The annual Croke Park Activity will take place on Thursday 16th April 2020.

Once again we have been allocated the early morning slot, allowing us access to the pitch at Croke Park from 9.30am - 11am. This will be followed by a Museum Tour for the children attending.

We would like to invite each of the 48 clubs in the county to bring 5 x P6/7 players to Croke Park. This will allow each child the opportunity to play on the pitch for 30 minutes. 

Dual clubs will still only be allowed to select 5 children (FROM SAME CODE) and must inform me if the groups preference is to play either Hurling / Camogie or Football.  If a club decides to send a mixture of both Hurlers / Camogs and Footballers, there is NO guarantee that all children will get the chance to play their preferred code. 

Clubs are responsible for selecting the 5 players to attend and will also be responsible for transporting their players to and from Croke Park. Down GAA WILL NOT be providing any transport for players, so please ensure that any player selected can get their way to and from Dublin. Players will be required to meet in Dublin at 8.30am on the morning.

I have attached a player information form which must be completed in full for EACH player that is attending from your club. Information will not be accepted in any other format. These forms must be completed in full returned to me on one email, by the club secretary. Please do NOT have parents / coaches return these to me individually. 

These forms MUST be returned to me NO LATER than FRIDAY 21ST March 2020. Further information will follow for those attending after this return date.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Conor O'Toole

Conchúr O'Tuathaíl

The players listed below are invited to attend a trial / training session for the Down U15 ETS Football panel in Ballykinlar GAC, on Saturday 29th February 2020.

Players should be present in Ballykinlar for 10.15am registration.

PLEASE NOTE: It is essential that clubs confirm if their players will / will not be attending no later than 1pm on Thursday.

Conchúr O'Tuathaíl

Bainisteoir Forbartha na gCluichí An Duín
 

National Allianz Hurling League
Div 2B - Round 4

RESULT
London 0-16 Down 2-26

James Guinness netted late on to give Down a battling 2-13 to 1-14 win over Longford. The Mourne County led by 0-9 to 0-7 at half time but Liam Connerton’s goal followed by a Dessie Reynolds point brought the unbeaten midlanders back on terms (1-8 to 0-11) only for Corey Quinn to quickly reply with the home side’s first three-pointer in the 62nd minute - 1-13 to 1-10.

In a thrilling finale, substitute Guinness pounced for the decisive score.

Down - R Burns; S Annett, P Murdock, R McAleenan; G Collins, D O’Hagan (0-1), B McArdle; J Flynn (0-2), D Guinness; B O’Hagan (0-3, 2f), K McKernan (0-1), L Kerr (0-2); D O’Hare (0-2, 1f), A Morgan, C Quinn (1-2). Subs: P Fegan for S Annett, J Guinness (1-0) for G Collins, O McCabe for A Morgan, C Doherty for K McKernan, N Donnelly for C Quinn.

Longford - P Collum (0-2f); P Fox, A Farrell, B O’Farrell; I O’Sullivan, G Rogers, CP Smyth; D Gallagher (0-5, 3f), K Diffley; M Quinn, D McElligott, D Reynolds (0-1); P Lynn (0-2), L Connerton (1-1), O Kenny. Subs: D Doherty for P Lynn, D Mimnagh (0-3, 2f) for CP Smyth, J Hagan for L Connerton.

Photo by Louis McNally

EirGrid U20 Ulster Quarter Final
Cavan 0-08 Down 0-11

Down advance to the U20 Ulster semi-finals where they will take on 

Down's Dean Rice opened the scoring with two points from play in the opening minutes.  On the 9th minute Cavans Thomas Smith reduced the divide, but Cathal Gorman responded for the Mourne men.  Smith fired over his and Cavan's second point a minute later.  Emmett Boylan fired over a free on 23 minutes to level the game and on the 26th minutes, Cormac O'Reilly put the home side who were playing with a strong wind in front for the first time in the game.

Down's Cathal Gorman responded to once again level the game on 28 minutes and just before half time Cormac O'Rawe put Down back in front. Cavan 0-04 Down 0-05.

On the restart Cavan's Cormac O'Reilly under pressure from far out and against the wind levelled the game.  Paddy Lynch on 11 minutes fired over another point to put the home side one in front however over the next couple of minutes Cathal Gorman fired over two points one point from play to level the game and a free to put Down one in front.  Cavan's Cormac O'Reilly levelled the game once again.  On 25 minutes, Cathal Gorman once again responded to put Down back in front.

There was nothing separating the sides and on the 27th minute Paddy Lynch once again levelled the game with Eoghan Byrne a minute later putting the travelling side in front again.  With normal time up and with the ref signalling 4 minutes of additional time Down fired to the back of the net to leave the score Down 1-09 Cavan 0-08.  Shealan Johnston extended the Down lead before Down added their last point of the game to leave the score Cavan 0-08 Down 1-11.

Down will now take on Donegal in the Semi Finals, while Antrim take on Tyrone.

Down finishers to see them past Longford

FROM IRISH NEWS

Allianz Football League Division Three: Down v Longford (tonight, 7pm, Páirc Esler)

IN winning their must-win game against Derry, it must have felt a strange sensation for Down to be heading into the break knowing they were back behind the Oak Leafers in the table.

Stranger still that they find themselves in even more of a life or death situation this evening, knowing that defeat would leave Longford with a four-point gap on them.

It's hard to get away from the idea that Down will have the bulk of their lifting done by 9pm, having already played Tipperary, Derry, Cork and now Longford. They will always have felt that there would be more points to be had in their final three games against Offaly, Leitrim and Louth.

Yet even if they were to win all three, defeat in Newry this evening could very well spell the end for their promotion hopes – particularly because if Longford were to win one more game, Down would be relying on a three-way tie at the end to avoid missing out on head-to-head.

There's a lot of ‘if' to get through before you could countenance any of that, but none of it lessens the weight of tonight's events.

Padraic Davis spoke earlier this week of how his team has learned from last year's defeat, when the midlanders were favourites but were hit by a Donal O'Hare hat-trick.

Longford conceded just one other goal in the whole of last year's league campaign, but were mid-table finishers who seemed destined for a similar campaign this year.

That may yet be the case, for while they are the ones hugging in closest to Cork at the top of the table, their four toughest fixtures are still to come, starting this evening.

If anything, drawing in Offaly perhaps shows their actual standing, and yet they will come north with confidence after a start that saw them win a first O'Byrne Cup in 20 years and then push into an unbeaten first part of the league.

Down will have earmarked Robbie Brady as their most pertinent threat in attack and are likely to send Darren O'Hagan his way as the Clonduff man looks to continue his excellent form.

Perhaps one of the most telling aspects of their game in Cork was Paddy Tally's substitutions. On a team that lacks experience in a lot of areas, he took Kevin McKernan, Paul Devlin and Gerard Collins all off during their 0-16 to 1-8 loss in Páirc Úi Chaoimh.

There was very little life about the Ulster side that afternoon, but they can be a different animal in front of the Saturday night home crowd in Newry.

It was Donal O'Hare who got the hat-trick in Pearse Park last year, but so far this spring it has been Jerome Johnston catching the eye, coming straight in off the back of his run with Kilcoo to the All-Ireland club final.

Barry O'Hagan has also come back into an attack that is still without Connaire Harrison, while Liam Kerr must be feeling the itch as he remains their man off the bench despite impacting heavily.

Cory Quinn has been doing well in a similar role and, in truest fashion of the modern game, it might be Down's finishers rather than their starters that take them to two vital points.