Down Club Hurling & Football

[Ardstick]

All the best to the Ports, Bredagh and Kilclief going into Ulster, always creates a great buzz in a club, so hopefully some Ulster silverware awaits.

[manwithnoplan]

Hurling final described as epic.. my god.. it was far far far from epic. Watch a Tipperary/Waterford/Clare hurling match and you will see epic. It was a decent game for our county standard but wouldn't cut it in a real hurling field.

On another note let's hope the hurling 6 page reports end now and then quoted and another 2 pages added to it.

Another person with the inability to scroll past something they aren't interested in.

[johnnycool]

Ports greater strength in depth proved to be the difference.

They were able to bring lads into the game either to replaced an injured player or someone off form who had a bigger impact than their Ballycran equivalent.

Ballycran fell into the same trap we did, Short puck outs to a corner back who only went and pucked it down into the areas the keeper would be hitting anyway and that's where Portaferry had the numbers back to win it and work it up the field that bit better. Like ourselves their corner backs aren't comfortable carrying the ball out, creating the overlap for a midfielder or halfback to take it from them and drive on up the park to then hit the spaces in behind the Portaferry half back line who were solid throughout.
Crans had some joy when they did get Phelim Savage on the ball in the first half, but he didn't have the same impact in the second half at all, Woods put in a storming 10 minute period, knocking over 3 points in as many minutes but was then curtailed somewhat as Portaferry made a few changes to curtail him.

Someone asked about whether the red high lads had come through and i was kinda negative in the response but yesterday Tom McGrattan did stand up, took some great points and was pretty unlucky with a shot at goal from a tight angle, Turpin was industrious throughout and long with the Sands brothers, but Ciaran Savage up until his injury was superb, nothing fancy, wins the ball, the flicks, the blocks etc, gives his opponent little or no time or space and just gets on with it. (Some good Ballygalget DNA in the lad    )

Next up is Cushendall, a team that the Ards clubs have had reasonable success in beating in the club championships over the years, Ports beat them in 2014, we beat them in 2006 and Ballycran beat them in 1994.
The Dall with be favourites but so what, they were favourites those last three times as well. The Gaelic Grounds will be a good sod hopefully, Ports have pace to trouble Cushendall, but they'll need to be getting 80% of their shots on target or better and just go for it.

[johnnycool]

Hurling final described as epic.. my god.. it was far far far from epic. Watch a Tipperary/Waterford/Clare hurling match and you will see epic. It was a decent game for our county standard but wouldn't cut it in a real hurling field.

On another note let's hope the hurling 6 page reports end now and then quoted and another 2 pages added to it.

It's club hurling FFS, heck even the club games in those counties aren't to the same standard as the IC games!
Get yourself on Clubber, or even TG4, there's plenty of basic errors made in those as well

[Saffrongael]

Ports greater strength in depth proved to be the difference.

They were able to bring lads into the game either to replaced an injured player or someone off form who had a bigger impact than their Ballycran equivalent.

Ballycran fell into the same trap we did, Short puck outs to a corner back who only went and pucked it down into the areas the keeper would be hitting anyway and that's where Portaferry had the numbers back to win it and work it up the field that bit better. Like ourselves their corner backs aren't comfortable carrying the ball out, creating the overlap for a midfielder or halfback to take it from them and drive on up the park to then hit the spaces in behind the Portaferry half back line who were solid throughout.
Crans had some joy when they did get Phelim Savage on the ball in the first half, but he didn't have the same impact in the second half at all, Woods put in a storming 10 minute period, knocking over 3 points in as many minutes but was then curtailed somewhat as Portaferry made a few changes to curtail him.

Someone asked about whether the red high lads had come through and i was kinda negative in the response but yesterday Tom McGrattan did stand up, took some great points and was pretty unlucky with a shot at goal from a tight angle, Turpin was industrious throughout and long with the Sands brothers, but Ciaran Savage up until his injury was superb, nothing fancy, wins the ball, the flicks, the blocks etc, gives his opponent little or no time or space and just gets on with it. (Some good Ballygalget DNA in the lad    )

Next up is Cushendall, a team that the Ards clubs have had reasonable success in beating in the club championships over the years, Ports beat them in 2014, we beat them in 2006 and Ballycran beat them in 1994.
The Dall with be favourites but so what, they were favourites those last three times as well. The Gaelic Grounds will be a good sod hopefully, Ports have pace to trouble Cushendall, but they'll need to be getting 80% of their shots on target or better and just go for it.

Think that was winter of 2005 JC

[johnnycool]

Ports greater strength in depth proved to be the difference.

They were able to bring lads into the game either to replaced an injured player or someone off form who had a bigger impact than their Ballycran equivalent.

Ballycran fell into the same trap we did, Short puck outs to a corner back who only went and pucked it down into the areas the keeper would be hitting anyway and that's where Portaferry had the numbers back to win it and work it up the field that bit better. Like ourselves their corner backs aren't comfortable carrying the ball out, creating the overlap for a midfielder or halfback to take it from them and drive on up the park to then hit the spaces in behind the Portaferry half back line who were solid throughout.
Crans had some joy when they did get Phelim Savage on the ball in the first half, but he didn't have the same impact in the second half at all, Woods put in a storming 10 minute period, knocking over 3 points in as many minutes but was then curtailed somewhat as Portaferry made a few changes to curtail him.

Someone asked about whether the red high lads had come through and i was kinda negative in the response but yesterday Tom McGrattan did stand up, took some great points and was pretty unlucky with a shot at goal from a tight angle, Turpin was industrious throughout and long with the Sands brothers, but Ciaran Savage up until his injury was superb, nothing fancy, wins the ball, the flicks, the blocks etc, gives his opponent little or no time or space and just gets on with it. (Some good Ballygalget DNA in the lad    )

Next up is Cushendall, a team that the Ards clubs have had reasonable success in beating in the club championships over the years, Ports beat them in 2014, we beat them in 2006 and Ballycran beat them in 1994.
The Dall with be favourites but so what, they were favourites those last three times as well. The Gaelic Grounds will be a good sod hopefully, Ports have pace to trouble Cushendall, but they'll need to be getting 80% of their shots on target or better and just go for it.

Think that was winter of 2005 JC

Yes, you're right, Ulster finals were Oct/Nov time with the AI semi in Feb the following year.

[Splash]

Hurling final described as epic.. my god.. it was far far far from epic. Watch a Tipperary/Waterford/Clare hurling match and you will see epic. It was a decent game for our county standard but wouldn't cut it in a real hurling field.

On another note let's hope the hurling 6 page reports end now and then quoted and another 2 pages added to it.

Don't know what you're on about here. Found it far more entertaining than any Waterford final where the winner has been predetermined for the past ten years.

Surely you're not expecting a club game to be on par with an inter-county Munster Championship game? The game had a bit of everything, and could have gone either way right up to the final moments.

As others have pointed out, if you really don't like the hurling content, don't read it. Simple as. Really surprised about how much a couple posts about club hurling, on a Down club hurling thread, have upset some people.

There's about ten pages in a row of people talking about the football final. I don't think a few posts discussing the hurling are going to dominate the thread.

[SHEEDY]

Hurling updates are a more than welcome addition, keep er lit. Know more about the hurling scene now than I ever did.

[Truth hurts]

Hurling is going in the right direction. We need more clubs participating or getting together like the Mourne clubs.

[Hard2Listen2]

Hurling is going in the right direction. We need more clubs participating or getting together like the Mourne clubs.

How's your own club progressing with the hurling?

[Splash]

Hurling is going in the right direction. We need more clubs participating or getting together like the Mourne clubs.

This is exactly what we need to happen.

If every club that fields a camogie team fielded a hurling team, it would be some addition.

Would be great to bring hurling back to clubs that used to play it. Darragh Cross had a very good hurling team back in the day, for example. 

The amalgamation of clubs to offer hurling in an area, as has been done in the Mournes, is another good idea. Would
be great to see other clubs follow the example and give it a lash.

[redandblackareback]

Manager merry go round continues in Down I see - some amount of bluffer's continue to get fed by clubs. Why are clubs pouring money into these men - the same names circling through the divisions in Down. At least Ballyholland and Bryansford are appointing from within with Mulholland and Magorrian taking the reigns. Another bluffer Poacher is swapping the Hurling in Fermanagh for the Football, didn't think Fermanagh could be anymore defensive than last year.

[Truth hurts]

Manager merry go round continues in Down I see - some amount of bluffer's continue to get fed by clubs. Why are clubs pouring money into these men - the same names circling through the divisions in Down. At least Ballyholland and Bryansford are appointing from within with Mulholland and Magorrian taking the reigns. Another bluffer Poacher is swapping the Hurling in Fermanagh for the Football, didn't think Fermanagh could be anymore defensive than last year.

What bluffers are being fed? I haven't heard of any major appointments.

[Mourne Red]

John Fegan and Donnan Ritchie over Dromara next year

[marty34]

Great weekend of hurling action and a great way to round out the season.

Hurling post incoming.

Scat, that may be your cue to get ready to scroll.   

How's that football thread coming along by the way?

Anyroad.

Portaferry go back to back, edging out Ballycran in a hugely entertaining game. Probably the best championship game I've seen all season.

Two, great, evenly matched teams just going hammer and tongs against each other, with each one throwing everything they had at the other to try and keep them down. When it came down to it, simply was Portaferry were the better team on the day. Won the ball at key moments, and were able to deliver it to the key spots to win vital scores. 

Personally thought Ciaran Savage was great for them, today. Seemed to always know where to be in the right place at the right time.

Not much to fault Ballycran on, to be fair to them. Maybe weren't as dominant in the ruck towards the end which allowed Portaferry to win ball and clear it. But at the end of the day, could have easily gone Ballycran's way. You win some, you lose some. This was just Portaferry's day.

Conor Woods for me was the man of the match. Single handedly dragged the Crans back into it when they slipped behind. Was everywhere, and was extremely safe under the high ball. Very accurate sharp-shooter, too.

Was great to see full back, Tom Murray, come up the field and get the long-range score in the 60th minute to push the Ports out of Ballycran's reach. Wasn't supporting Portaferry. Just great to see a player in the full back line in a moment like that. Cant be letting the forwards get all the credit. 

Interesting point for me was Ballycran looked like a stronger, more physical team, but Portaferry weren't troubled by this. Cushendall in the Ulster Championship will be bigger and more physical again, but will be interesting to see if Portaferry can find away around this.

Best of luck to the Ports in Ulster. Last year didn't do them justice. They're a better team than that match against Slaughtneil showed. Hope they go on a good run.


Bredagh dismantling Carryduff in the Intermediate Final was the shock of the weekend for me.

Hadn't seen Carryduff play in a while, but didn't look as comfortable as they had earlier in the year.

Bredagh simply outplayed them in every area. Bredagh were a stronger and more explosive team, and Carryduff didn't seem to be able to cope with it. Bredagh looked to be, in general, in better nick than their opposition. Playing Ballycran and Portaferry for the past couple of weeks will do that to you, I suppose.

Niall McFarland, Sean Hughes, and Conor Costello all were in good form for Bredagh. Joe Hanrahan in midfield looked like a serious hurler. Is he in the Down squad?

Conall Early was the only man for the Duff who really looked like he'd up to hurling at an inter-county level at the minute. Granted, though, a lot of players, especially the forwards, found it hard to get on the ball, so it's probably not fair to say that.

Had to feel for Carryduff. They never really got going. Judging off the rest of their performances, I'm sure they're a better team than that showed. Be interesting to see how they cope in the Senior Championship.

The scary thing about Bredagh is they looked like they still had a lot in the tank. Have rumours of their demise been greatly exaggerated? They looked like they still had another level in them. Some of the subs they brought on had serious skill, too.

Best of luck to Bredagh in Ulster. If they play like they did last night they'll go on a good run.

The future looks bright on the Ravenhill Road.


Not a heap to be said on the Junior Final.

Kilclief were simply a better team.

East Belfast were competitive in the first half. Couple good goals kept the game close. But Kilclief always looked comfortable enough.

9 points is a comfortable win, but if I was East Belfast, I wouldn't be too disheartened by it. It's definitely not a thumping. The resilience of East Belfast GAA is well documented. Not bad going to reach a county final after such a short period of existence. 

Kilclief had some good players on show today. Stefan McGrattan in particular. Fintan Conway would be what age now? Still winning county titles, anyway. Fair play to him. 

East Belfast some good players, too. Brendan McGarry got them out of trouble a few times. Joe McClemments solid in nets.

Be interesting to see where the teams go from here. Playing in Div 1 has clearly been a benefit to kilclief, and they looked like they could be competitive in the Intermediate next year considering Bredagh and Carryduff will be in Senior, but hear a  couple lads are heading Down Under? Will this fracture the Strangford men or can they adapt?

East Belfast manager said in interview most of the team is the wrong side of 30. Obviously they don't have the underage structures to draw from yet- be interesting to see how they deal with this. Reaching a county final probably makes them a more attractive club for people looking to join a team in Belfast. They've shown they can stand their own ground at this level.

Best of luck to kilclief on their ulster campaign. Judging from today, they have the quality to go on a good Ulster run.


The Ireland game was good viewing, too. Far better quality game than I was anticipating. That shinty looks like it would be some craic. Very well run, very well handled, and great to see Ireland get the win. Who needs the Rugby World Cup when we beat Scotland in the International Rules? 

Was great to have it held in Newry. Really added a bit of buzz to our hurling finals weekend. Fair play to everyone involved.

Great to see a couple lads from bigger hurling counties in Newry. They brought a good crowd with them, too. Peter Duggan and Tom Monaghan were unreal in particular.

Begs the question, when Down eventually get back to Division One, what are we going to do when we come up against a team full of players of that quality?

We'll cross that bridge when we win the Joe McDonagh, sure. 


All in all, an absolute great weekend of hurling. County Board handled it very well, which was great to see after the whole football fiasco last week.

Hope a few followers of the big ball got a chance to catch some of the games when they were being held half-local. Particularly that Senior Championship final. Don't know how you couldn't enjoy hurling after watching a game as epic as that one.

A great couple days for Down Hurling.

Best of luck now to all our Champions in Ulster and the All Ireland series. You'll do us proud, no doubt.

Looking forward to the break now until the leagues start back up and we go with our armchair hurling commentary again.

Hope that yous have enjoyed the hurling discussions on the thread this season, and glad to hear that some people who maybe didn't have the biggest insight as to what was going on in the hurling world have found the discussions somewhat informative.

Down Hurling is going in the right direction. Let's be behind it every step of the way.

An Dún abú. ⬛️🟥

Just to annoy Johnnysboys 

I saw report from the Ireland V Scotland game Splash.

Seemed a very high amount of the scores came from frees.  How did that come across watching it?

Was the general play poor enough and frees given away or just hard to score from open play?

Keep going with the hurling reports - very comprehensive.