Down Club Hurling & Football

[general]

Where is Liam Devlin from, Clann Na Banna? What age is he?

Liam is from Banbridge yes - big tall lad and can certainly get about - certainly wouldnt be shy putting himself into a tackle.

I believe he has featured in the league before for us

[snoopdog]

Dissapointing 2nd half. Kingston looks to have totally changed the game.

[Targetman]

Very poor second half , the lack of a major physical presence especially in the middle third is causing us problems, our midfield was getting cleaned out in the second half but Havern and Devlin were taken off, surely Donnelly would be better in midfield rather than full back, a bad start!!

[Smurfy123]

Poor second half. Laois had a great bench Down looked to be struggling. Donal O Hare looks sharp.

[Tony]

Hard luck Down, still plenty of matches to get going. Laois were very strong today in 2nd half and Donie was on fire. I can see ye beating most of the teams in Div . 3; the 2nd half just really clicked for us with the introduction of Donie Kingston and Colm Begley. Best of luck for the rest of the league, ye are nice supporters.

[Lotto]

A steep learning curve for many players tonight. Laois put on 6'6'' Donie Kingston and a few others much the same size, in comparison look who we were putting on. Good wee players but that's exactly what they are, wee. We really lack size and it cost us tonight.

[Mourne Rover]

It was a disappointing night as we were in such a strong position at half time and the defeat means we may have to win all of our remaining six matches if we are to get promoted. The Laois manager made some crucial tactical and personnel switches during the break, and they were physically stronger than us in some key areas.

However, the game probably turned on a ludicrous decision when Francis was plainly pulled down in front of the main stand, the referee allowed play to continue and the goal gave Laois a huge lift.

Our defence struggled in the second half, particularly after Donnelly was injured, and, apart from O'Hare, our substitutions did not really work. The new faces only made a limited impact and we can expect a fair number of changes for what will be a must win trip to Sligo next week.

[charlieTully]

It was a disappointing night as we were in such a strong position at half time and the defeat means we may have to win all of our remaining six matches if we are to get promoted. The Laois manager made some crucial tactical and personnel switches during the break, and they were physically stronger than us in some key areas.

However, the game probably turned on a ludicrous decision when Francis was plainly pulled down in front of the main stand, the referee allowed play to continue and the goal gave Laois a huge lift.

Our defence struggled in the second half, particularly after Donnelly was injured, and, apart from O'Hare, our substitutions did not really work. The new faces only made a limited impact and we can expect a fair number of changes for what will be a must win trip to Sligo next week.

what was the craic with the mark JJ took in the second half? ref blew him up for overcarrying even though he had caught the ball clean and was standing still. they went up the field and scored from the resulting free kick. it would have put us 3 up but changed it to a 1 point game. We were poor though, kick out strategy seemed to be hoof a 50/50 ball to the same area each time and pray to win a breaking ball. Donal Ohare was the only man who looked like a proper county man when he eventually came on. A lot of players missing for various reasons but it should have been pencilled in as a must win game if promotion was a realistic target.

[maldini]

The ref blew a Laois man up for overcarrying after that as well when he was standing expecting a mark to be given. Anyone know why they weren't?

[Mourne Rover]

Jerome called a mark for a catch from a free kick which is not permitted. He also had a bad miss at the same end but produced a brilliant first half. If we have Darren O'Hagan, McKernan and Ryan Johnston back next week, with probably Mooney, McKibben and O'Hare coming in and maybe Harrison and McArdle available, we will hopefully get our season up and running.

[snoopdog]

As disapointing as it was 2nd half. Down need to unearth new talent. And tally is trying that. We may not get promoted but what would we learn playing the usual suspects?. I wasnt at the game but by sounds of it the defensive set up wasnt the usual Paddy Tally shut out but that takes time. We will know more in a month. Armagh on May 19th is a long way off.

[Smurfy123]

If you think that Down team is getting promoted you have another thing coming. Decent club footballers but some of them at the minute are not county standard and that's the bottom line. If we are beat next week we are in trouble with Westmeath coming to newry the week after. Hard to fathom the big turnaround in players to last year. To much I believe.

[Ed Hardy]

Very early days for Tally and this Down team, but hard to take many positives from last nights game. Despite having 2 sweepers in place Down conceded 2.15, they were cleaned out in mf. Thought big Donnelly should have been brought in there before he went off with another shoulder injury which is very concerning. Few individual moments from forward line but in general didnt link up that well. Hopefully will see a vast improvement when the suspended players and few more injured players get back tho. Conor Francis much better suited to half forward line,  and Liam Devlin looked a little lost to be honest. O'Hare looked good and surely must start against Sligo, in place of Jerome who once again failed to deliver in a Down top. Mooney and Daniel Guinness also looked sharp coming off the bench. 6 games left, 4 away from home, Div 4 is a distinct possibility now.

[Dubh driocht]

Thought Jerome did well on poor service. Who was the player injured at the far end? The stretcher was going out after the game.

[snoopdog]

All Doom and gloom on here. Are we really thinking div 4 is a serious possibility? If things are so bad what is tge point in getting what most people think is a really good management team together.