1 championship meeting: 1994 All-Ireland Semi-Final: Down 1-14 Cork 0-12
2010 Championship Records:
Down:
May 30 at Ballybofey - Down 1-15 Donegal 2-10
June 19 at Casement Park: Tyrone 0-14 Down 0-10
July 10 at Newry: Down 1-14 Longford 1-10
July 17 at Tullamore: Down 1-12 Offaly 1-10
July 24 at Breffni Park: Down 3-20 Sligo 0-10
July 31 at Croke Park: Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10
August 29 at Croke Park: Down 1-16 Kildare 1-14
5 of Down’s 7 opponents have scored 10 points (not including goals)
Cork:
June 6 at Killarney: Cork 0-15 Kerry 0-15
June 13 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh: Kerry 1-15 Cork 1-14 aet
July 10 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh: Cork 1-19 Cavan 0-4
July 18 at Wexford Park: Cork 0-12 Wexford 0-5
July 24 at the Gaelic Grounds: Cork 0-16 Limerick 0-11 aet
August 1 at Croke Park: Cork 1-16 Roscommon 0-10
August 22 at Croke Park: Cork 1-15 Dublin 1-14
I would love to see Down do it, a county I’ve always had the greatest respect for since 1991, and I think they will do it. There’s something special about seeing a Down team in full flight in Croke Park. Better forwards, their defence has come on in leaps and bounds and they also come on in leaps and bounds tactically since Tyrone beat them. They have had two defeats in serious matches this year and have learned from both of them. They’ve managed to integrate the modern defensive game plan with the traditional Down flair to produce a really formidable package.
On the other hand it’s unthinkable for Cork to lose this one. They have the experience but is it the type of experience you want? It could inhibit them more than help them.
By the way I think it has been a fantastic football championship this year, certainly the best I can remember. I hope we get a great final to put the icing on the cake.
Nice work as always Sid. I never realised Cork have only won 6 AI’s.
Down will win this because of one man, Marty Clarke, fantastic footballer (in more than one code), surely a tip for FOTY. I hope they do and I hope he will be.
Down’s players will not wear their traditional red and black jerseys in the All-Ireland Football final because of a clash of colours with Cork.
The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee ruled on Monday that both teams would wear alternate colours.
Cork will wear white jerseys with a red trim while Down will don mainly yellow shirts with a red and black trim.
Down wore the same strip in last year’s All-Ireland under 21 final when Cork triumphed after a last-gasp goal.
Cork wore their traditional red shirts in that game.
The 19 September decider will be the first time since the 1982 final between Offaly and Kerry that both the finalists will be forced to wear alternative strips.
When Down and Cork met in the 1994 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, Down wore a gold and black strip, while Cork played in white jerseys.
The last occasion a team in the final wore a change of strip was in the replayed 1996 decider, when Meath wore a gold jersey against Mayo.
On three occasions when Kerry and Mayo met in finals recently - 1997, 2004, '06 - Croke Park were happy to let both counties wear their traditional green strip despite the clash of colours.
I’ll keep kev happy by saying I hope Down win. the usual anti Cork thing etc.
I just much prefer watching them play football than Cork. I cant stand Corks cynacism and general approach of being big fit athletes getting you success. I’d prefer the natural talent of Coulter and Clarke than any player on the Cork side. In saying that, I believe Cork have the ability to play good football, but they are being strangled by their tactics and gameplans, which I think is as a result from being beaten in decisive games over the last few years. I’d have liked to have seen the Cork team of 2-3 years ago get some success, but this one right now are horrible to watch. Its hard to argue with success, they have made an AI final without playing great football, but their comeback over Dublin was mainly due to winning frees rather than an abandonment on gameplan and just going for it. If Cork win, nobody can argue they havent deserved it for being there abouts for the last 5 years. They have a reputation of choking, mainly against Kerry in Croke Park I suppose, but this will be the test for them. They will be favorites due to much more experience at this stage of championship than Down, and I’d expect them to win it. Corks midfield is key. The depth they have there is unreal. It won the game for them over Dublin, the fitness they had compared to McConnell who put in lazy half arsed tackles was a huge factor. I cant see Downs midfield standing up to them.
Prediction ; Cork 0-13 Down 1-8
Hoping ; Down 1-13 Cork 0-14
Gman - I really can’t argue with anything you say. Down play better football than Cork, to argue anything else would be ridiculous. I was astounded (but immensly happy) with their play yesterday. I really rated Kildare, and they didn’t play that badly, it’s just Down were immense.
As Sid says, theis has been a vintage year for football, its been so enjoyable, but the irony of it all the new coming teams is that i believe its a slightly old guard. as in Cork, will end up winning. As you say, Cork are capable of so much more, and when you look at the management of the 2 Cork teams in the finals at Minor and Senior for the 19th you’d have to wonder what we’d be like if Cutbert was in charge of the Seniors, personally i think we’d be awesome, and unstopable. The minor team play with such a freedom its amazing to watch. Not only that, but they are not like the Cork underage teams that produced Goulding, Shields etc, they are footballers to the tip, skillful if not that athletic.
Right now we have the best footballers in the country, in an overall sense, i really hope we show that on the 19th. I genuinely believe we will over power Down, but unfortunately i don’t think it will be pretty. If th9is Cork team all of a sudden decided to play like Brian Cutbert has the minors playing then i think everybody would love them and they would be playing the game the way its meant to be played. That won’t happen though, and the only thing that will see this Cork team playing to its potential is actually winning the All-Ireland, and taking those chains off. I have often believed, that if we win one, we’ll win 3-4 in a short period.
I’m a purist in many ways though, and what a football team Down are. They are what i like to call, PROPER footballers. Their skill levels are just fantastic. But football is not just about aesthetics, and Cork are the better team.
Aye, a quite nice red shirt it was too. The piece is from the Beeb. Kerry changed their shirts in 1997 also in theory, they made the hoop noticably wider in the hope to distinguish their shirts from Mayo enough and not to change at the same time. It didnt matter anyway, Maurice still couldnt make out the difference between a Mayo lad and Billy O Sé’s leg.
Sid as a traditionalist, would you like it to go back to wearing the colours of your province and not this attempt to sell change kits that we now see? A hark back to the days of Meath v Donegal perhaps?
I don’t particularly care as long as it’s a decent looking kit. Which that Cork one very definitely is not. It is rank and has the look of losers about it.
Ambrose Rogers says he will be fit for this and that his cruciate is not damaged at all. I hope he’s right.
Ambrose Rogers has pledged that he will play some part in this year’s All-Ireland SFC final against Cork.
The Down captain missed out on his side’s epic semi-final win over Kildare last Sunday, having to watch from the sidelines at Croke Park due to injury, but is now confident that he will “definitely” play a part come September 19.
“It is just a wee bit of a tear. It wasn’t anything major. It wasn’t the cruciate at all, a slight strain between it and one of the cartridges, not nearly as bad as was made out, it is fine,” Rogers told the Irish News.
"It is just a matter of getting the swelling down and managing it. I have been using the ice baths at Burren and I’ve been down to Tyrone to have sessions of cyrotherapy.
“Everything I can do I’m doing. There will be no stone left unturned and I’ll definitely be taking part at some stage of in the All-Ireland final.”
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