Hard luck to the minor ladies, lost to westmeath by a goal. Some outrageous refereeing decisions made it an uphill battle all the way, but they never gave up and fought all the way to the end. Well done to the team and to their management, who have done a great job.

befair (Down) - Posts: 238 - 04/07/2010 13:21:01    695548

Tough way to lose an injury time goal, the girls and management were devastated after the game, the managment dealt very tactfully with a few shoudhavedones in the car park after the game, (could a county official not have intervened?) the team really put in the work and had hoped to go all the way but sometimes you just dont get what you deserve. The referee was so poor it was almost laughable nothing at all wrong with the goal and quite a few down girls injured in challenges that did not even merit a free? I really hope the team and this management pick themselves up and give it a real go next year.

soprano (Down) - Posts: 38 - 04/07/2010 20:22:08    696000

Do the Senior County team play this weekend? Anyone know where it is?

Predictions for Championship
Clonduff to beat Kilcoo
Bredagh to beat Rostrevor
Bryansford to beat Saval
Downpatrick to beat Castlewellan

jaffa5 (Down) - Posts: 13 - 27/07/2010 10:41:05    724985

What happens with the ladies now they were beaten by kildare at the weekend?? Cant believe they are so bad at the minute.....

singer (Down) - Posts: 330 - 04/08/2010 20:09:06    736238

Singer, you are the man who ridiculed the previous management no end and now they they have been replaced you continue to do the same with this management team and the players.

Since you are such an expert, I see only one solution - YOU TAKE THE DAMN JOB AND STOP YOUR MOANING.

Jofus (Down) - Posts: 248 - 04/08/2010 20:58:03    736317

Jofus... Singer did manage Down. He then left and helped Armagh. He hide behind this msg board for two years.

AnDunAbu (Down) - Posts: 4 - 27/08/2010 18:59:47    758215

Anyone at the ladies final on Sat? What was it like ? someone must have been there and have something to say constructive !!!

monitor (Down) - Posts: 209 - 01/09/2010 16:51:31    762687

Was at the intermediate and senior finals on sat past and they went pretty much according to script. Junior final was won by Tullylish and think it was a poor game with it being totally one sided. its good for tullylish to win this though as they need an injection of confidence. Shamrocks are a step above anyone else in the county at the minute at intermediate level. great team work and super team ethic helped them along the way and of course the twin fegans were their usual classy selves. the wee girl eimer kane in midfield was very good but player of the match went to orla fegan and rightly so. senior final started strangely with Bredagh scoring and then Castlewellan hitting goals. Thoughts of an upset were quickly put to rest when i witnessed the obvious pace the Bredagh girls had. they took control just about the end of the first half and then controlled the whole second half to win in comfort.
Mc Mullan from bredagh got player of the match - again - rightly so. a great player and a pity she aint form down.

andunabu - whatever your message is about - you certainly got me wrong. I take it you think i am our past manager O'Hare - you couldnt be further from the truth. Firstly - i know something about ladies football mens too for that matter and secondly i would never ever ever dump my county and run to armagh no matter how much money was on offer. He obviously ran thinking they would be in the all ireland shake up this year and its our own famous red and blacks that are there. While you may think i have no pride - i certainly have. So get your facts right.

singer (Down) - Posts: 330 - 01/09/2010 17:26:57    762751

This thread is named 'proper message board'.I have never seen so much cat fighting and crying in my life. WHY NOT FOCUS ON POSITIVE THINGS. Like how to ensure that we bring our juvenile players through to Senior level and how we get players to committ to the County. I heard last night that there were some fantastic young players on show in all the finals at weekend. I think shamrocks had a couple and Castlewellan had a couple of U 14 s who were outstanding for their Seniors(one in midfield). We need to ensure that this potential is harnessed.

monitor (Down) - Posts: 209 - 02/09/2010 09:58:19    763105

I see in Mobserver that Castlewellan are in Ladies U16 final two weeks after retaining the u14 championship. They must be doing something right with the girls footballers.Anyone know the secret ?

monitor (Down) - Posts: 209 - 16/09/2010 12:07:49    775815

With all the hype around the county im just wondering if the right people were in charge of the team next year, do we have the potential to emulate the men and get to the intermediate final next year?
Does anyone know if there are movements on new management?
If so who will it be? Heard rumour the McConville fella that turned us down in favour of armagh is back in for the job (hopefully NOT after hearing what he was like from armagh girls).

Just shows how important it is for the county board to appoint the right person/people.

puma_gal (Down) - Posts: 24 - 16/09/2010 19:28:36    776384

The county had the right management in place two years ago but they didn't do enough to hold on to them. They were definitely going in the right direction with the 1st ever senior championship win and winning the division 2 national league title. The players respected them and they got the best out of the players. If they got that management back I'd be very confident of the Down ladies being in croker come all-ireland day!!

gaaforall (Down) - Posts: 130 - 17/09/2010 10:05:39    776626

Here we go again.!! catfight

monitor (Down) - Posts: 209 - 17/09/2010 14:28:24    776970

Monitor its not a catfight, i'm not arguing with anyone, i'm just stating an opinion! I rated them very highly, I'd love to see them back and I think the county board should at least try and persuade them back.

gaaforall (Down) - Posts: 130 - 17/09/2010 14:52:54    777013

'monitor' i agree with gaaforall in wondering were the catfght is??? I asked if anyone any ideas on who should get the job and 'gaaforall' answered by saying that he/she would like the management from 2 years ago.
I don't agree with their answer though as i think they wanted to leave any do other things.
We have to move forward and we have to bring in someone new that'll get the best of the girls that are there and also get the best players in the county back in county colours.

Any ideas monitor??????

puma_gal (Down) - Posts: 24 - 17/09/2010 17:40:28    777201

The structures are not really in place to develop our co senior team -Yes! the minor management have successfully nurtured that particular generation of players but as they moved up the age groups the template was not followed. The successful senior management team that moved on must have felt it was as far as they could take that group of players or as far as they wanted to go? This year's management never really had a chance; many of girls simply needed a break, the success they had was hard earned. I suspect nothing is being done regarding managerial appointments; many of the committee are talking about resigning this year so it's unlikely to be a priority for them. Considering the sustained effort put in by the minors last year and the fact that the management team have also moved on I doubt they will compete at the same level or develop as many players for the senior ranks- While I think the best candidates have all been here and left the ideal management team would be a combination of past senior and underage managers between them they could really pull a decent squad together.

soprano (Down) - Posts: 38 - 18/09/2010 10:15:02    777479

'soprano' what makes you think that because minor management had a little bit of success, they automatically will become good senior management???
The term "previous minor and senior management" is far too vague if the county board are to look into your idea. Maybe by identifying and naming people might we get the ball rolling as i think its important to have someone in place soon. Last year we were left with only 1 candidate because it was left so late and he tried then to play us of against armagh. Credit does have to go though to the CBoard for not falling for this. But what we were left with just wasn't good enough.
I think the county team deserves better than that. We need people who are experienced in senior football and have a proven track record.
Jaqui Clarke is again an obvious choice (not sure if she is interested though) .
Any other names???

puma_gal (Down) - Posts: 24 - 20/09/2010 15:31:21    779142

Im lost here - exactly what success did the minor management have? I regard success as winning something. Every team competes - so getting to such and such a stage doesnt count for anything. What did they win exactly?

i do agree that a combination of previous managements would be plausable - or how about the Downeys Aveen and Michaela take the reins - they have practically been running the county for years anyhow. Time to put them in a place of authority.

duff (Down) - Posts: 145 - 21/09/2010 12:28:10    780051

There seems to be enough good young and old players out there playing for their clubs and there seems to be a number of reasonable candidates out there that could put together a reasonable squad and indeed there seems to enough genuine people involved in the county board to try and bring the whole thing together. My question is do all these groupings have the necessary hunger, desire, will power and cohesion to make it happen. Which players are putting themselves up for selection, whats their commitment, what plans have they for the next year? When this is known then i'm sure that certain managers/coaches/selectors will be approached or will approach CB to try and make a fist of it this incoming year after the debacle of the last year. However have the CB got the time and effort and indeed backing of the various clubs to put the senior county team in order? It seems they are spinning too many plates at the moment to even start considering next year! Once leagues have been sorted/completed (could take some time), finances finalised, agm set up, ulster club up and running, plus all the other rubbish floating around then and only then can I foresee any progress on the senior team.

ford_abu (Down) - Posts: 50 - 21/09/2010 14:38:37    780260

The Down Ladies senior team will never be successful because there is far too much infighting from clubs at county board meetings. If we don't have the clubs behind our county team then we are going nowhere at county level. This next year is a massive opportunity for our county team, under the right management and with the proper backing, to get to an all-ireland intermediate final and grace croke park on all-ireland finals day. I just wish that our clubs and county board would have the foresight and belief that this is possible and that they would do everything in their power to allow our players to have the best manager, training facilities and backing to make it happen.

gaa2 (Down) - Posts: 116 - 21/09/2010 15:20:47    780326