterday's game Splash and keep up the good work.

[ardtole]

Splash has certainly been a welcome addition to the Down forum. I enjoy the coverage of the ihc and jhc during the summer, games you would generally hear little about. It's encouraging to hear of progress at underage particularly at clubs like Castlewellan and CPN, where you would associate them more as football clubs.

[downtothecore]

Is Oran Murdock available for todays game?
Goodluck to the boys in what I expect to be a tough encounter.

[downtothecore]

It was was always going to be tough to get the win today but at least we didnt get defeated and so it's down to last day. Clare are coming and have to win in Newry next week so our boys will have to perform to a high level to win this. This is is an important game for Down football as another year in div 2 will be hard pill to swallow.

[snoopdog]

It was was always going to be tough to get the win today but at least we didnt get defeated and so it's down to last day. Clare are coming and have to win in Newry next week so our boys will have to perform to a high level to win this. This is is an important game for Down football as another year in div 2 will be hard pill to swallow.

Down couldnt get around westmeaths defensive unit. The final ball was very poor. A lot of wides and balls dropped short. Could've won that game. I'd be worried ahead of the Clare game, Down don't look like they've a plan B against a blanket defence. But should hopefully get a result next Sunday. Another year in Div 3 would be no good for this team.

[Johnnysboys]

Still undefeated. But that was a difficult watch today. Game changed when Mooney went off imo. Thought when we got the goal we would push on but we were very rushed in our efforts today in front of the posts. Gilmore looked rusty and Mason the same. More game time for these lads is a must in the coming weeks before the championship kicks off.

[snoopdog]

A player of O'Hagans quality may have been the difference today. Any word when he is back. It was thought later league stages.

[Lloyd p]

Still undefeated. But that was a difficult watch today. Game changed when Mooney went off imo. Thought when we got the goal we would push on but we were very rushed in our efforts today in front of the posts. Gilmore looked rusty and Mason the same. More game time for these lads is a must in the coming weeks before the championship kicks off.

Watching a different game to me, thought Mooney was very quiet didn't contribute much before going off. Same as mcparland. Down pretty poor today but still could have won it.

[DuffGael]

Mooney has been average since returning, there are better options. The big problem today was the number of wides and needless fouls we gave away. Still when it mattered we got a score to level the game. Playing badly against the best team in the league and not losing is a good sign.

[snoopdog]

Mooney has been average since returning, there are better options. The big problem today was the number of wides and needless fouls we gave away. Still when it mattered we got a score to level the game. Playing badly against the best team in the league and not losing is a good sign.

Mooney needs game time to try and get back to where he was at. He doesn't look to have that pace that he used to have. Just need to get over the line against a good Clare team.

[Green+Gold]

Thought it was a very poor performance yesterday. No score from play until 25th min and only 1 free before then. A lot of missed chances and unforced errors. Also stupid frees conceded that you don't see from the top teams. Another thing I noticed from the Offaly and Westmeath games we very rarely look like dispossessing the opposition when they are in possession. We just sit back and hope they miss their shot.

[Ed Hardy]

Any word on Owen McCabe coming back from injury? Must be out about 12motnhs now.