An Dún v Muineachán - 19/03/11 - Páirc Esler

[Highlander3]

yea i am having the same problem with five fm, and Setanta i is not working either

[armaghniac]

Double scores now Down 0-8 Monaghan 0-4.
Down packing the defence and breaking at speed.
Not looking great for the Monaghan men.

[eiled in the bushes]

For radio -  go for the objective coverage  - Northern Sound.

http://www.northernsound.ie/

good man main street,thanks for that

[armaghniac]

Monaghan's first two points from play. So Down 0-8 Monaghan 0-6. Half time and a lot to play for.

[ballela-angel]

Posted by: Main Street 
Insert Quote
I have the game on radio but are there any streams of the Setanta coverage?

I'm watching it live on Setanta in the States

[Main Street]

"that would be a wonderful score but it's not"

[Main Street]

Down well ahead in the game by 7 points  going into the last few minutes.

[borderfox]

Well played Down. Cant believe the turnaround that you've made since wee James took over. Fair play to you.

[Dubh driocht]

This was by far Down's easiest game as bar Finlay,Monaghan basically didn't turn up.
Still important to get the win and a result in Croke Park will see us going to Killarney to qualify for the Division One final. These are great days to be a Down supporter and, again, everyone should support the Raceday on the 27th March as you would be proud of this team.
Alder was 10 out of 10- Murdoch is solid but he could have spread himself better in Cork so no rotation and stick with the man in possession. Gerard Mc Cartan really is the find of the league ; Tomas Freeman didn't get a kick, Dan and Benny Mc Ardle were sound but the HB line for me were the platform; stopped any ball going inside and supported the MF on every occasion.
KK is back, Pete is in and out - his timing in the first half was all over the show but he and Marty link so well. Despite getting MoM I thought MC was average by his standards ( yet recorded 1-3!).Poly is the best brain around and Slasher Maginn is everywhere. Benny was well marked by Corey, Mc Comiskey was good but not great but , best for last, Danny Hughes is on fire. I haven't seen the Gooch or Brogan yet but Danny is the best I've seen this season. Watching these 6 forwards ( or indeed Murtagh) is one of the joys of life- their running off the ball is something else and they are all as coool as f**k in possession.
My only concern from tonight was that we could have won by twice as much and wiped out last week's blip but not much to complain about. Didn't see Colgan on the bench- anyone know if he's injured? Onwards to Croke- Up Down !

[Tatler Jack]

Having seen both Down and Monaghan in the past couple of weeks against Cork would have to say I was far more impressed with Down even though they lost by more in the end. The Down v Cork game was played at a much higher tempo and Down looked far more creative and it was not until Corks second goal that they fell away. Monaghan looked a workmalike side strong in the centre of defence but fairly predictable. Downs forward play will test a lot of defences and if they can get a reliable midfield they will be in the mix again this year.

[Leo]

Alder 8 Totaly assured, good variation on kick outs although a couple went astray
McCartan 8 Another mghtily impressive performance
Gordon 7 Curates egg, good in parts
McArdle 8 Massive re-introduction to the county scene, a big impact tonight
Garvey 6 Rough diamond. Still like him.
McKernan 8 A commanding display interspersed with a few headless moments. Still not a No. 6 but a big time player.
Rooney 7 Gets forward and gets stuck in but also gets caught out. Improving.
King 8 Getting back to the standard, incredible workrate.
Fitzpatrick 7 The good the bad and the ugly of Down football - he's young, gifted and here to stay - plenty of silly mistakes and turnovers but growing all the time.
Hughes 10 Incredible workrate, skill and leadership - his finest game in the red and black.
Poland 8 A non-stop game of energy and eneavour.
Maginn 8 Covered the whole pitch and half of Newry as well - is as close to Blaney as we could offer up a novena for.
McComiskey 7 Patchy - but his presence of mind to fist a couple of points shows a maturity that will bring him on greatly.
Coulter 8 Not at his best but still a threat every time the ball went near him - prepared to pass to players better placed, hit a couple of bad wides, timing out on a few high balls - but, heh, back in the mix and that will do fine.
Clarke 8 Some sublime passes, some errant ones, I am worried about his unwillingness to track his man when the ball is not ours, place kicking of the highest order, a big influenece on the game. and the penalty was a killer.

Good use of the subs bench bit none on long enough to assess.

[Mourne Rover]

As Dubh Driocht rightly says, these are good days to be a Down supporter. Fortress Pairc Esler is playing its part, and, after seven points out of eight at home last season, we have finished our division one programme with six out of six and guaranteed top league status next year. It was also vital to demonstrate that the last ten minutes in Cork was a blip, and that we can compete against physically strong opposition.

Monaghan were a  big disappointment and would have been completely hammered without Finlay's frees and general willingness to take hits and provide leadership. McManus is a quality player who did not contribute and perhaps some Monaghan posters could tell us why Freeman has declined to a shadow of his former self.

Alder was excellent, with confident distribution throughout, and our full-back line was impressive. McArdle was just about the pick, looking forceful and pushing forward, while Dan was confident and capable, but McCartan had another fine shift. He takes his man out of the game with the minimum of fuss, never wastes a ball and and has plenty of pace.

Garvey had a tangle before the ball was thrown in, got a yellow later and was a little luckiy to avoid a late red, but is still the type of defender we need. Rooney is a quality player pushing up, with two points from play, and is capable of doing even better at the back. McKernan had a couple of brilliant interceptions to disguise some positional flaws, but the basic ability is there in spades.

Kalum, after a couple of ropey displays,, is getting fitter and much more like the 2010 version, Fitzpatrick was ordinary in the first half but got better and better in the closing stages.

Hughes was again a gem, with a point after 20 seconds to set the scene, works harder than anyone else and was by some distance the best on show. Poiland and Maginn are a fantastic double act, as well as being natural footballers, who pop up when they are needed.

Without being harsh, our full forward line was not at its best. McComiskey did not get much service, but was dangerous in flashes and got a couple of fine points. Benny was ordinary for spells, but got a point at last and won what seemed like three penalties in the same movement to clinch the game.

Marty was completely out of sorts early on, with basic handling errors and a 20m free which never got off the ground. His passing is still sublime, and his free-takiing late on was of the highest quality. It's hard to believe that he was the official MoM ahead of Danny,but we go on to Croke Park in pretty good shape.

[Main Street]

Monaghan were a  big disappointment and would have been completely hammered without Finlay's frees and general willingness to take hits and provide leadership. McManus is a quality player who did not contribute and perhaps some Monaghan posters could tell us why Freeman has declined to a shadow of his former self.

That was Tommy Freeman's first start this year. He is only warming up.
Poor game by all accounts from Monaghan. Down should have received at least a contest from Monaghan but I expect better will come in our last 2 games.

[whitegoodman]

Decent performance last night, was very very disappointed in monaghan, didnt seem interested at times and although Freeman may only be back from injury he looked miles of the pace and mcmanus was poor as well.  Finlay seemed the only threat they had.

For Down Alder had a good games, solid and kickouts were massive.  Murdock was injured and the Loughanisland keeper was on the bench. 

The 2 corner backs were very impressive and Dan McCartan and Dee Rafferty are going to have a fight on their hands to get their place back. The good, the bad and the ugly from big  Dan at times.  R full back line looks really solid which people would have laughed at a couple of years ago.  Garvey as solid as usual, Mckernan was loose in the first 15 mins but improved there after and is great coming out with the ball, Rooney had a great game, 2 great scores and always an outlet.  Garvey and Rooney represent a bit of cut which has been missing for a long time in the Down team.

Improvement from midfield, King had his best game of the year and is getting better game by game as expected when his fitness improved, fitzpatrick frustrating as ever with some good stuff mixed with some rediculous.

In fairness to McGinn who i would be a critic of he had a decent game, winning breaking ball and kicked over a nice point but he just lacks penetration at times.  The current down team thrive on breaking at pace and i just feel he slows it up too much at time.  Also seen in an earlier post the name mcginn and blaney mentioned in the same sentence, that was funny.  Thought Poland was poor at times and was caught in the tackle when he should have been moving the ball on.  HE also lost Dessy Mone a few times when he was moving forward.  Cant really say much more about Danny, he is playing the best football of his career and is currently Downs best player.

Full Forward line did well but flattered to deceive.  McCumisky could have had 1 5 and needs to be mored clinical, benny doesnt look right which may be expected given it was his first game back but did well for the penalty, marty was decent without getting anywhere near his best.   Annoys me when he gets MOM for being marty clarke and scoreing 1 3 all bar one of which from placed balls, nice pen all the same.

Got to be happy with the league thus far and i hope they go out and have a real go against Dublin and Kerry now knowing they have nothing to lose.  Think we will get a result in at least one of those games.

Finally thanks to James and the boys for getting Down football back to where they are meant to be, at the top end of county football in the country and away from the bad old days of a couple of years ago in Leitrim and Fermanagh.

[Maguire01]

That was by far the worst Monaghan performance this year - never looked like doing anything and lucky to be within 2 points at the break. Losing Lennon didn't help and Hughes was a big loss in defence, but we were running into dead-ends all night.

Freeman is off the pace, but bar Finlay, none of the forwards got into the game, although Down crowded out the defence massively - at times they had 13 /14 men in their own half and trying to play the ball in was futile.

Hopefully we can't play that bad again.