Good win on sunday for the girls. First half was not great, but whatever was said at half time must have worked because the girls dominated in the second half. Player of the match i would have to say is sinead fegan!
I do agree with the point that girls training with their universitys need to be cut some slack with the whole "dont train dont play", but not comogie training, it is a totally different ball game! however i think that girls who are attending training every week and putting in a good effort while there need to be givin a chance also. I know of several girls who have not been attending training from the very start and have just be drafted in and starting or coming on before girls who have commited all pre-season, to me this is not very fair. But in saying that the players i am talking about did make a good impact on sunday.

d.p. (Down) - Posts: 7 - 15/02/2011 18:06:18    868526

Great result on Sunday and a good hard performance when it was required. I was particularly impressed with Paula Gribben.. This is a player who has been overlooked for some time now on the county scene but really proved her worth with a skillful, dominating performance on sunday past. Was also impressed with Emma Mulhern who slotted into full back to mark their danger player with ease. Emma has always been a great player and but for her lack of height could play in absolutely any position on the pitch.

singer (Down) - Posts: 330 - 16/02/2011 09:42:15    868809

Just heard that the county board have withdrawn the minors from the Ulster championship. If it's true it is a bizarre action; it's a strong well-coached team that should prove the base for our senior team in the future. We may instead lose many of them to soccer.

befair (Down) - Posts: 238 - 22/02/2011 14:19:24    873656

Someone is spreading stories about the minor panel getting pulled out off the championship this is not true. Minor management sending texts to the girls which is untrue, from what i hear the training is still on for the minor girls on thursday night.

duff22 (Down) - Posts: 30 - 22/02/2011 17:12:27    873835

The ousted minor management team quite simply did not fit onto the overall county structure.
They are a top class coaching team that enjoy an outstanding relationship with their players.
They were able to get a large panel of players to commit to training early in the season and to attend sessions regularly.
Their team appeared to play an attractive brand of football at a highly competitive level.
Come on, this is not what we want!
If they had just thought of ordering a big fry up for players before games they might have survived.
I think they should forget about creative games and working with players and get out the bacon & eggs -

soprano (Down) - Posts: 38 - 23/02/2011 19:50:30    874902

Soprano - whats all this about bacon and eggs??? Confused.com the minor debacle is a serious dent to our county - i dont see why grown men cant talk and thrash things out in a reasonable manner without resorting to this sort of action 3 weeks before the championship starts. these minor girls have been training hard since way before christmas and had clear respect for the management - now they have a decision to make regarding playing or not - that sorta decision should not have to be made by 16-18 year old children...

singer (Down) - Posts: 330 - 24/02/2011 12:30:21    875313

Are the girls loyal down footballers or are they just loyal to the minor management? From what i hear the after the minor management where to told to step down they still went ahead and text the girls with a untrue text and asked them to attend a meeting, is this allowed after you have been stood down, or is this a matter which needs to be looked at under the code of ethics and good practice.

duff22 (Down) - Posts: 30 - 24/02/2011 16:23:10    875618

I dont think you can question the girls loyalty when they have been training 3 teams a week for nearly 5 months, no other team in the county are as dedicated............the girls have massive respect for management as they have been with them for nearly 6 years. I was hoping the current management would be the next senior managers as they are the best in the county, no question about it. But unfortunatly i cant see it happening now.........they should have left the minor management to do their job, a job they do very well.............Now we have a potential ulster champoionship winning team down the drain and these under 18s shouldnt have been put in this situation they were happy with the management the only people who arent happy are the county board

down.sup. (Down) - Posts: 19 - 24/02/2011 17:37:23    875690

After 6 years this team should have won something if this management is so good, why blame the co. board. Maybe when the truth comes out this management may not be such white knights after all.The truth is a apowerful thing.

duff22 (Down) - Posts: 30 - 24/02/2011 18:27:18    875759

I must agree with Duff22 - they only coached these girls for 6 years, was a goodbye really necessary? The fact that thirty players turned up should not be interpreted as respect for them. The centre staying open twenty minutes after closing time was an absolute disgrace was all that emotion necessary and is it allowed, surely there is a rule in the code of ethics that prohibits such public displays of emotion. I have suspected for some time that these girls have indeed been hypnotised and in fact these guys are really lousy coaches. I think the top man was well within his rights to ring every hall in co down and put them on red alert that an illegal gathering was taking place. He proclaimed his position of the highest importance within down football and was shamefully ignored, such disrespect for a man of such high office is a big mystery to many. Would you like chips with that?

soprano (Down) - Posts: 38 - 24/02/2011 19:12:35    875811

Can someone outline what has actually happened with the Minor's? I'm assuming the management were asked to step down, is anyone able to shed some (non biased) light on the situation?

leg_end (Down) - Posts: 62 - 24/02/2011 19:33:36    875827

We are a disgrace to the association after the way we treated our minor management... Meeting next monday night with parents, minor players and the county board - should be a heated debate. If the minor management stepped outta line or were guilty of not releasing players for senior games or training they should be ashamed of themselves - but from knowing these men - i dont think they would stoop that low.

singer (Down) - Posts: 330 - 25/02/2011 15:00:00    876328

Think the issues are centred around the minor management and u16 management and not seniors this year,,,,, Francie supported the girls that were playing for the seniors, and they trained and played with the seniors with no complaints from anyone.... There was a meeting last night with minor girls/parents with the conty board as to why the men had be released.... would love to know what the county board said...

vocational (Down) - Posts: 26 - 25/02/2011 15:25:18    876357

If a clown is in a position of responsiblity then more than often you ll end up with a circus

gaa2 (Down) - Posts: 116 - 25/02/2011 15:53:24    876384

The County board would not ask men to step down so close to championships unless they had a legitimate reason so i believe that there is things that are yet to be brought out in the open! A good managment yes but if there is rules in place and they are ignored then the county board is left with no choice!

On another note....clubs are back in training! will it be another year for the blow ins of Bredagh? or will carryduff step up to the championship plate this year? Word is that Clonduff wont be fielding this year.... will there be sum big transfers on the cards? How will shamrocks do in the senior league?

TheKingdomgael (Down) - Posts: 167 - 25/02/2011 17:54:33    876489

I'd be very surprised if Clonduff don't field a senior team this year. Last year they had enough for both Senior & Junior teams! It'll be interesting to see how the promoted teams do, they'll struggle against the top 2-3 but it's all to play for at the middle & lower end of the table! I didn't realise Shamrocks were up to Senior this season, I thought it was just Annaclone?

leg_end (Down) - Posts: 62 - 25/02/2011 18:20:14    876510

Clonduff only fielded a senior team last year and struggles to do so at times. Two years ago they had a junior team but not now. Well it may only hype but Ive heard they cant find a manager and only 6/7 training so things dont sound good at least!
I agree brysansford carryduff and bredagh will be hard to catch this year and the fight for survival could be the more interesting affair. I though shamrocks and annaclone were up but then again i could very well be wrong. Looking forward to a good season with no complications

TheKingdomgael (Down) - Posts: 167 - 25/02/2011 19:31:59    876559

Shamrocks are still in the intermediate league. they won the intermediate C'ship and therefore will compete in the senior C'ship but were runner-up in the intermediate league so remain there. Annaclone won the intermediate league and are promoted to senior league this year......Rostrevor have come down to intermediate and Loughlinisland and Tullylish have come up to intermediate league (Bright have folded)

Arrival (Down) - Posts: 16 - 26/02/2011 19:00:57    877000

I have to agree with Kingdom Gael - there must be a very good reason for the dismissal of the minor management. Otherwise why would they do it? The only problem is that when the committee met with players and parents they couldn't seem to think of one? We have a number of very good people at committee level but also a few that are not suited to their positions of responsibility. The real question is -Why are they protecting them and condoning their widely acknowledged dislike and obstruction of the minors and minor training for very personal reasons relating to last year. The good reason is the minor coaches did what was best for players even when it was unpopular with coaches at other age levels. These other coaches did not feel they were getting the respect their committee positions deserved and collectively decided to remove them for a lack of respect towards them. Let's not pretend it's got anything to do with rules, the welfare of players or the good of Down football. Will the committee now get the respect they deserve? Have they solved a problem or created one? The player's reaction to this is significant and it will soon become a provincial and then a national issue.

soprano (Down) - Posts: 38 - 27/02/2011 10:39:04    877125

I agree Soprano? It would appear the executive committee have got this very wrong. They all carry out tasks that enable ladies football in the county to take place, but they are accountable to clubs and players and their lack of coherence at this meeting suggests all is not as it should be at committee level. It seems petty differences from previous years relating to shared players at senior and U16 level have coloured their judgement. It's significant that three U16 mentors sit on the executive and the issues highlighted at the meeting were about their grievances. The main reason outlined during the week to some individuals was not highlighted at all at the meeting. This may be as it related to the co-operation of the minor management with the senior team. In reality this has not been an issue and with all the relevant players present at this meeting it could all too easily have been contested. It was clear that the 3 executive members that met with the minor players and their parents were not prepared for the number present the strength of opposition or questioning they received. In this particular environment the issues seemed ridiculous even to the committee members themselves. The stated rules were clearly inappropriate and not furthering the development of players or the county. One can only hope that the committee have the humility to accept they've made a HUGE mistake. The minor girls were of one voice and the simple message was these players would not wear a down jersey again unless the decision is reversed.

ladiesman (Down) - Posts: 20 - 27/02/2011 19:23:30    877438