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richie, yeah people are more interested in section 2 , because it is going to be such a tight league this year. We got relegated because we wernt good enough throughout the season bottom line and got in to a losing rutt, which can be very hard to get out of. Im sure we will all see who is good enough to win the league in section 2 this year and there will be a lot of twists and turns along the way no doubt.

Re : bruces' comment
I would totally agree with your comment bruce. You must believe you can win the section. Set your sights high and if you dont come up to scratch you finish mid table. Set your sights mid table and you end up fighting relegation. Is this the reason Downpatrick were relegated for the first time in their history with an approach like this?! lol is it just me or are people more interested in the fight for section 2 than section 1?? great for the game.

bruce, long time no see, hope your keeping well, of course we think we can win it , i was trying to be diplomatic, but failed misarebly since i left out armagh,

Re Taito - Your section 2 prediction surpised me - if you don't believe you can win it, you have lost before you start !

Have to say folks, the forum is really taking off! Gareth my predictions would not be worth putting a bet on as I dont really know most of the teams in the section. I am only aware of Downpatrick and Saintfields qualities so I expect to find some quality teams in the league and you may well be one of them.

Anyway one thing is for sure, I would say that Section 2 will be the most competitive of all the sections while the banter off the pitch wont be too bad either. Looking forward to meeting new teams and making new friends.

Also looking forward to clubs visiting our ground, as on a nice day, it is by far one of the nicest grounds in the NCU if not Ireland. I have no doubt that the opposition will enjoy it and win lose or draw we will treat them with good hospitality.

garteh, predicting a league will always mean some people are annoyed at where i said they will finish, your right though it will be so tight and i cant see one or two teams totally dominating it , they will lose a few games on the way, what does anyone out of south down think about the possible finishing positions?? Looking forward to ballgomartin too, havent been there in a couple of years

Nice to see Taito and Rodney have written off Woodvale as a mid table team this season. What a difference a year makes, this time last year we were favourites! It will certainly be very tight. I can't see any team running away with it and i think the two teams that will go up will lose 4/5 games over the season. Every team is capable of beating each other. Dundrum and Saintfield might just surprise a few people. As for Woodvale. i believe we have a much stronger team and squad this season with Nigel Palmer back and David Connelly signed. It will be very interesting!

Michael, you are so right about players that are used to good tracks and grounds having to adjust to some places with poor wickets and outfields. DK will still score a bag full at eaton park, he is a class act and dont forget he played on those tracks for years. Its going to be one tight league that is for sure ,

taito,no problem !man that hasnt made mistake aint BORN.no 1 thing theirs BOUND 2 b some great craic this year WIN LOSE OR DRAW !! &yes i will accept 20£@ 3 1 home &away that we can BEAT the mighty DOWNPATRICK!ps dont anyone bet dan george as just out for canter!

Ivan, most grounds are like a bog right now so Moylena is no exception! However it does raise an interesting point and one that teams like Downpatrick and Lurgan need to be wary of. Without going into the merits of section two grounds few of them match the quality of section one clubs and batsmen will have to adjust. For example despite all his local knowledge and ability Davy Kennedy won't score the runs he scored at North Down because Ballymena and the Green are very different wickets. Also the scores in section two are generally much lower.

Caught up too much with the football these days but I'm still enjoying the banter on the website. Great stuff and plenty of good articles to back up the postings. On the subject of nicknames everybody should remember Monty, Warkey, Jacko, Genius, Decker and co but who was Bilko, Beastie, Growler, the Goat?

I used to think it was only the North-West men that bummed and blowed about what their teams were going to do BEFORE the season got under way but we're starting to sound a lot like them in section two.
What it highlights is the fact that everyone is really looking forward to a competitive league probably even more competitive than section one and that every match will be meaningful from start to finish.
I would also like to add that the reason why people like myself don't give all their details on the website is because we want readers to deal with the message and not with the messenger. I'm a cricket nobody beside some of the website big boys but my views are personal and I really enjoy the craic and the banter.

gareth , as i said in a previous post i apologise for leaving out armagh, i am sure we will have a good couple of battles with you. Look forward to coming back to the mall. It wasnt me being alouf, just me being stupid, apologies again. Look forward to coming down there

richie, sorry i forgot to say i dont know what club you are from, but if you play a game for fun and can get paid for it and still enjoy it why not?? there are plenty of boys in ncu and north west cricket doing it now. It has been discussed at length on both forums and there are opposing views. As you know the season could have went better, it wasnt through lack of effort.
John, yeah i think saintfield will do well, and you arent far wrong that you will have to get the sledging in quick in the middle cause it is likely i wont be out there for long

OOOOOOO THE CLAWS ARE OUT NOW , I LOVE IT. Apologies for omitting armagh from my table i would say they will be somewhere in the bottom four. Certainly i would say i will have made some mistakes in my predictions, there are a lot of very evenly matched sides there that there isnt much between.
Richie, i knew someone would pick up on that point, good work.
Jeff , apologies i was obviously being a bit thick after a long day at work, i am hardly gpoing to predict we dont do well, have to go in to the season with a bit of confidence, and yeah i will take that 3-1 bet.