USFC Round 1 : An Cabhan V An Dun

[charlie stubbs]

bt i think your last post just clarifies you have been talking "tripe"

[full back]

A tadd optimistic
Fcuk, one championship win & some Down posters have lost the complete plot

we werent discussing the championship, infact we were  discussing Packie Downie (if you had of read the comments prior to commenting).

Some say he is shite some say he is ok and others think he was good & had a lot of potential.

Hardly loosing the plot   

Are you related to Packie Downey or indeed are you Packie?
I am well aware you were speaking about a particular player, but saying as he has only played in 2 championship games I think those games are relevant to the discussion.
To say he is the next Gooch Cooper after those games is indeed crazy & I do believe you have lost the plot

[amallon]

maybe I was a bit harsh on Downey, he is a young lad and may improve.  I just haven't seen anything from him yet.  The Irish news said he never wasted a ball, I couldn't believe what I was reading.  He lost/gave away half the possesion he had during the game, except for the last 10 when he showed some promise.

I think we can beat Monaghan, but it will be tight and any Down supporter taking a win over Monaghan for granted is off their rocker.  The two games against Cavan will have brought Down on a good bit and we should be favourites going into the game.

[5 Sams]

I know I shouldn't but here goes......


Quote from Uladh regarding Rony Murtagh:

By the way, i had quite a chuckle at the attempted tackle last night when logie showed Larry reilly's point

While I dont think its right to laugh at other peoples efforts at tackling etc I must say most of the nation had a great big roar of a laugh when Donaghy left Francie the thug on his hole last year

[Uladh]

What's your point?

[goldenyears]

lads, this is all very silly. uladh usually has quite a bit of sense in him, and on this occasion i think he was only stating that we shouldnt get carried away, am i right? i think some of the postings since by uladh and others have pulled this whole thread into shite.

anyways for what its worth, here's my tuppence.....

• great stadium, pitch immaculate, credit to all involved in club down - i hope that the training facilities, centre of excellence a la owenbeg is the next on the agenda; also a decent set of changing rooms. they should commandeer or take over the fitness 21 building in the corner, ideal for changing rooms, physio rooms, etc etc

• fair play to micky mcveigh, i wasnt happy with his kickouts last day, but definitely his confidence and ability to play out short was a springboard for most of our attacks on the day

• full back line looked better, and i think the extra defender, sweeping up in front had a lot to do with this. I am not convinced that this was our plan though; i think Cavan dictated this by bringing their num11 back. good thing is that the mgt team now know that it works better that way and i hope recognise the need for a change

• rony murtagh was superb. looked cool and calm in position, and while i had doubts about his defending he is doing v v well

• still not convinced that dan is giving all he has; i would seriously question his bottle for a game when its in the balance.

• aidan was poor and looks v short of confience. do we persevere or damage him further by dropping him? i think he has the gameto play 11, certainly he has the passing ability to kick the ball....our wing half forwards worked v well, james unlucky to be taken off but kearney looked v good when he came on too

• i am not convinced by downey at all, but give the lad a chance; he is young and being asked to take on alot of responsibility. if we needed an extra defender i would drop him and keep danny and benny

• danny hughes last point reminded me of a m linden special....blasted down outside right with speed, then checked and inside for slot over with left...classic stuff!

• wish i had mccomiskey's confidence! the lad looks fearless, which is what you need at this level....

• great to get win, and the confidence boost should be huge. lets not get carried away tho, as i think time will tell that this was a poor cavan side, and that this down side is way off the mark with the big boys. still, it was a good feeling to come away with a win! and in good style too

[lisdoon1]

Golden,



I think there are plans afoot to take over the building in the corner & create some sort of a VIP area.

Can anyone confirm?

Also, is likely that the monaghan game will be all ticket??

[TORGAEL]

Amallon.....i dont remember Packie Downey loosing the ball "half the time" he had it in the game i was watching on sunday. Good fotballers in Down just dont end at the Mayobridge parish boundary ! Theres a lot more to come from him.

[redandblackjack]

Lisdoon, as far as i know there are no plans for the purchase of the sports centre building (right hand side) from the Shamrocks. Plans are in place to redevelop the changing rooms (main ones) behind the terrace, no idea of a commencement date. 
Golden i doubt very much that the county board can simply 'commandeer' anything, especially when they don't have ownership.

[Cavanfan]

I presume Lyng will be kicked off the panel now due to costing us the game with a stupid sending off. That is if management are being consistent.

Why would this happen?  Lorcan Mulvey wasn't kicked off the panel.

Cavan have a few weeks now to re-group and let's hope they do well in the qualifiers. 

[mylestheslasher]

I presume Lyng will be kicked off the panel now due to costing us the game with a stupid sending off. That is if management are being consistent.

Why would this happen?  Lorcan Mulvey wasn't kicked off the panel.

Cavan have a few weeks now to re-group and let's hope they do well in the qualifiers. 

Because that is what happened Gaynor a few yrs ago and apparently is one of the reasons he isn't being called up this year. I was being sarcastic there though.

[amallon]

What was the traffic situation like getting through the town after the game? 

[spiritof91and94]

What was the traffic situation like getting through the town after the game? 

Obviously you are either trying to change the subject here or just have too much time to spare!!

[amallon]

Too much time to spare! 

[Uladh]

For the record, i didn't comment generally on down's performance on sunday. I replied realistically to posts that firstly, ronan murtagh is a good wing back and secondly that Packie Downey is a decent footballer... both by county standards. That said, down folk do amuse me.

Generally speaking, for down to progress i think they will need to address a number of serious weaknesses. In fairness to Ross and DJ, they probably recognise these and can't produce players out of thin air. in all seriousness, i'm impressed with Ross and DJ's work to this point and suspected during the league that they were going in the right direction.

The usual story still applies in defence and here i do believe they have actually gone backways. for starters, there is no physical presence at either 3 or 6. Rooney is a decent footballer but should be playing at wing back and Grant is an ordinary club footballer. the centre of down's defence is crying out to be run through and this will happen in due course. the first job for ross should have been to build a solid platform at the back. Strength & aggression at 3 & 6 with your centre back having enough awareness to know where and when to to cover. This happened by default on sunday after cavan withdrew a forward into their own defence but i don't believe ross would've  achieved this through tactical nous on his own.

When you have suspect ability in the full back line, you need an iron curtain in the half back line. this isn't just achieved through numbers 5, 6 & 7 but you need a midfield with defensive awareness and the capacity to tackle and work. Dan has great atributes but he has no positional sense whatsoever when down lose the ball and he's playing midifield on his own so far. Wing backs must be strong, be able to mark powerful and athletic forwards, be among the best tacklers on the team and transfer the ball out of defence fast. abilty to attack after that is a bonus. Those who can add an attacking dimension to their play should be very selective with their runs, in the knowledge that every second going forward is a second that they are leaving their team prone to counter attack. certainly, attacking should not mean carrying the ball for a defender for two reasons. If he carries the ball he is starving his forward line who no doubt are making wasted runs as he goes and secondly, there is no slower way to attack.

On the plus side, Down have as good and better forwards than any team in ulster. Everyone knows benny's capabilities and danny hughes can be very destructive if he finds enough space to play in. Paul Cumiskey is one of the best talents i've seen in years. His total disregard for the the occasion and the level he was stepping up to was highly impressive. he wanted the ball constantly on sunday and most noticable was that every down forward deferred possession too him first time... including benny. He also has supreme ability. he should be starting centre half forward on this team and gotten the ball at every opportunity. Ross's best change so far has been the introduction of a smarter type of work rate to the wing forward positions. Sexton works his socks off, running and tackling as all good wing forwards should and does his best work between midfield and half back. McGovern is a poorer version of the same thing but still offers great work rate and endevour. the space these two leave should be better exploited by aidan carr but i've seen enough promise from him to think he could improve as the year goes on.

As things stand, down will probably go close with monaghan but narrowly lose out. a good draw could see them make an all ireland quarter final through the back door, which would be a huge achievement for ross and dj. unfortunately a team like donegal or galway, who are expert at drawing defeners out and exploiting the space left behind will take them apart.