Down Club Hurling & Football

[ulstergael]

I would agree with wobbler in calling for a return to league positions deciding championship placings, relegation playoffs are brutal and league positions are probably a truer reflection of how championships should be made up rather than the one up / one down system currently in place.

Most people's top 4 sides have made it to the semi's in both SFC & IFC and should be 4 good games. For the SFC, I would predict a Kilcoo v Clonduff final. IFC - would fancy a Rostrevor v Annaclone final. The fitness of Finn McElroy is one to keep an eye on - Longstone will need him playing to come through that one.

[maldini]

Hopefully the semis are great games as the quarter finals were all over after 15 minutes

[downtothecore]

Semi finals of both senior and intermediate should be good games.

Clonduff and Carryduff haven't been beaten yet so this one is hard to call. Clonduff to edge it.

Kilcoo v Burren. I cant see Burren offering anything different than the normally do in this fixture so kilcoo will win it.

An riocht and Rostrevor for the intermediate final

[ApresMatch]

Managerial merry-go-round started yet?

[DanTheMan12]

Took myself down to newry on Monday evening hoping for a close encounter .. although the yellows did blow their neighbours out of the water, it was very obviously Connor Curran has a soft spot there .. all 50/50s going the Clonduff men's way .. I'm sure they are disappointed Connor won't be overseeing them next Friday night , ah well, maybe get Connor in the final     Still fancy burren for the lot.

[Get Over]

Took myself down to newry on Monday evening hoping for a close encounter .. although the yellows did blow their neighbours out of the water, it was very obviously Connor Curran has a soft spot there .. all 50/50s going the Clonduff men's way .. I'm sure they are disappointed Connor won't be overseeing them next Friday night , ah well, maybe get Connor in the final     Still fancy burren for the lot.

Burren for the lot? They've the ultimate test next Sunday. keeper, Backs and midfield has been impressive but it's getting the scores when it matters most. They lacked that fire power up front against a good clonduff side. I think they're a few years off challenging.

Kilcoo and Clonduff final for me

[DanTheMan12]

Took myself down to newry on Monday evening hoping for a close encounter .. although the yellows did blow their neighbours out of the water, it was very obviously Connor Curran has a soft spot there .. all 50/50s going the Clonduff men's way .. I'm sure they are disappointed Connor won't be overseeing them next Friday night , ah well, maybe get Connor in the final     Still fancy burren for the lot.

Burren for the lot? They've the ultimate test next Sunday. keeper, Backs and midfield has been impressive but it's getting the scores when it matters most. They lacked that fire power up front against a good clonduff side. I think they're a few years off challenging.

Kilcoo and Clonduff final for me

best team on paper. However implementing a system to beat Kilcoo is another thing.. not to mention the mentality barriers after all the heartache from the magpies over the years. 

[Get Over]

Whats the predictions for this weekends semi finals? Both IFC and SFC.

[Akinfenwa]

I know there were changes looked at last winter, but maybe this winter there needs to be more jeopardy as too many games have been flat and only so much of that can be put down to Portaferry's dominance.

I agree, it seems to have been that way for a while. There are a number of formats that could be done

Format 1: Top 3 format. Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team).
The Knockout: Only the top 3 teams advance. 1st place receives a bye directly to the County Final. 2nd place plays 3rd place in a single Semi-Final.

Format 2: Split the teams by strength into Group A (Portaferry, Ballygalget, Ballycran) and Group B (Liatroim, Carryduff, Bredagh).
Group Stage: Teams play home-and-away within their group (4 games each).
The Knockout:
Group A 1st place advances directly to the County Final.
Group A 2nd place advances directly to the Semi-Final.
Group A 3rd place vs Group B 1st place play a Preliminary Quarter-Final. The winner advances to play Group A 2nd place.

Format 3: Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team), with the top 4 advancing.
The Knockout:
Major Semi-Final: 1st vs 2nd. The winner goes straight to the Final. The loser gets a second chance.
Minor Semi-Final: 3rd vs 4th. The winner advances. The loser is eliminated.
Preliminary Final: Loser of 1v2 vs Winner of 3v4. The winner goes to the Final.

Are there any other suggestions that might work? Could any of these work or do they favour the big 3 too much?

[Square Ball]

The hurling resumed yesterday without much fanfare.

We'd our neighbours in yesterday, one they really should have fancied after our previous outing where we misfired so badly on all fronts and confidence low.

It was a tight enough game, we got an early goal and looked to be kicking on, but stupid frees got Ballycran back into the game, along with a well taken Ballycran goal, meant we went into the break with a 1 point lead.

The game remained pretty flat until the sending off for two yellows and deservedly so.

We were down to 14 and somehow that stirred our lads who finally decided to play a bit of hurling and pulled away with  the 6 or 7 point lead they held right to the end. Ballycran didn't use the one man advantage well at all.

The only real thing on the line was who was getting the home venue in the semi-final, which I think we need the bigger pitch to work in. Ballycran still playing a 49yo must be soul destroying for the younger lads on their panel. He still created the goal though.

The last round this Sunday are all dead rubbers, the semi-finals will be Ports v Liatroim in Portaferry and ourselves v Ballycran in Ballygalget no matter what happens results wise.

We've Carryduff in Portaferry/Kilclief now) on Sunday who may or may not depending on how friday night goes, still have an interest in the big ball.

Ports play Liatroim in Teconnaught and irrespective of Bredagh possibly beating Ballycran up in Carryduff, Liatroim would go into 4th on the same points due to the head-to-head.

I know there were changes looked at last winter, but maybe this winter there needs to be more jeopardy as too many games have been flat and only so much of that can be put down to Portaferry's dominance.

you sure? we are on 2 points with Liatroim and Ballycran both on 4, so if we beat Ballycran thats 3 teams on 4 (i am assuming Portaferry win)   it's points difference if three teams tie. we are -25, Ballycran -5 and Liatroim -4. take a big win to for us or a win and Liatroim get tanked.

[the waffler]

I know there were changes looked at last winter, but maybe this winter there needs to be more jeopardy as too many games have been flat and only so much of that can be put down to Portaferry's dominance.

I agree, it seems to have been that way for a while. There are a number of formats that could be done

Format 1: Top 3 format. Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team).
The Knockout: Only the top 3 teams advance. 1st place receives a bye directly to the County Final. 2nd place plays 3rd place in a single Semi-Final.

Format 2: Split the teams by strength into Group A (Portaferry, Ballygalget, Ballycran) and Group B (Liatroim, Carryduff, Bredagh).
Group Stage: Teams play home-and-away within their group (4 games each).
The Knockout:
Group A 1st place advances directly to the County Final.
Group A 2nd place advances directly to the Semi-Final.
Group A 3rd place vs Group B 1st place play a Preliminary Quarter-Final. The winner advances to play Group A 2nd place.

Format 3: Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team), with the top 4 advancing.
The Knockout:
Major Semi-Final: 1st vs 2nd. The winner goes straight to the Final. The loser gets a second chance.
Minor Semi-Final: 3rd vs 4th. The winner advances. The loser is eliminated.
Preliminary Final: Loser of 1v2 vs Winner of 3v4. The winner goes to the Final.

Are there any other suggestions that might work? Could any of these work or do they favour the big 3 too much?

Not sure what format will change the outcome,Portaferry look to be ahead of the pack with Ballycran & ballygalget chasing.
You could play it 5 different formats I'd be surprised if final 2 teams change

[Akinfenwa]

I know there were changes looked at last winter, but maybe this winter there needs to be more jeopardy as too many games have been flat and only so much of that can be put down to Portaferry's dominance.

I agree, it seems to have been that way for a while. There are a number of formats that could be done

Format 1: Top 3 format. Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team).
The Knockout: Only the top 3 teams advance. 1st place receives a bye directly to the County Final. 2nd place plays 3rd place in a single Semi-Final.

Format 2: Split the teams by strength into Group A (Portaferry, Ballygalget, Ballycran) and Group B (Liatroim, Carryduff, Bredagh).
Group Stage: Teams play home-and-away within their group (4 games each).
The Knockout:
Group A 1st place advances directly to the County Final.
Group A 2nd place advances directly to the Semi-Final.
Group A 3rd place vs Group B 1st place play a Preliminary Quarter-Final. The winner advances to play Group A 2nd place.

Format 3: Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team), with the top 4 advancing.
The Knockout:
Major Semi-Final: 1st vs 2nd. The winner goes straight to the Final. The loser gets a second chance.
Minor Semi-Final: 3rd vs 4th. The winner advances. The loser is eliminated.
Preliminary Final: Loser of 1v2 vs Winner of 3v4. The winner goes to the Final.

Are there any other suggestions that might work? Could any of these work or do they favour the big 3 too much?

Not sure what format will change the outcome,Portaferry look to be ahead of the pack with Ballycran & ballygalget chasing.
You could play it 5 different formats I'd be surprised if final 2 teams change

The issue raised by johnnycool wasn't to end up with a different winner, it was to increase the jeopardy and make more meaningful games. The problem raised is that too many games have been flat and basically dead rubbers.

The formats I pitched were to increase the number of meaningful matches. If it ends up with Portaferry as winner again then so be it. But atm we have a bit of a foregone conclusion for 5 matches for the three Ards teams. That's the bit that needs to change.

That was the point of the post.

[ranch]

Whats the predictions for this weekends semi finals? Both IFC and SFC.

Senior
Kilcoo v Burren - Kilcoo should do enough to win by 5+.
Clonduff v Carryduff - could go either way, 50/50 call but I'll go for Carryduff by 2.

Intermediate
An Riocht v Annaclone - Only 3 points separated them in division 2 league standings. An Riocht by 2
Rostrevor v Longstone - Rostrevor most peoples favourites at the start of the championship after winning division 2. Scraped past a div 3 Shamrocks in last 8. Longstone relegated to division 3. Rostrevor to do enough and win by 2.

Junior
Drumaness v East Belfast - East Belfast played a division above this year. Drumaness have a good record in the Junior over the years and won division 4 - Drumaness by 4
Kilclief v St Paul's - Both mid table division 4 this season, St Paul's by 1

[the waffler]

I know there were changes looked at last winter, but maybe this winter there needs to be more jeopardy as too many games have been flat and only so much of that can be put down to Portaferry's dominance.

I agree, it seems to have been that way for a while. There are a number of formats that could be done

Format 1: Top 3 format. Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team).
The Knockout: Only the top 3 teams advance. 1st place receives a bye directly to the County Final. 2nd place plays 3rd place in a single Semi-Final.

Format 2: Split the teams by strength into Group A (Portaferry, Ballygalget, Ballycran) and Group B (Liatroim, Carryduff, Bredagh).
Group Stage: Teams play home-and-away within their group (4 games each).
The Knockout:
Group A 1st place advances directly to the County Final.
Group A 2nd place advances directly to the Semi-Final.
Group A 3rd place vs Group B 1st place play a Preliminary Quarter-Final. The winner advances to play Group A 2nd place.

Format 3: Retain the single 6-team round-robin (5 games per team), with the top 4 advancing.
The Knockout:
Major Semi-Final: 1st vs 2nd. The winner goes straight to the Final. The loser gets a second chance.
Minor Semi-Final: 3rd vs 4th. The winner advances. The loser is eliminated.
Preliminary Final: Loser of 1v2 vs Winner of 3v4. The winner goes to the Final.

Are there any other suggestions that might work? Could any of these work or do they favour the big 3 too much?

Not sure what format will change the outcome,Portaferry look to be ahead of the pack with Ballycran & ballygalget chasing.
You could play it 5 different formats I'd be surprised if final 2 teams change

The issue raised by johnnycool wasn't to end up with a different winner, it was to increase the jeopardy and make more meaningful games. The problem raised is that too many games have been flat and basically dead rubbers.

The formats I pitched were to increase the number of meaningful matches. If it ends up with Portaferry as winner again then so be it. But atm we have a bit of a foregone conclusion for 5 matches for the three Ards teams. That's the bit that needs to change.

That was the point of the post.

I get what you are saying but the reality is there's 3 levels atm Portaferry ahead ballygslet then ballycran then another level to the other 3
Not sure how when the levels are so far apart you can achieve it
We all would want a more competitive competition

[marty34]

Would Down ever look at doing what Derry have did and put everyone starting out in senior championship and then grading it on that.

How many hurling clubs in Down?


Derry's is far from ideal and a lot of other counties complain about it. It was changed this year to a different format but nobody knows why or who done it.