Down Club Hurling & Football

[thewobbler]

Well done the yellas.

That was probably easier than they were expecting.

Burren were very direct against us earlier in the championship, but for whatever reason they went sideways all day today. Clonduff mixed it up much better; were happy to hold it, run it, kick it. There was an exchange in the last few mins that summed it up. Burren came storming out of defence and went sideways a few times between the 45s, before the attack petered out. Clonduff regained the ball and 2 kicks later were inside the other 13m line. Okay it didn't end up in a score for them, but at least it carried a threat.

Oddly enough - even though he's a genuine all time great of their club - losing Darren O'H to injury might have helped them. Big Ben is never in a million years a "substitute level player" and was exceptional.

Charlie Carr had the game of his life.

[MK]

Well deserved Yellas.

Lead from start to finish and  Brown's 2 pointers were crucial.

Every block and score were cheered by the most enthusiastic support in Pairc Esler in years.

 

[befair]

Burren were poor; when I saw them celebrating after the semi-final I expected the worst today. Delighted for Clonduff

[downtothecore]

The yellas were good and deserved to win tge championship this year. I hope they dont over celebrate and give a good account of themselves in ulster. They are capable of progressing...

Carryduff are not to far away....

[befair]

The yellas were good and deserved to win tge championship this year. I hope they dont over celebrate and give a good account of themselves in ulster. They are capable of progressing...

Carryduff are not to far away....

True; Carryduff must be kicking themselves, seemed in control in the semi-final until a late flukey goal. There's always next year....

[Maurice Moss]

Fair play to the yellas, never gave Burren a sniff and were well worth the win! Got all the match ups spot on and a tough nut to crack! Enjoy the celebrations!

[Mourne Red]

Thought it would have happened a few years ago, Mickey Harte in with Kilcoo.

[MourneMaverick]

Down Hurling championship

SHC, Portaferry. I can see portaferry walking away comfortable winners. Ballygalgat could have been best by ballycran if they were more clinical in front of goal.

IHC- Clonduff, Can see Clonduff edging the final. Shamrocks solid team but think they caught warrenpoint on a potentially off day from what iv heard.

JHC- Warrenpoint, I think warrenpoint will have a point to prove here as they let a intermediate final slip threw thier hands. They will have to much depth and strength across the pitch for castlewellan to handle.

What players expected to stand out for each team in the finals shot away 👍

[downgael2065]

Is there no other clubs in south down that field hurling teams? Ive lived abroad mamy years now, it Seems warrenpoint, clonduff the only two, would benefit the county if hurling could grow in these areas but maybe its a hard thing to try create

[MourneMaverick]

Prediction for friday night warrenpoint by 4-6 points

[TW2464]

Probably the last dance for Kilcoo. The last roll of the dice. An area as small as that will unlikely get a generation of footballers like this for a long time, so they're dead right to try maximise what they have left of it. Any chance Mickey can tempt Dylan Ward back from Australia? Would be a massive boost for them.

[marty34]

Probably the last dance for Kilcoo. The last roll of the dice. An area as small as that will unlikely get a generation of footballers like this for a long time, so they're dead right to try maximise what they have left of it. Any chance Mickey can tempt Dylan Ward back from Australia? Would be a massive boost for them.

They'll be thinking it'll be Mickey Moran 2.

[Splash]

Down Hurling Championships underway tomorrow night. Stsrting with a repeat on the 2022 Junior Final. Don't think anybody would have been too surprised by this pairing, with the only caveat being it would have been in the Intermediate Final. Don't think anybody expected Castlewellan to be here, and plenty of people were backing the Point to top the group.
Nonetheless, will probably be the closest game of the weekend. CPN seem to have Castlewellan's number, but Castlewellan have beat the same teams that Warrenpoint beat to get here by bigger margins (albeit the sides have two distinct styles of play). Logically the Point should edge it, but have a feeling Castlewellan may do the back to back, even if they aren't as primed as last year. Interestingly Point manager was on the losing side with Castlewellan in the 2022 fixture.

The novel pairing of Clonduff and Shamrocks in the Intermediate came a bit out of nowhere. Don't think anybody would have been surprised had Clonduff gone out in the group stage based off of form.
Shamrocks have massively regressed from their golden years of 2020-2022ish, but should still probably have enough for Clonduff.
Clonduff will have no fear though, and I have no doubt are backing themselves to grind Shamrocks down and keep the ball off the men who can do the damage.

Senior it's very hard to see past Portaferry. They've won every game in this championship at an average of 25 points, and never looked like they got out of second gear. Ballygalget are the team that came the closest to them (10 points) in the round-robin, but it's very hard to see Portaferry getting caught at the minute. Going for 5 in a row, which to my knowledge, hasn't been done since Kilclief about 100 years ago.
It is all set up for Ballygalget to ruin that, but the Ports will take some stopping in Down.

Should be some good match ups. Some great hurling will be on show.

RE the South Down hurling clubs- there's a few. Point, Clonduff, Shamrocks, as well as Ballela and Ballyvarley.

As has been mentioned, Clann Mhúrn, a hurling club covering An Riocht, Longstone, Attical, Ballymartin, and Gladrumman. As JC says, the trick will be getting them beyond U12. Wouldn't it be great to see?

Couple other clubs this side of the water, although would be considered 'East Down.'

Burren did indeed start up hurling this summer, and by all accounts, it's going well. I know of at least two clubs in South Down who are looking to introduce hurling shortly, and know people in a few more clubs who are talking about going down a similar path, for whatever that's worth.

I don't actually think it's that difficult to start hurling up in clubs at the moment. There is plenty of support available through Hurling Starter Packs, etc., and it is hard to see the downside of clubs offering hurling.

The County Board probably should be taking a more proactive approach to growing the game.
It's great to see individual people and clubs putting the work in, but the Tyrone County Board took the steps to establish 3 hurling clubs in the county.

Something like that done by Down would be unbelievable.

6 clubs have introduced hurling since 2020, if things keep going at that rate it'll be great to see.

[johnnycool]

Sun better keep shining otherwise Pairc Esler will be like a ploughed field come Sunday.

[Blue By Nature]

Did someone delete the pages from 2982 back to 2967?