An Dun v Corcaigh, Saturday 23rd July

Rufus T Firefly · July 25, 2011, 01:47:15 AM

Not that it makes any difference, but I'm convinced Down's last point, where the lad blazed high with just the keeper to beat, was wide. Checked it a few times on the SKY+ pause button (yes, I am that sad).

Tubberman · July 25, 2011, 09:29:00 AM

Quote from: Rufus T Firefly on July 25, 2011, 01:47:15 AM
Not that it makes any difference, but I'm convinced Down's last point, where the lad blazed high with just the keeper to beat, was wide. Checked it a few times on the SKY+ pause button (yes, I am that sad).

Thought that as well when watching it before the q-final draw yesterday evening. Seemed clearly wide, but I didn't rewind it to check again.

bcarrier · July 25, 2011, 09:30:57 AM

Quote from: whitegoodman on July 24, 2011, 10:26:43 PM
Its very early to be looking ahead to next year but I would think that the main position that james and co ( assuming they stay on ) is no longer FB, more CHB.

McKernan is too open and too lose. Id actually like to see him go to wing half foward as he one of few of our players who can shoot from distance, he has the energy to get up and down the line and he can pass the ball.

IMO Doyle is very like McKernan in that he is a ball playing CHB with passing ability and great going forward but can struggle to man mark and maintain the position. Whether he has the legs for the position is also questionable.

Rooney played his best football for his county in his first year under Ross at CHB. Has the strength and mobility to play the position, can pass, can man mark but questionable whether he has the concentration levels to play the position.

Garvey would be my choice. Strong, hard, ruthless and he certainly wouldnt let play go straight through the middle of the defence. He is our best defender and is more comfortable in the half back line than the full back line as yesterday suggested.

Maybe over the coming club championship there will be other options that come forward which are not so clear at the minute but it is certainly a position that we would need to get right if we are to move forward.

Wouldnt argue with that WGM ...didnt Garvey pick up Declan O'Sullivan for most of the Kerry game last year ? I suppose the other option might be to play Dan there ( when not facing a star/ murphy type ff) but maybe that is just creating a set of new problems. We badly need to find man markers in fashion of O'Leary/Cadogan. I dont particularly like to see the game played with that level of niggle but it seems to be part of it now . Rooney is the only Down player who plays that close to the edge.

loughshore lad · July 25, 2011, 11:00:14 AM

Quote from: Mid Down Gael on July 24, 2011, 03:08:25 PM
Yesterday was a very disapointing day for Down and it just shows just how far we are from winning an all ireland. Our midfield has been a shambles since Ambrose got injured last year and the management have not learnt from the all ireland final. They persisted with King who has been second best in each and every game this year while the selection of Anton McArdle is a complete joke.
No wonder better footballers and midfielders like Kearney, Murphy and Colgan walked away. These lads have got a raw deal.
Mark Poland is third choice free taker in Longstone, and he continues to hit them for Down and hits them poorly. Surely there is a better more consistent free taker about, at county level you cant miss so many, and it happens all too often.
Our defence is poor and has not improved as a unit this term. Its obvious we need to play a sweeper to cover our weakness.
Next season changes will have to be made, the Burren bias will have to be left aside in terms of panel selection. Lads like Aidan Carr, Paul McComiskey, Benny McArdle, Ronan Murtagh and James Colgan surely deserve to be treated better.
In terms of physical fittnes i dont think Tally has the lads in the best shape, in comparison to the Cork lads they are miles behind. A change here may do no harm, Harte got rid of him and Tyrone improved and went on to win 2 all irelands with a new trainer at the helm. A new selector would do no harm either imo, someone who will fairly assess club footballers and give guys a go on merit. McIver needs to take a more hands on role on match days, id much rather see him with James on the sidelines.

Be careful what you wish for.

Wit reference to the physical fitness of the Cork team they are well ahead of most teams bar possibly Dublin and Kildare. I don't think Harte got rid of Tallly due to his capability as a trainer/coach and many within Tyrone would suggest it was the frequent run of games in 2005 and 2008 that brought Tyrone up to speed in those years rather than the training regime.

thewobbler · July 25, 2011, 11:12:01 AM

If you do enough finger pointing you'll always find a new angle.

Two things everyone should consider:

1. This is a Cork team of freaky natural athleticism. Anyone who doubts this should look at the National League final, when they simply ran over the top of Dublin for the final 20 minutes - and that's a naturally athletic Dublin team to boot. Cork don't finish every game stronger than their opponents because of their training regime, but because they're naturally fitter.

2. One third of the Down team (McCartan, Garvey, Maginn, Hughes and Coulter) have had injury-ravaged seasons. The majority of the squad players who really could push them for a starting place (Doyle, Murtagh, D McCartan, Rafferty, Rogers) have had injury-ravaged seasons. I didn't agree with some of the team selection the other day, but dipping past the first 22-23 players against the AI champions, to make sure that everyone on the pitch was flying fit, would surely only have produced a similar result.

orangeman · July 26, 2011, 11:36:40 AM

Meanwhile, Barry O'Driscoll is also out, having sustained a fractured jaw in Saturday's victory over Down

Fractured jaw and no free

Barry O'Driscoll got crunched with a full frontal challenge - no free - there was a free later on for Dan Gordon pulling on the ball on the ground.

whitegoodman · July 26, 2011, 01:10:55 PM

The lad came steaming through and he got clobbered with a shoulder. Did u want Garvey to move out of the road and let him through?

Garvey stood with the left shoulder out and ur man ran straight into him. Not a bit of malice or dirt in it imo. Not a free imo either. Not that it mattered a jot anyway!!!

orangeman · July 26, 2011, 05:12:38 PM

Quote from: whitegoodman on July 26, 2011, 01:10:55 PM
The lad came steaming through and he got clobbered with a shoulder. Did u want Garvey to move out of the road and let him through?

Garvey stood with the left shoulder out and ur man ran straight into him. Not a bit of malice or dirt in it imo. Not a free imo either. Not that it mattered a jot anyway!!!

Seriously no free ?. I'm not saying there was any malice in it.

Like the tackle by Neil Mc Gee on Mc Guckin in the sqaure in the ulster final, that was no free either in the eyes of the ref. I wonder had Garvey's "shoulder" had been out the field a bit, would the ref have been more inclined to give a free as a free in the sqaure was going to be a penalty. Same with Mc Gee's "shoulder".

Jinxy · July 26, 2011, 05:20:29 PM

It is possible for people to get injured as a result of a fair challenge you know.
Sure didn't Peter Canavan hurt his ankle when John McDermott hit him a shoulder in '96.
Having said that, Garveys was a frontal charge and a stonewall penalty.

here comes 6 · July 26, 2011, 05:52:09 PM

Can some one please tell me what garvey was ment to do when o'driscoll came storming towards him?? F**k some people talk alot of balls on this site

whitegoodman · July 26, 2011, 07:50:30 PM

Quote from: Jinxy on July 26, 2011, 05:20:29 PM
It is possible for people to get injured as a result of a fair challenge you know.
Sure didn't Peter Canavan hurt his ankle when John McDermott hit him a shoulder in '96.
Having said that, Garveys was a frontal charge and a stonewall penalty.

Define frontal charge for me if you would.

Is it when someone stands his ground and puts out his left shoulder or alternatively is it when someone runs at pace straight towards an opposition player?

Zulu · July 26, 2011, 08:19:34 PM

Garvey both moved towards the player and shoulderd him to the chest, that's a plenalty. I would say what McGee did in the Derry game was more a case of a player protecting himself against an imminent collision rather than a frontal charge. However both were penalties IMO.

Chris agus Snoop · July 27, 2011, 09:36:25 AM

Down were very physical, there were an awful lot of these high slaps on cork players as they were going past their men.
Cadogan, Walsh and o' Leary got punched off the ball, Cadogan had to go to hospital for suspected broken rib. And O' Driscoil was shouldered in the face in a blatant penalty but was completely bottled by Duffy.