Down Club Hurling & Football

[befair]

The game I was at last weekend there was a load of referees calling fouls, right enough none of them were on the pitch.
But apart from that there's been no real new refs in the county this past 4/5 years. The odd one or two but more leaving?

With the abuse refs receive, who would want to be a GAA ref? Managers make mistakes, players miss open goals, but it's easier to blame the ref.

[snoopdog]

Any team news for tonight's game. Did the 500 spectators get selected or how did the tickets get sorted? 12 to every club?
I dont know how it will go but Down have struggled against Laois over last number of years. They have had height in Kingston that Down always struggle with and begley will be a bonus to them if fit.

[Leftmidfield]

All I know is Gerard Mcgovern is full back and Patrick Murdock is left corner back

[snoopdog]

Good win today. I didnt see it but another year in div 2 gives something to build on. Looking at div 2 if it had been played as normal I wouldve looked at Laois and westmeath as games to win to keep us up.  Cant see is troubling Donegal but sure just go for it nothing to lose.

[Dubh driocht]

A good finish to our league campaign and we will be dining at the number 2 table for another year.
Tally managed the game well and while the kick out strategy is far from perfect, it has come on leaps and bounds, with Rory Burns born again to claim a second successive motm performance.
Full back line was strong, only Darren impressed in HB line and Ryan McAvoy brought plenty to the mf sector when he came on apart from his black card and mad cross field pass to Donie Kingston.
Liam Kerr was pick of the forward line despite 1.9 from Barry O'Hagan while Cory Quinn didn't do a lot but everything was quality.  He has the balance and skills of Mark Poland but more end product.  The usual mixture of madness and brilliance from Mooney while all subs did well.
We probably won't get close to Donegal but I'm certain we will put on a good show with pride in the Jersey.

[Mourne Rover]

That was a decent performance from Down in hugely pressurised circumstances so full credit to the squad and management. We managed to give away two poor goals, but Laois effectively handed two back to us, and Down were good value for the win in the end. We still could have lost, if it had not been for three brilliant saves from Burns, while Kerr was outstanding and Barry O'Hagan was excellent from both frees and open play. Our second goal was pretty bizarre, with Mooney making a mess of an attempt to fist a point and the Laois keeper somehow fumbling the ball into the net. We have nothing to lose against Donegal, who are likely to be at a different level, but today was a day when the only thing that mattered was the result.

[Sheedy]

Watched match on GAAGO thought it was a more than decent performance. Liam kerr and Barry OHagan always carried a threat up front, Cory Quinn was decent in flashes as well. Rory Burns was probably motm with a couple of brilliant saves. If only we could unearth a real top quality midfielder from somewhere. Division 2 status secured which was vital for the development of this team, lots of new players being introduced.

[Johnnysboys]

A very positive performance yesterday I thought with some outstanding individual performances.. Liam Kerr, Darren and Barry OHagan, Mooney and Quinn in flashes added to by Burns, Patrick murdock and Daniel Guinness. It was vital we stayed in division two for the development of this group long term and hopefully with another few additions next season we can finish more comfortable in the division.
Mayo, Kildare gone up and Laois, Westmeath gone down and with Derry/Offaly promoted and Roscommon (so far) relegated it makes for an interesting division next season..
Championship I just don't see us at the races to be honest. Murphy, McFadden, McHugh, Langan, Gallagher, etc etc pose a serious physical and football threat.. but here's hoping...

[Smurfy123]

It really doesn't sit well with me when we as a county after spending thousands and thousands of pounds on a management team that was supposed to take us to the next level our county and supporters are celebrating a relegation win as if it's a winning formula
As it turned out Meath actually were not much good after all. And Westmeath took a tanking
Now I'm not suggesting that the players won't be relieved but we were told this manager would take us to the next level.
The celebrating posts on social media are worrying
Not to long ago we were in division 1 and comfortable in it for a while
All that is wrong with this county
Imagine the greats of the 90s celebrating that

[snoopdog]

It really doesn't sit well with me when we as a county after spending thousands and thousands of pounds on a management team that was supposed to take us to the next level our county and supporters are celebrating a relegation win as if it's a winning formula
As it turned out Meath actually were not much good after all. And Westmeath took a tanking
Now I'm not suggesting that the players won't be relieved but we were told this manager would take us to the next level.
The celebrating posts on social media are worrying
Not to long ago we were in division 1 and comfortable in it for a while
All that is wrong with this county
Imagine the greats of the 90s celebrating that

I'm curious as to who you would suggest we get in as a manager if Tally goes. There was a committee set up to get a manager last time. Danny Hughes et al . I'm not saying Tally will improve these guys. They dont look to have a kickout strategy for one but are we not at our level? Middle of the road.

[Smurfy123]

That is the thing. We have not improved one bit in 3 years.
Anyone who says that this team has improved in 3 years are not telling the truth
The kickout strategy is one
Forward play looks like it's off the cuff and no pattern to it from one game to the next
My gripe with it is the colossal amount of money being spent on a sub standard mananemgt team when we could get one within Down a margin of the cost

Mulholland
McAleenan
Poacher
Lynch
Deegan
McCartan

All above are young and have been about but it will be a no because they never managed at this level
Time for us to drop that also
We have had all that before and failed

[Johnnysboys]

That is the thing. We have not improved one bit in 3 years.
Anyone who says that this team has improved in 3 years are not telling the truth
The kickout strategy is one
Forward play looks like it's off the cuff and no pattern to it from one game to the next
My gripe with it is the colossal amount of money being spent on a sub standard mananemgt team when we could get one within Down a margin of the cost

Mulholland
McAleenan
Poacher
Lynch
Deegan
McCartan

All above are young and have been about but it will be a no because they never managed at this level
Time for us to drop that also
We have had all that before and failed

A margin of the cost?? Are you serious??? Two of these mentioned above have been with my club - one currently there - and another offered his services when we had our last manager.. none of these people are cheap I can promise you that.. Apart from McCartan - who else in ur list has a right to be touted as an intercounty manager??? If Tally does step down or is pushed - we need an outsider as there is simply no one within our county capable (maybe wee James at a push) of taking us to the "next level"

[Mourne Rover]

Smurfy's bitter disappointment that Down were not relegated to D3 must have affected this memory when he said we were comfortable when we were in D1 `not too long ago.'
We have only been in D1 for one season out of the last eight, back in 2016, when we managed to lose all seven of our games.
Tally inherited a squad which had just been relegated to D3, and has since managed to get us back to D2 and then consolidate our position there for another year.
The season before he came in, we were demolished by Donegal in the USC, even though we had an extra man for practically the entire match.
Our USC record since then is that we lost to Armagh by a point after extra time in 2019, and then beat Fermanagh before losing to Cavan by a point last year.
We have a long way to go, and there have been plenty of setbacks along the way, but the suggestion that `we have not improved one bit' since the 2018 collapse against Donegal is ludicrous.
The reality is that division two is our optimum level at the moment. We have a decent group of committed young players who are capable of further progress next year, but we are not close to being among the top ten sides in the country, regardless of who is in charge, and criticising the team for failing to get to the top division makes no sense.

[snoopdog]

That is the thing. We have not improved one bit in 3 years.
Anyone who says that this team has improved in 3 years are not telling the truth
The kickout strategy is one
Forward play looks like it's off the cuff and no pattern to it from one game to the next
My gripe with it is the colossal amount of money being spent on a sub standard mananemgt team when we could get one within Down a margin of the cost

Mulholland
McAleenan
Poacher
Lynch
Deegan
McCartan

All above are young and have been about but it will be a no because they never managed at this level
Time for us to drop that also
We have had all that before and failed

Deegan didnt do much with the u21s/u20s. Our Minors last year were supposed favourites for the all ireland , under poacher and wee james they looked like 15 lads that never played together.

[Johnnysboys]

Any word when league fixtures are being released or when the club championship draw is being done???