Cadbury's All-Ireland Under 21 FC 2009

[DownFanatic]

The better team won this game I think. Cork were a lot more physical than their opponents and I think they had the better forwards on show.
For Down, I thought that Timmy Hanna had a good game in defence while Magee and Fitzpatrick worked hard in the middle. Up front we were generally well marked but Toner, Maginn and McComiskey showed up best.

[amallon]

There is no worse way to loose a final than a last minute goal.  Cork were be far the better team in the first half and Down really only got going in the second half.  There are a lot of good prospects on this team and along with the lads from last years U21's they should be able to bolster the Down senior panel in the years to come.

[brokencrossbar1]

From a totally selfish point of view I am delighted for Cork.  I know one or two of the players so it is nice for them.  Also from my own point of view(I am trying to promote football in a 95% hurling parish)  any success in football will make my job easier.  I can actually see it happening so long may it continue.

[WhoAreYaWhoAreYa!]

Heartbreaking stuff indead. Really have to fel for the players on that one. Now they know what it felt like for the Tyrone minors in 2005. Oldest cliche in the game, but its not over to the final whistle. Sure we could nip and pick at things that may have gone better for Down, but that goal with virtually seconds left, is the reason why we all play football, why we all love the game so much. No-one can describe the feeling of being on the right side of a result liek that, similarly, the wrong side of it too i suppose. Aw wel. back to back Ulster championships is nothing to be ashamed of for Pete and Mickey and co.

[INDIANA]

Class acts on the cork team- o neill-gould etc- allstar potential . Glad I've got cork at 11-1 for the senior all-ireland this year. Serious force.

[5 Sams]

Devastated for our boys after the character they have shown in the championship this year to date against Mayo, Armagh and Tyrone......they nearly pulled it off again. Some real prospects on that team...not least McComiskey who looks more like Wee James every time I see him....thon Hanna is a helluva player too....easy to see why Pete made him Captain.....as for senior prospects.....still got probs at full back though.....loads of deadly forwards, great attacking half backs and a monstrous midfield....however we need an imposing full back and we were exposed quite a bit in this position today.


Well done Cork...they deserved it ....though it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if it had have went to extra time

[imtommygunn]

Martin Clarke would have been u21 this year too wouldn't he?

While obviously there's what might have been to lose a player of that quality in an underage team and still get to an AI final is commendable. Obviously a well rounded team when they won the minors too.

[Mid Down Gael]

Martin Clarke would have been u21 this year too wouldn't he?

While obviously there's what might have been to lose a player of that quality in an underage team and still get to an AI final is commendable. Obviously a well rounded team when they won the minors too.

No Martin was over age for this team.

[Captain Black]

Heartbreak for Down who gave Cork a lesson at times. Cork were a much bigger, more physical side. Best team lost.

Football can be cruel at times.

You have to be joking, Cork looked the far better team for long periods and while they caught a break at the end to win it there is no way the better team lost. I wouldn't say Cork were superior either but they are as deserving winners as Down would have been had Down held on, now when they beat Laois 2 years ago with a late goal, in that one they did beat the better team.

Cork football looks to be in for a relatively healthy period.

Cork have been coming for a good number of years now and I've said it before but they will be the standard bearers in football over the next 10 years IMO. This won't be the last decent U21 side Cork will produce over the next few years of that you can be sure.

zulu you sure do have the horn for cork

[Jinxy]

 

[Zulu]

Heartbreak for Down who gave Cork a lesson at times. Cork were a much bigger, more physical side. Best team lost.

Football can be cruel at times.

You have to be joking, Cork looked the far better team for long periods and while they caught a break at the end to win it there is no way the better team lost. I wouldn't say Cork were superior either but they are as deserving winners as Down would have been had Down held on, now when they beat Laois 2 years ago with a late goal, in that one they did beat the better team.

Cork football looks to be in for a relatively healthy period.

Cork have been coming for a good number of years now and I've said it before but they will be the standard bearers in football over the next 10 years IMO. This won't be the last decent U21 side Cork will produce over the next few years of that you can be sure.

zulu you sure do have the horn for cork

Well if that's a northern term for rating Cork very highly then I sure do, if it means something else, I'll have to put more thought into how I'm expressing myself.

[gorm agus bui]

Absolutely heart breaking result but a little more cuteness in running down the clock would have seen us through. However I must say having witnessed things at first hand that Cork shaded the game. They looked to have that little bit extra but you could never have dreamt up that finish.
I know hindsight is a great master but Pete's age old refusal to use subs came home to roost.
Never mind, a lot of these boys are eligible next year and they certainly gave us a great boost to the start of the season. Here's hoping to a long summer of county football and well done Rebels

[Mourne Rover]

Just back from the most cruel finish I can remember any Down team suffering for many years. Cork are a fine side, but we took everything they could throw at us, got on top, hit them for two goals and should have had it wrapped up before that last attack.

We could not have complained if Cork had been five or six up at half time, as they won all the breaking ball and were physically too strong for our defence. However, Pete sorted things out, we took a grip at midfield and our forwards had the winning of the game.

Digney might have been replaced earlier, and Murphy looked out of sorts, but they were up against big men and we generally carried the ball out of defence well. Hanna is a fantastic prospect and his goal should have seen us home. McComiskey and Devlin were also outstanding.

We seemed to freeze for the last Cork attack, although, having seen it again on tv, Joyce made a decent save and they simply reacted faster than we did. Joyce was also in nets for St Louis when they lost the 2006 MacRory final in the third minute of injury time,but he had no chance that day.

A game like today can make or break young players, but we should be expecting five or six of this team to play senior championship football. As long as they are not thrown in too soon, they should have better days to come.

[Dubh driocht]

Desperately disappointed but this group have players have given us 5 great performances.Two positive teams but Cork took players out when they needed to .Pete was quoted in the Tribune yesterday as wanting defenders who played the traditional Down way and got to the ball first- well , that may be morally right, but the defence bar Fitzpatrick and Hanna stood off their men too much and when Murney clumsily pulled his man back he got a yellow and they got a soft 13m free when play was in the central zone.Need a Dark Arts coach badly.
Thought the forwards didn't play with the same confidence as previous games(Maginn and O'Reilly particularly) although Mc Comiskey has no problems in that area.Cork were bigger and shaded mf in the first half but Magee, and particularly Fitzpatrick, came good in the second.Their FF line was class but we don't have the defenders to deal with big aggressive forwards.
Anyway, a long old journey for a cruel defeat but proud to be a Down fan- Timmy Hanna has the heart we need.

[Canalman]

Best team on the day won imo.
That's the 2 finals won by Cork with last minute goals (not including their win v Laois some years ago)...... they are battlers ( in the good sense) which will stand to them in the future at senior level.