Kerry v Down

The only team that Kerry have never beaten in Championship football despite five meetings. Can the Mournemen upset the applecart and deprive the Kingdom once again. I do not rate this Down team but that was a good result v Sligo. Kerry are a different proposition and in Croker a whole lot different. They will miss O'Se and Galvin but should still have enough firepower to get rid of one of the record book entries that annoys Kerry folk!

Jayo Cluxton wrote:The only team that Kerry have never beaten in Championship football despite five meetings. Can the Mournemen upset the applecart and deprive the Kingdom once again. I do not rate this Down team but that was a good result v Sligo. Kerry are a different proposition and in Croker a whole lot different. They will miss O'Se and Galvin but should still have enough firepower to get rid of one of the record book entries that annoys Kerry folk!

Isn't it 4 meetings?

Down have won 5 All Irelands and met Kerry 4 times. They have never lost an All Ireland final either.

GAA-Fan wrote:
Isn't it 4 meetings?

Down have won 5 All Irelands and met Kerry 4 times. They have never lost an All Ireland final either.

No I'm pretty sure JC is right.

It'll be a tough game for us. Missing Galvin and Tomás is a big blow for this one. Our midfield aren't great and I expect Down to win there. Our backs aren't the best either, Coulter and Clarke could have a field day. Our only shining light is our forwards which give us hope.

3inarow08 wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote:
Isn't it 4 meetings?

Down have won 5 All Irelands and met Kerry 4 times. They have never lost an All Ireland final either.

No I'm pretty sure JC is right.

It'll be a tough game for us. Missing Galvin and Tomás is a big blow for this one. Our midfield aren't great and I expect Down to win there. Our backs aren't the best either, Coulter and Clarke could have a field day. Our only shining light is our forwards which give us hope.

that coupled with the fact that Downs Achilles is their defence. Cant see Kerry falling at this hurdle

bocerty wrote:

3inarow08 wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote:
Isn't it 4 meetings?

Down have won 5 All Irelands and met Kerry 4 times. They have never lost an All Ireland final either.

No I'm pretty sure JC is right.

It'll be a tough game for us. Missing Galvin and Tomás is a big blow for this one. Our midfield aren't great and I expect Down to win there. Our backs aren't the best either, Coulter and Clarke could have a field day. Our only shining light is our forwards which give us hope.

that coupled with the fact that Downs Achilles is their defence. Cant see Kerry falling at this hurdle

It won't surprise me when we lose/struggle!

3inarow08 wrote:

bocerty wrote:

3inarow08 wrote:

GAA-Fan wrote:
Isn't it 4 meetings?

Down have won 5 All Irelands and met Kerry 4 times. They have never lost an All Ireland final either.

No I'm pretty sure JC is right.

It'll be a tough game for us. Missing Galvin and Tomás is a big blow for this one. Our midfield aren't great and I expect Down to win there. Our backs aren't the best either, Coulter and Clarke could have a field day. Our only shining light is our forwards which give us hope.

that coupled with the fact that Downs Achilles is their defence. Cant see Kerry falling at this hurdle

It won't surprise me when we lose/struggle!

good to see CUTE KERRY HOORISM is still rife

Croker brings out the best in you guys triona - Down won't be used to it at all. I bet they are smiling into their half ones down in the Kingdom tonight.

1968 – Down (2-12) v Kerry (1-13) : Down’s proud boast of never having
lost a championship match to Kerry is tested again as the counties meet
for the third time in the decade.

The fourth time they met was in 1991 when Down won by 7.

History means nothing and Kerry will be licking their lips. Not too long ago Donegal should have put them out of Ulster if it wasn't thanks to the amount of wides they had. Armagh went on to hammer Donegal. Its been an odd season to say the least and Down are going to be full of confidence. [Please put them out Kerry].

This is a great draw for Down. They've done well to get this far and if they're beat then the county will still be proud of them. But they've nothinig to lose at the same time. If Benny has a good day, Marty Clarke continues to perform, and maybe they sneak 2-3 goals, this could be interesting.

3/1 with paddy power for down to win. PUT THE HOUSE ON IT. Kerry are vulnerable

Ulster first round matches are always a cagey affair. Donegal got an early goal against Down but after that Michael Murphy hardly touched the ball. The fact is Down beat Donegal in a tough first round game...I honestly think though that if the teams were to meet in later stages of the competition Down would see them off.

Anyway ...(just couldn't stand to see that begrudgery from our good neighbours in Armagh) ...

Down can't be written off too easily for this one. In the Ulster semi-final they showed in the opening quarter the type of scintillating footballing they can play. Tyrone are great tacticians and were able to adopt a heavily defensive keep-ball tactic that just stopped Down from playing. I don't think it is in Kerry's DNA to use these sort of tactics....so I expect a game of fair and free flowing football which is the type of game Down relish. As well as this, Down were never really out of the game against Tyrone...watch the game again...how many goal chances did Down spurn? Dan Gordon dropped a ball when he was straight through on goal, Benny Coulter could have struck the ball into the net from the ground only he for whatever reason decided to pick the ball up, Paul McComiskey really should have done better with his effort, and Pascal McConnell made two vital saves. So Down can say to themselves, look, Tyrone are a bit more experienced than us but we are not far away.

Remember that in 2008, Down defeated Tyrone in the Ulster Championship (and it was no fluke, it was a replay after all) and that Tyrone team went on to beat Kerry.

Dan Gordon has come good in full back just at the right time to mark Star. Down's midfield are very powerful and anytime Ambrose Rodgers gets his hands on the ball something always seems to happen. Down have quality forwards and I expect them to test a Kerry defence weakened by the absence of O Sé. Defence, well, it really just depends how the backs rise to the occasion. I think Damien Rafferty should pick up Gooch. Darren O'Sullivan is the player I'm worrying most about and could cause major problems in a sluggish Down defence.

My head tells me that Kerry with their vast experience of the latter stages of the Championship and the pure quality footballers they have will defeat Down comfortably. But my heart tells me that Down will rise to the occasion as players like Benny Coulter finally get their chance to play on the big stage and in a game between two teams known for their pure style of football Down will be able to shock Kerry.

I'm hoping for a good old-fashioned shootout. Come on Down, Gaelic football needs to be reminded that there's still one county in Ulster that sticks to football in its purest form!

Down beat Kerry 4 times. 1960-Final,1961-Semi,1968--Final, 1991-Semi.

I would have liked to see Down v Sligo in full to judge their performance but scoring 3-20 is no bad feat. They have some very good players and Kerry are going to fall soon because of the mileage on the legs of some defenders. Plus midfield is proving a problem .So it is going to be close and lets hope the new lads, ie. Moran,Keane,Bohane rise to the occasion when their county needs them.Kerry by 2 pts + many reviews by CCCC to see who might miss the semi.

Down have won all 4 clashes but were usually favourite to do so.

This time they are underdogs.

They have some excellent players and for twenty minutes played Tyrone off the park before being swallowed up by the Jabberwocky.

Kerry cannot close teams down like that, despite evidence to the contrary from last years final, well not as well as Tyrone can.

So Down could pose a threat especially as Galvin andTomas are suspended. However Galvin is part of Tyrone's legacy, he was invented to cope with their style of play, and Down are not as adept at winning loose ball so he may not be crucial.

Kerry have won ten out of ten quarters and I think that sequence will be maintained rather than Down's. The Down defence is still shaky, and I think the Kingdom will win through.

In my humble opinion.

Aside from Dublin, who would surely have been showing the mental scars from last year, this is the best draw that Kerry could have wished for, and at a time when they needed it most.

This great Kerry side are on the way out. There may yet be another all-ireland in them, but they are really beginning to creak in defence and midfield, where only Killian Young and, to a much lesser extent, Mark O'Se have pace. The others in those sectors are all fine footballers, but there is little doubt that they can be troubled by a side gaining a decent share of possession in midfield and moving it quickly into the forwards (Cork were only able to achieve the first part of this).

What Kerry do have, however, is more scoring power than anyone else in Ireland. The Gooch is playing better than he has for sometime, while Galvin and Declan O'Sullivan would be on anybody's list of the top half forwards in the game. Donaghy is still a fabulous footballer, albeit not as destructive as he was in 2006, and even Brian Sheehan is finally starting to contribute, perhaps revelling in his role as captain. Darren O'Sullivan's pace suits Croke Park. It is this attack (even without Galvin tomorrow) that ensures that Kerry are still the side to beat in this year's championship, and it should be enough to see them through against Down.

In my opinion, Down's defence will not have the speed or footballing intelligence to stop Kerry scoring say, 1-15, whereas Kerry's backs, for all their lack of pace, will have enough know-how to curtail a faster, but less experienced Down attack.

Midfield will be important, and Ambrose Rodgers is a very good young player, but Scanlon and Quirke aren't bad either, and should, at the very least, hold their own.

Down were not good against Tyrone, and have been fortunate with qualifier draws since. This is a massive step-up for them, and I can't see them being good enough, despite Kerry being very vulnerable without Tomas & Galvin. Kerry for me, although I hope I'm wrong.

Yeah I'd largely agree with that TC. Invariably no matter how they have been playing, when it comes to the QFs - the business end - Kerry step it up a gear. Corke Park is where they want to be - even if their fans don't . They have not been playing badly and have taken suspensions on the chin. Seems like they don't want the circus/distractions of previous years and just want to concentrate on what happens on the pitch. I am not sold on this Down team at all and if Kerry get on top early on it could be a comfortable afternoon for them.

If Down had a forward line of Carr-Blaney-Mason-Linden-Whitnell-McCartan, they'd have a chance. As it happens, they don't and Kerry have a forward line of O'Sullivan-O'Sullivan-Walsh-Cooper-Donaghy-Sheehan.

The Kingdom will be well prepared for this as the draw was only a week ago. They'd have had to prepare for the last four/five weeks for a possible re-match with Cork, just on the off-chance. Kerry by twelve/thirteen plus.

Down 1-3
Kerry 0-0

24 minutes gone.

Down 1-3
Kerry 0-4

30 mnutes

Down 1-5
Kerry 0-4

Kerry look to be in trouble. Down have 5 players on the score sheet to their 2.

cant believe what i am seeing. Come on kerry

samin10 wrote:cant believe what i am seeing. Come on kerry

Neither can I see Sam.

Kerry at 2.34 on BF.

I'll have some of that please.

samin10 wrote:cant believe what i am seeing. Come on kerry

I have a bad feeling it will be a Tyrone and Down final.

I was about to say if Down can get enough ball to Quirke they could win this easily.

Alas he has now gone off so that cuts off their supply of good ball.

The disallowed goal seems to be crucial as well, would have had Kerry in front.

At the moment Kerry are simply awful, and people in Cork will have the prayer mats out for the second half.

Down 1-9
Kerry 0-9

Kerry also down to 14. Walsh sent off with 2 yellows.

Kerry are out of the All Ireland Championship.