Down Club Hurling & Football

[johnnycool]

Down hurlers shifted to Liatroim on Sunday at 12.45.

Not winning this v Kildare will all but diminish any hopes of avoiding relegation.

Kildare are going well so a big ask for the Down lads.

[PAULD123]

Looking forward to tomorrow night and hopefully sealing promotion with 2 games to go.
Fermanagh caused us a lot of problems in the championship so it wont be easy.
Hopefully get to give some fringe players a chance in last 2 games and buuld for the league final and the Donegal game.
Div 

We won the game but I don't see how this secures promotion. There is still two games to go:

The head to head only applies if it's two teams on there same points. So, if:

Down lose to Sligo and Laois. We'd have 10 points

Westmeath beat Limerick, and Wexford, they'd have 10 points

If Sligo beat Wexford, Down, and Clare, they'd have 10 points.

So it would be a 3-way tie at the top with all teams on 10 points and so scoring difference would decide it. So promotion is not mathematically assured yet surely.

Am I wrong?

[Aristo 60]

Paddy power and rte both have down promoted. Must be something else?

[thewobbler]

Down are up lads.

Mathematical possibilities have a place in sport, but not here.

Well done Conor and co.

[LosDodgers]

I believe in Lavs first year Down missed out on promotion with 10 points...last year we got relegated with 6 points so it can happen!

Westmeath are very likely to finish on 10, as are Clare. A three way tie would mean points difference as stated above.

It would take a ridiculous collapse for us not to get promoted but if we where to lose away to Sligo (who if they win tomorrow are still in the promotion hunt) it would leave us needing a point vs Laois, who beat Westmeath by 9 points today! So not impossible by any means...

Keep the champagne on ice for another week

[LosDodgers]

As for the game tonight it was a poor enough affair played on a poor pitch. Down didn't really get out of 2nd gear and Fermanagh looked really bad!

Positives: crimmins & Rogers keep getting better and better. Ceile Doc got on a lot of ball and played well again. Pat scored well again and some lads like Kerr, O'Hagan, O'Hare, Brown got more minutes which will help us down the line.

Negatives: Not really anything bad outta this game but Rooney got injured on his return and Burns seems to pick up a nic. Fermanagh did a good job on Daniel Guinness and without him breaking lines (I don't think pitch helped him) we didn't have the same threat, something to think about as better teams are gonna have players who can do a job on likes of Guinness, Havern & Murdock.

[Splash]

Down hurlers shifted to Liatroim on Sunday at 12.45.

Not winning this v Kildare will all but diminish any hopes of avoiding relegation.

Kildare are going well so a big ask for the Down lads.

Antrim beating Carlow has really thrown a spanner in the works for Down avoiding relegation to Div 2.

This is a must win game today, and one I assume Down would have been targeting- but you could probably say the same about Kildare.

Kildare are in very good form, but Down put up a respectable enough performance against Clare the last day out- despite losing heavily.

Some of the Down players showed there were more than fit to compete with a team full of All Ireland winners, and I think it was a positive performance overall.

Not sure why the game is in Liatroim today but it certainly is a welcome change.

[johnnycool]

The hurlers are as good as down as they'd need 2 wins v Dublin in Parnell and then Antrim in Newry.

Kildare did all the damage in the first half when they played with the strong wind on their backs.

Too much pace and team work for Down who put up a much better show in the second half.
It got a wee bit feisty which from a Down perspective would have been better if they'd shown that fire in the first half.
Big Ruairi lucky not to get a red with the block down that caught the Kildare lads helmet.  There was no malice in it, just mistimed.

The minor camogs had a good win later on in the day on the same pitch.

The Liatroim groundsman should be sacked, he's letting his standards slip

[maldini]

Was reading that Down are now guaranteed a
Sam Maguire spot unless Clare beat Kerry in the Munster Semi final.

How can this be? Would the Sam Maguire not just be the 16 teams from Divisions 1 and 2, assuming no division 3 or 4 teams make their provincial final?

[DuffGael]

Was reading that Down are now guaranteed a
Sam Maguire spot unless Clare beat Kerry in the Munster Semi final.

How can this be? Would the Sam Maguire not just be the 16 teams from Divisions 1 and 2, assuming no division 3 or 4 teams make their provincial final?

The 2 promoted teams from Div 3 take the bottom 2 spots not the bottom 2 in Div 2 subject to provisional final placings

[Dayman]

Surely it depends on whether Kildare stay in Div 2 or not, as being Tailteann Cup winners they get a spot? If they end up being relegated to Div 3 then that's one less spot available, so in that case Down would then need to win Div 3 to be in the Sam Maguire.

[LosDodgers]

Best case scenario for us is Cavan getting relegated as they are unlikely to make Ulster final.

However, with Cavan playing Offaly next it looks like Kildare are favs to go down.

If this is the case only whoever wins the D3 final (not 1st in league) will go to SM barring a huge shock in any of the provincials.

If Cavan are to get relegated and no huge shock in provincials then both promoted D3 teams will get into SM.

[snoopdog]

Yeah but you woukd prefer to be sure by winning Div 3. Being in the Tailteann would be a disaster for Down.

[Dayman]

Yeah absolutely, the Division 3 final will be the most important game we play all year, it'll be very hard to get the lads or fans motivated for another Tailteann Cup campaign.

One thing I know for sure is it will be a stressful watch, they never make it easy on us. Some great performances on Saturday night (Crimmins and Close had their best games so far I thought, and looks like Kerr hasn't lost his pace), but Fermanagh never should have been as close before their goal went in. Havern missed a handy enough 2 pointer, there were a few other handy enough wides that kept them in it. Would just love them to be able to have a full 70 mins like they did against Wexford in the final.

[Ed Hardy]

See Mooney back in with Down, good option of the bench with 15/20mins to go! Any word on either Eugene Branagan or Anthony Morgan are going to be involved at any stage this year?