The Ulster Championship is the most special provincial atmosphere. On another note I would like to commend the Ulster Council for the choice of people for the half time wee games. It was a lovely thing to do.

MuineachanAbu (Monaghan) - Posts: 660 - 24/06/2012 21:40:06    1201345

The Ulster Championship is the most special provincial atmosphere.
MuineachanAbu , 24/06/2012 at 21:40
------------------------------------------------
Sorry lad but ye are totally on yer own there!......The rest of the country thinks its boring muck!!

Regards,

Snufalufagus....Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 24/06/2012 21:57:31    1201363

What a roller-coaster. I thought we were gone. Even at half time I just didn't see things turning around as Monaghan were walking on water and we could just do nothing right. Plus the ref obviously had an agenda to see Down beaten? (what have we ever done to Sligo?)
But this is why we love this game. the Unpredictability, the atmosphere, the excitement. If we could bottle this second half we would be out of our minds on delirium every day of the week.
Donegal or Tyrone will be massive favourites and rightly so but bring on Clones on the 22nd of July.

ballybannongael (Down) - Posts: 547 - 25/06/2012 08:54:17    1201382

michael duffy's performance yesterday was IN MY OPINION as bias as you'll ever see in your life............surely the new chairman of the national referees committee pat mcenaney will have to address duffy's performance today and make a statement on the matter................a blind man could see that many of duffy's decisions were wrong and clearly favourable towards monaghan.............surely mcenaney who ironically hails from co.monaghan must now be seen to act swiftly on this matter..........how can anyone have respect for referees if duffy's performance today is allowed to go without any criticism from the top ?

Gammy_Knee (USA) - Posts: 1482 - 25/06/2012 09:12:37    1201389

WATCHED THIS GAME ON THE BBC YESTERDAY..

2 THINGS.. THE GAME ITSELF VERY ENJOYABLE, FAIR PLAY TO BOTH SETS OF PLAYERS. however ref was truly shocking. i think all the points have already been discussed here.

the second thing was the bbc production which was atrocious. constant replays while live action was in progress, necessitating more replays because the live action was missed again. i found myself screaming at the tv. it really was infuriating. also they had jarlath burns on the sideline being intervieved periodically . this is fine if it just audio but why on earth does the main camera have to switch to the interview whilst the game is in progress. more live action missed. BBc please get someone to produce who knows something about gaelic football the picture coverage was a disgrace. no fault to the commentators or studio analysts.

btw what a breath of fresh air Sean Kavanagh is. He is a wonderful analyst and a thouroughly nice personality to go with it. RTE please note.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5520 - 25/06/2012 09:17:35    1201390

Ulster Football and Munster Hurling still the best two provinces in terms of atmosphere - seems to mean more to teams and there is more tradition involved. Tipp v Cork and Down V Monaghan but confirmed this. Now none of the 4 teams will win an All ireland this year but still yesterday felt like the first day of the championship for me anyway!

sportsfan14 (USA) - Posts: 281 - 25/06/2012 09:37:11    1201402

s goldrick
County: Cavan
Posts: 1457
Picking up on your points re the coverage and analysts, Mark Sidebottom the BBC commentator continually referred to Eoin McCartan as Conor Maginn and Maginn wasnt on the pitch!
RTE's Colm O'Rourke started of his analysis by asking "were Down relegated from division 1" to be reminded by Pat Spillane they actually finished 3rd!!
Anything O'Rourke said after this was had absolutely no credibility whatsoever.

ballybannongael (Down) - Posts: 547 - 25/06/2012 09:56:33    1201413

RTE were comical yesterday in their discussion of the match facts mixed up names mixed up dates etc it was like two lads discussing it in a pub.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1880 - 25/06/2012 10:32:25    1201441

MissDownFanatic
County: Down
Posts: 39

1201099 What a second half! Well done Down, what a comeback, battled past Monaghan plus the referee straight til the Ulster Final! Woohoohoo!

WOW - Down were absolutely terrible in the first half and Monaghan were absolutely terrible in the second half. Two bad teams on show but i guess oone of them had to get into the final as Cannon Fodder. The Ulster final is on this Saturday, should be a good game.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 25/06/2012 10:38:41    1201450

ballybannongael
County: Down
Posts: 311

1201413 s goldrick
County: Cavan
Posts: 1457
Picking up on your points re the coverage and analysts, Mark Sidebottom the BBC commentator continually referred to Eoin McCartan as Conor Maginn and Maginn wasnt on the pitch!
RTE's Colm O'Rourke started of his analysis by asking "were Down relegated from division 1" to be reminded by Pat Spillane they actually finished 3rd!!
Anything O'Rourke said after this was had absolutely no credibility whatsoever.

Also Mark Sidebottom described the game as a schizophrenic match ????? Where does he get this nonsense from? After that golden thought I put sidebottom on mute and tunred on the radio.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 25/06/2012 10:42:12    1201453

ballybannongael
County: Down
Posts: 311

1201413 s goldrick
County: Cavan
Posts: 1457
Picking up on your points re the coverage and analysts, Mark Sidebottom the BBC commentator continually referred to Eoin McCartan as Conor Maginn and Maginn wasnt on the pitch!

Mark Sidebottom also described the game as a schizophrenic match ????? Where does he get this nonsense from? After that golden thought I put sidebottom on mute and turned on the radio.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 25/06/2012 10:49:36    1201460

Also Mark Sidebottom described the game as a schizophrenic match ????? Where does he get this nonsense from? After that golden thought I put sidebottom on mute and tunred on the radio.

I always put Mark Sidebottom on mute before he comes out with "Its like watching Spain or Barcelona they retain the ball beautifully" What I do like on the BBC is Jarlath Burns on the side line giving his expertise on what changes needed .................

fortyfive (Tyrone) - Posts: 5929 - 25/06/2012 10:55:38    1201468

cacsmckilly, Down will learn from that match plus they showed some passion in that second half, it's not easy coming back from being 9 points Down and any Tyrone man who was at the 03 ulster final should know that. Don't worry we will put it up to you in the final.....if you manage to get there that is

MissDownFanatic (Down) - Posts: 411 - 25/06/2012 11:35:25    1201515

what was the story with tommy freeman wearing the wrong numbered jersey...........heard the match commentators say the offence carries an €800 fine.........also joe brolly last night said that the stamping incident was nothing and it shouldn't go any further...........i think joe is way off the mark to be honest...

Gammy_Knee (USA) - Posts: 1482 - 25/06/2012 12:10:41    1201548

Agreed gammy, brolly just overlooked it, and davis ignored it completely!
If it was a stamp, the ccccccccc will act accordingly!
Other players have been incrminated by the panel in the past for less
serious offences, so why does this one not warrant similar investigation and
condemnation?!
Brolly has wealthy clients in county down probably!

TheGateKeeper (Tyrone) - Posts: 2843 - 25/06/2012 13:26:22    1201652

That was the most biased refereeing performance I've seen in years. Fair play to Down for doing it on the scoreboard despite the ref.

St.Conleth (Kildare) - Posts: 1722 - 25/06/2012 13:35:47    1201668

Duffy should be dropped from the Championship panel after his performance yesterday, shocking stuff.

Cute_Kerry_Hoor (Kerry) - Posts: 2518 - 25/06/2012 13:49:01    1201694

Agreed with a lot of points here. The same player that stamped also hit a Monaghan player, think it was Gallogly, a dig on the side of the face while tackling him near the end of the 1st half. The ref did seem to give Monaghan but it kind of evened out with the penalty and plenty of scoreable frees for Down.

Also agreed on the commentary. Couldn't decide which was worse, Marty babbling on RTE or McHugh interjecting with farcical comments every 10 seconds on BBC! Both sets of commentators often getting names wrong and both sets of cameramen intent on showing replays at bad times.

InTheLoop (Meath) - Posts: 147 - 25/06/2012 13:54:13    1201706

Real determined fight back from Down, it wasn't too long ago we would have folded and got badly beaten given the circumstances around yeaterday's match. Down can look forward to the final with hopefully a fully fit squad and with most commentators already writing us off, Down will be delighted.

Re the 'stamp' It looked fairly innocuous to me, as Brolly said it can happen. Garvey looked to try his best to avoid the player and didn't put his full weight down, just one of those things that can happen when running out from a body of players and you suddenly find one lying down by your feet.

artisan (Down) - Posts: 1794 - 25/06/2012 14:31:13    1201760

The Irish News wouldn't usually be over the top in it's criticism of officials but today it was absolutely scathing of Michael's Duffy performance. It gave countless examples of decisions he got wrong or never called and 99% of them went against Down. One or two going against you in a game you can accept and put down to referees interpretations but when EVERY decision continually goes against you then you are entitled to ask questions and the referees committee must now also call Mr Duffy to task.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9816 - 25/06/2012 14:37:47    1201772