Down v Galway

[galwayman]

I think breathnach is still in the squad alright.he actually played well at centre forward in a few league games last year but was then dropped which I thought was strange because his form was good and he is much more suited to playing out there than the inside line where sammon played him.it would be nice to see us put in a performance at least tomorrow as I just can't see us winning.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Anyway, Down by 5 tomorrow.

And next weeks lotto numbers will be...

[Dubh driocht]

A 5 pont win but it could have finished a draw or we could have won by 15 !Galway settled well and Armstrong caused problems, We steadied the ship and had 2 golden goal opportunuties either side of an excellent Maginn goal but were still 4 up at half time. For a while in the second half I thought Down were so much better that they had too much time and started arsing about. The Galway goal from Gary O'Donnell brought them back to 2 and it needed some class from the top man Marty to help Down stay ahead - was very unlucky to have a goal disallowed by the fussy Eddie Kinsella following great work by the wee man from Kilcoo. Mc Comiskey is a class act to bring from the bench and his free and unselfish play ( following a great block by Colgan) set up Pete Fitz to finish to the net with the last touch. Galway have a strong spine and I think they will be OK. We are nicely set up for Armagh next Saturday in what promises to be a cracker.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Sounds like we were a bit better this week at least with Down getting that injury time goal to finally finish the contest. Still came away empty handed though. Have to win next week now to have any small chance to survive as we still have Kerry, Cork and Dublin to play after that.

[Mourne Rover]

It's fairly clear that this Down team is going to drive us round the bend by mixing the flawed and the fantastic in equal amounts. We could have won by double scores today but we might also have lost it in the end. Galway played with a lot more sprit than some of their critics have been suggesting, and it they can tighten up at midfield they are capable of getting off the mark against Mayo next week.

McVeigh's kick-outs were a big improvement on Castlebar, apart from one howler in the second half, and his handling was first class throughout. Howard's luck is not getting any better, and he lasted barely five minutes after an accidental collision, but Garvey was fairly steady when he came on. While Gerard McCartan did very little wrong in the other corner, Dan was our most impressive defender. He was first to every high ball and and had the confidence to push forward as wel.

Brannigan had a decent night against Mayo, but, after starting reasonably well, he struggled noticably in the second half, gave away a series of frees and might have been replaced sooner. McKernan is not at his best, and his shooting has declined alarmingly, but his quality will come through again before long. Rooney was particularly good going forward, and took a couple of fine scores.

King was far better than the last day, and - apart from one yellow which could have been a red - competed well until he was replaced. Fitzpatrick can pop up and fade out, but his late run for the last goal showed hunger and stamina.

Poland had a bit of an off-day by his standards, but Maginn and Hughes were both excellent. Maginn is always available for a pass and took his goal well, while Hughes has the pace to trouble any defence in the country.

Laverty took a couple of wrong options but is a brilliiant ball-winner and if anythiing is thinking almost too fast for his colleagues. Benny does not look particularly fit, but was always a threat without ever getting into his stride. Marty was a joy to watch, and his passing gets better and better.

Of the other subs, Colgan definitely made a difference and may start ahead of Brannigan next week, Carr was patchy, it was great to see Doyle back even for a few minutes, and McComiskey's two touches in injury time produced a pointed free and Fiitzpatrick's goal.

[Seandoc]

anyone know the attendance?

[An Fhairche Abu]

5 points flattered Galway, Down were superior in every respect in Newry, bar some really sloppy play and horrific shooting in the 2nd half from Down this would have been a hockeying.
The pace of the game was a world away from the cut of two top teams going at it, to be honest I'd say Galway dragged Down's performance down if anything, t'was nearly too easy for them in the 2nd half, they got away with bad wides and over elaboration that a better side then Galway would have punished. The amount of unforced errors from both sides in the 2nd half was comical at times, Down had plenty in reserve to wrap the game up and as soon as Galway got near again they managed to get the goal that had eluded them throughout the half.

Despite what some Galway followers on Hoganshite might write I think the Galway team is definitely putting the effort in on the pitch, you really couldn't fault them in this respect and it'd be worse if they were really talented but lacking heart and guts, the quality just isn't there.

Nothing much learned from a Galway point of view that wasn't already known really, had a fast start just as in the Monaghan game but once the opposition got their bearings it was Monaghan take two for the rest of the match.
Conroy played instead of Bradshaw, any Galway lads know if he is injured or what?
Hanley and Forde swapped positions at the start of the game, Forde played well at times although he needs to let the ball go quicker from the FB line once possession is won, got caught a couple of times fluting around with it.
Great finish from O'Donnell for the goal, he was alright in general play.
Burke done alright on Coulter but I'd don't think he was facing a "championship pace" Coulter either.
Reilly started well on Clarke but he is a tough station and for Reilly even trying to keep near him at other times during the match was hard.
Danny Hughes gave McGrath the runaround and he was off just before halftime.
Bane and Armstrong kicked some nice scores and look dangerous when in possession, getting them the ball consistently is the issue.
Joe Bergin had an OK game, he just doesn't win enough ball from kickouts for a man of his height and we are still getting killed for most of the game in the middle.
Hoare was anonymous and was subbed off for Blake in the 2nd half.
Breathnach was on as a sub and then off again, I don't see the point of playing Cillian de Paor again in the league as he offers absolutely nothing.

Benny does not look particularly fit, but was always a threat without ever getting into his stride. Marty was a joy to watch, and his passing gets better and better.

Clarke is a fine player who picks out passes that you wouldn't see from the stand nevermind on pitch with lads pulling and dragging out of you, he was lucky to escape any censure early in the 1st half for kicking Reilly (who had beat him to ball the first 2 or 3 50/50's between them just before this) in the nuts, maybe it was only an accident but it wasn't pleasent either way, he had a decent game besides but I think he should shoot a bit more often when the opportunity arises, took too much out of the ball at times I thought.
Love watching Coulter play, had some really classy touches on the ball today even for a lad that is clearly not at full tilt yet.

Best of luck to Down for the rest of the year, ye have a good football team that is on an upward curve and your supporters are a credit to your county, the fans that I was talking to at the match anyway were sound out and called the game very fairly, which is something that I couldn't say about some places you'd head to for league games.

[PAULD123]

Galway certainly put the effort in and it looked quiet flattering on the scoreboard and the the fact that they closed to within 2 points near the end. But when they attacked us they left holes behind which our boys ran straight through and scored. Most of the game there were 10-11 Galway players in their own half closing down play and making things tight. Better teams won't be content to sit with 10 men behind the ball and that means in other games Down forwards will have more space to exploit.

But I have to have a rant. I am getting sick of the stupid way the advantage rule is written. And frankly I don't even blame the ref, its the rule that is the problem. The advantage rule in Gaelic is like soccer. The ref sees a foul and decide to award it or play advantage with whatever happens next allowed to happen. In rugby the advantage is signalled and the ref plays on for a short while to determine if it really was an advantage and if it wasn't he goes back to to award the original free.

The first one works in soccer because you can clearly see if there is an advantage or not, you can't in rugby and also you can score much easier from a free in rugby. Gaelic in that respect is closer to rugby, a free anywhere 35 yards out is close to being a  certain point and secondly you can not generally predict advantage when the ball is flying through the air. The rule should be like rugby where the ref can play on for 2-3 seconds then call it back. Croke park need to see the sense in this. I was so annoyed at the weekend about it. So many bad calls by the ref but most not his fault. he can not possibly know what will happen next when he signals advantage. As I see it, it is just plain wrong.

[fearbrags]

I agree totally  about  the  advantage rule . This is the one rule that should have being changed years ago.

[Leo]

McVeigh 7 A solid prformance, great under the high ball, kick outs improved
McCartan 7 Hardly dynamic but put in a decent game
Gordon 8 His best game for a long time both fielding and covering
Howard No rating as he had barely warmed up when injured - bad luck
Brannigan 6 Good in flashes, reckless in others
McKernan 4 Sad to say another shocker - he just cannot defend
Rooney 8 A superb return to the team
King 6 Much better than last time, still not fit  but put in huge effort
Fitzpatrick 8 His best game both in midfield and going forward
Hughes 8 After the early Galway onslaught it was his running from deep that got us going
Poland 7 A quieter day fro him,  huge height disadvantage with his marker
Maginn 9 At last a performance that confirms his growing stature, break ball winning was tops
Laverty 7 Lively early on, faded a bit, won some good ball
Coulter 7 Double marked throughout yet we still tried to lash high ball in his direction
Clarke 9 Never shirked the physical stuff, mopped up a lot of ball, some lovely passing
Garvey 7 Very steady game, will start on Saturday
Colgan 7 Made a big impression, looks very fit
Carr 6 Plenty of energy going forward

The good the bad and the downright ugly yesterday - hope the basic errors were all left behind in this game or Armagh will take us.