An Dun v Corcaigh, Saturday 23rd July

[Mourne Rover]

The price of 6/1 for Down to be winning at half time and full time is a decent one, although, with the quality on our bench and Cork's injury list, the idea that we would finish strongly is surely not out of the question. Another bet available is Marty to be the top scorer in the championship at 33/1. It could be over later today, but those odds will fall sharply if we are still in the draw on Sunday. While he is seventh overall at the moment, the Meath and Longford players ahead of him are not going to add to their total.  There are also two Wexford forwards there, who cannot be guaranteed to get beyond the quarters. Goulding of Cork and Doyle of Kildare are serious contenders, but they are only two ahead of Marty. Regardless of any individuals, Down are heading to Croke Park as complete outsiders and under no pressure. As the team who lost last year's AI final by a point, and a mid-table division one side, it's not a bad position to be in.

[Kerry Mike]

Brolly: Cork 'primitive', Canty 'overrated'By Terry Reilly - Saturday, July 23, 2011

FORMER Derry star Joe Brolly has labelled Cork football as "primitive" and Graham Canty as "overrated".

The latest tirade from the RTÉ panellist added that the sole reason for the Rebels' All-Ireland success last year was their "crash, bang, wallop" approach.

"The video of Cork's All-Ireland year will soon be available in shops, welcome news for all lovers of rugby league," he wrote in his column in Gaelic Life.

"They have been able to bludgeon and bore their way through every team in the country with their primitive approach, but as we saw for the umpteenth time in the Munster final, the Kingdom are far too smart for them.

"I said last year they are a dumb team and I saw nothing against Kerry that might cause me to alter that assessment. Overwhelming domination of the middle third, ceaseless hard running at defences and two excellent free-takers have brought them an All-Ireland and make them very hard to beat.

"In Killarney, they floundered, but still managed to keep in touch, courtesy of hard running, frees and the virtually obligatory penalty. The over-rated Graham Canty was again shown up, by both Star and Declan O'Sullivan.

"Four points from play in the first half doesn't tell the whole story. "What do people see in Canty?" a Kerry man texted me at half-time. "I don't know" was my response.

"In fairness, Kerry people are very harsh judges of a footballer. Someone like Graham, whose strengths are his physique, athleticism and never-say-die attitude, underwhelms them. They have that in Kerry, but on top of that they have the skills. Graham does not. He has been described as a star in the hybrid Rules game and is always discussed as a great in the media. I don't see it."

[Kerry Mike]

Danger day for championsBy Dara Ó Cinneide - Saturday, July 23, 2011

MUCH like the Limerick game at this stage last year, this evening's All-Ireland Football Qualifier against Down is a dangerous curve ball to be thrown at Conor Counihan and his charges.

Cork will have spent the past three weeks digesting the lessons from the Munster final and will for the last two weeks geared themselves specifically for the challenge from the Mourne men. But because Down are one of the most instinctive football teams around these days, it makes them very hard to second guess. They are the ultimate hot and cold county and as such, we really don't know what to expect from them at Croke Park this evening. This game is fraught with danger for Cork and there are no real form-lines to study in Down's wins over Clare, Leitrim and Antrim.

Returning to the entrails of last year's final could be pointless. Games are often studied only when they start to go wrong. The end of things is the moment when people start to understand them: and only when they are understood do we begin to realise what has been lost. We know that much in Kerry from all the finals we've lost and I'm sure Down know it from their first ever All Ireland loss last year. That understanding comes too late for many because things move on and team dynamics change.

Very few teams get the opportunity that Down are getting this evening, however. After the depths of ten months ago, they are presented with a chance to soar once again against the All Ireland champions. This evening for Down is going to be about tradition, experience, audacity and adrenalin. It's quite a prospect.

Cork, in the business of rehabilitation after Killarney, are going to have to remind themselves of what made them champions last autumn against a team who appeared to have lost their mojo for much of this summer. Down, wrestling with issues of style and temperament since the end of May, are presented with a chance to settle up for last September. Throw in the added bonus of getting a game in Croke Park under their belts for whichever team advances to the All-Ireland quarter-final, and the picture becomes clear - the team that emerges from this scrap is going to have serious momentum heading into August weekend.

Midfield will be fascinating. It is widely accepted that this was the one area in which Down were obliterated against Cork last September and the breaking ball statistics (23-9 in favour of the Rebels) speaks volumes. Alan Quirke, whose short kick-outs were so heavily criticised in the aftermath of the Munster final is likely to change tack this time but to burden Quirke with all of Cork's midfield failings is misguided and unfair.

Quirke, I have no doubt carried out his instructions to the absolute limits of their possibilities against Kerry but he cannot be the scapegoat for some really poor distribution and decision making by Cork's numbers 5-9. Those same people who are criticising Quirke now are ignoring his contribution to the All-Ireland last September. The midfield problems Down experienced in the All-Ireland were as a direct result of Quirke out-thinking Down. We all knew beforehand that the Down midfielders were never going to be as good at getting clean ball as their Cork counterparts. But that hadn't been a problem to Down up to then as they were more than adequate at securing the breaking ball with Hughes and Poland hustling all year to pick up those breaks.

Ahead of the final Cork would've seen this and neutralised the Down tactic by splitting their midfield wide open. Instead of chipping the ball to a morass of bodies, with half-backs and half-forwards looking for scraps underneath, Cork asked both midfielders to play wide and create a huge space between them. This had the effect of isolating Kalum King on Aidan Walsh Walsh and Peter Fitzpatrick on Nicholas Murphy for the second half. Down couldn't swarm the catcher and Cork's superior aerial power won out. If Hughes and Poland went towards Walsh, Quirke would hit it to Murphy and vice versa. It was a simple ploy that Down couldn't counteract and Quirke's role in it was crucial.

Things have moved on and it is worth noting the difference in midfield personnel since last September. Down started against Antrim last week with former wing-back Declan Rooney partnering King at midfield and Fitzpatrick coming in off the bench for King late in the game. All of this while the best midfielder in the county (Ambrose Rodgers) is slowly getting back to championship fitness after injury and while the second best midfielder in the county (Dan Gordon) is fast becoming a really reliable inter-county full-back. Gordon's positioning is a classic catch-22 situation for the Down management. Do you sacrifice possession at midfield for stability at the back or do you go gung-ho to win midfield and hope that your lack of physicality at full back doesn't get exposed? What worked against Kerry and Kieran Donaghy in 2010 didn't work against Cork and Donncha O Connor in 2010 and mightn't necessarily work in 2011.

Because of injury, Cork haven't been able to call on Nicholas Murphy lately and his loss has been stultifying. Aidan Walsh's meteoric rise has shown signs of flat-lining with an under-par showing in the All Ireland U21 semi-final against Galway and a less than clever first half against Kerry at the start of the month. Cork's strength-in-depth at centrefield in 2010 was reflected in the manner in which five different players were used in the final. After half an hour on the field, Murphy was injured and replaced by Derek Kavanagh and within minutes he required a blood replacement, Fintan Goold. For different reasons, neither Kavanagh, Murphy nor Goold are available as out and out midfielders this time, leaving Alan O Connor as the only player with form in the area. The importance of a big performance from Aidan Walsh doesn't need further highlighting.

There are so many warning signs flashing ahead of this game for Cork that we have to assume they will have taken heed. They will know that the tackling by their forwards in the first half in Killarney simply wasn't good enough. They will know too that it shouldn't take their talisman, Graham Canty as long again to get under the skin of the game. The quality of their kick-passing will have to improve and their half backs will have to get back to bursting out of defence at pace rather than dithering and leaning into the tackler looking for frees as O Leary, Kissane and Miskella have been doing. Cork's best player, Michael Shields is wasted on marking duties (unless it's the Gooch in the corner) and what his team will gain in negating Coulter as he did in last year's final, they will lose in ambition and ability further out the field.

In the final analysis we must ask ourselves a few simple questions. Questions like, have Down any defender to track Paul Kerrigan's runs when the game opens up? Or have Down found anybody since this year's league encounter between the sides when Cork outscored the Ulster side 2-4 to 0-1 in the last 20 minutes and had no answer to Daniel Goulding as he ran riot in the first half with seven points from play and frees? Is Marty Clarke's influence as pronounced as it was this time last year? Are Down's new players blooded during league and qualifier games (Laverty, Mooney, McArdle and Brannigan) going to take Croke Park by storm or is Patrick Kelly going to have his influence diminished by a Down half-back as it was three weeks ago by Kerry? The answer to all the above questions is "no". This "no" affirms the existence of a borderline in the Rebels' season. They can and will push on.

[bcarrier]

http://www.thescore.ie/brolly-slams-primitive-cork-and-calls-canty-overrated-183849-Jul2011/

Brolly gives the Cork Team talk ...

X-DERRY FOOTBALLER Joe Brolly is not a Cork fan.

The Sunday Game pundit has launched an attack on the county's football team, saying that they were "able to bludgeon and bore their way through every team in the country with their primitive approach" last season.

The Rebels face Down in a repeat of last year's All-Ireland SFC final tomorrow.

But Brolly argues, in a provocative article for GaelicLife.com, that a DVD documenting last year's success will be great viewing "for all lovers of rugby league".

Despite winning the top prize, Brolly claims they are "a dumb team" and felt their loss to Kerry last month vindicated his persistent criticism of the side. He did offer Cork reserved praise, saying they "play with courage and integrity," but added that they are "not in the same league as Kerry".

He also called their captain, Graham Canty, "over-rated", and said he can't understand why he is considered a great player.

Kerry beat Cork 1-15 to 1-12 recently to win the Munster football final.

[bcarrier]

Dar O'C is just about best pundit out there now.

[PAULD123]

Kerry Mike, Where did you find that article published? I'm wondering becuase in the middle if it is an entire paragraph which is virtually a direct word for word quote from a post made on Hoganstand last week. Could you please point me in the direction of the original article? What newspaper or website did you see it on?

[here comes 6]

no doubt the kerry folk will be shouting for their neighbours this evening as they know they can beat them in croker.  (Something they cant do to Down)  UP DOWN

[NP 76]

THIS IS IT good luck lads An Dun Abu

[Class of 99]

Our fitness will be put to the test today in that heat, might suit the smaller players like Conor and Paul if he gets a run.

[Kerry Mike]

Articles from the examiner . And no I won't lower myself and support cork. Heading for Jones rd in a while

[stevetharlear]

Articles from the examiner . And no I won't lower myself and support cork. Heading for Jones rd in a while

Good man Mike, I can't understand these Cork fellas supporting Kerry either, usually from West Cork. They look at ya like you've 2 heads if you're supporting Tyrone or Down against the animals.

[Frank Casey]

KM,

Great to see you up so early on a Saturday morning and sharpening the knife for the neighbours. Kinda sticks in the craw to agree with Brolly

[joemamas]

tv3 does not begin web viewing until 6.30pm. Somebody should have told them the game begins at 6pm. I tried calling the station, might as well have tried calling the north pole. God I thought the were a step ahead of rte. Oh well its the radio and Brian Carty and that other rocket scientist for me.

[Blowitupref]

Canty out big blow to Cork.

[joemamas]

thanks for the info, would appreciate update until half-time anyway.