Down Club Hurling & Football

[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.

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

Loughinisland management to Downpatrick
Saul management to Loughinisland
Bryansford management to Clonduff
Ballymartin management to Longstone
Bredagh management to Darragh Cross
Rostrevor management to Saul

And the merry go round continues as clubs waste thousands for yet another year.

Rumours Warrenpoint and Burren nearly have their men - Both will be very close to home.

[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.

Loughinisland management to Downpatrick
Saul management to Loughinisland
Bryansford management to Clonduff
Ballymartin management to Longstone
Bredagh management to Darragh Cross
Rostrevor management to Saul

And the merry go round continues as clubs waste thousands for yet another year.

Rumours Warrenpoint and Burren nearly have their men - Both will be very close to home.

Paddy O'Rourke is getting his band back together.

[Hard2Listen2]

Division 2

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.

Division 2 seems to be the one with the most management vacancies.

Interestingly seems to be mostly Down coaches in place rather than outsiders.
Of course that can change.

[Truth hurts]

I salute any man who steps up to lead his local team; managing a club senior team is not an easy task. Especially voluntary.

[Cuan12]

6 finals , football and hurling all won by East Down teams, what's happening ?

[County Star]

6 finals , football and hurling all won by East Down teams, what's happening ?

East Down dominance

[thewobbler]

6 finals , football and hurling all won by East Down teams, what's happening ?

Would it not traditionally have been the case that the only competitions South Down teams have a habit of winning were the SFC and IFC?

So there's nothing to see here?

[Truth hurts]

6 finals , football and hurling all won by East Down teams, what's happening ?

Would it not traditionally have been the case that the only competitions South Down teams have a habit of winning were the SFC and IFC?

So there's nothing to see here?

LOL at the Arrogance

[thewobbler]

6 finals , football and hurling all won by East Down teams, what's happening ?

Would it not traditionally have been the case that the only competitions South Down teams have a habit of winning were the SFC and IFC?

So there's nothing to see here?

LOL at the Arrogance

Not sure it's arrogance from me. Though perhaps  a dollop of ignorance with the hurling.

South Down clubs have barely featured in the JFC over the past decade.

No club beyond the peninsula has featured in the SHC in living memory.

I've actually no idea at all about the JHC and IHC. Maybe the JHC is like the reverse of the football championship and is the preserve of South down clubs?

If not.... Then seeing as Kilcoo have annexed Frank, then this is probably East Down's 5th clean sweep this decade.

Hence the nothing new here comment.

[Square Ball]

Bredagh new management Gerard and Thomas McAnulty

[TakeTheMark]

what is with this east v south stuff still going on? are people really that happy to see their own club wins nothing as long as a club from their 'half' wins the competition?

I think the whole lot is nonsense anyway. what if St Michaels win the JFC next season? do we say thats a great win for south down? considering they are the 5th most northern club in the county

[Hard2Listen2]

what is with this east v south stuff still going on? are people really that happy to see their own club wins nothing as long as a club from their 'half' wins the competition?

I think the whole lot is nonsense anyway. what if St Michaels win the JFC next season? do we say thats a great win for south down? considering they are the 5th most northern club in the county

It's 🐮💩
Paranoid nonsense.

[thewobbler]

It's pure nonsense. Cuan revels in it though.

[Splash]

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.

Lol.

Was plenty of frees, but didn't hamper the game in my opinion.

Game was 80 minutes long, so frees obviously felt more spread out, and watching the Scotland players take their frees was actually very impressive. Ability to slot them over the bar, off the ground, golf style, from anywhere on the field.

From the start there were a few big hits and it set the tone. Hard enough to win a free. Only really blown up for stick around the neck, blatant chop, or the odd hand ball from an Ireland player.

Game obviously wasn't as smooth or as good quality viewing as a hurling game, but was a great novelty. Was like watching a match from 50 years ago. Pull and pull as hard as you can.

Difficult for both teams to score from open play, but there was some great skill watching lads put the ball over the bar without taking it in the hand. Sort of tricks you'd only attempt in backs and forwards in training coming into play.

Was honestly more entertaining and of a higher quality than I was expecting it to be.

[Splash]

Glad someone else noticed the 6 titles are heading to East Down. Is it worth pointing out that only 2 South Down teams even reached finals this year?

Anybody be able to explain where the animosity between South and East stems from? No divide between the two parts of the county outside of GAA is there?

Feel like the JHC is traditionally a competition dominated by South Down teams (Ballela, CPN, Clonduff, etc. all won in previous years), where as this year there was only one South Down team (Ballyvarley).

The IHC is a hard competition to classify as the teams change so often. Was only one East Down team in the championship this year (Carryduff), whereas a few years ago it would have been mostly East Down- with Liatroim and Bredagh competing in it.

JFC to the best of my knowledge is dominated by East Down. Only Aghaderg and Magheralin would be South Down.

SHC is now a purely East Down competition again. SFC & IFC could be won by a team from either end of the county.

Again, where does this rivalry stem from? Know there are South Down and East Down competitions etc., but it's not as though the two ends of the county are run differently or anything.

Have thought it would be a good idea for the County Board to implement a North Down board, ie., Bredagh, Carryduff, East Belfast, St Paul's, and potentially, Magheralin. Give a bit more autonomy to each board, and trust it to promote and develop Gaelic Games in their end of the County. Of course, there are a lot of factors that could make this a bad idea, and would no doubt lead to a row of some sort. But still. Always thought it odd Bredagh was East Down.