McCartan’s Down youngsters preparing for “wounded animal” Tyrone

By Shaun Casey

CAVAN’S first round win over Tyrone in the u-20 Ulster Championship has blown Group B wide open, and now means that Down are facing a “wounded animal” when they travel to Dungannon on Wednesday evening.

Down last beat Tyrone in back in 2023, the first round of the competition, but since then, Paul Devlin’s men have gone on to win back-to-back All-Ireland titles.

Paul McCartan’s Mourne men also tasted defeat on the opening night, losing to old rivals Armagh by four-points in the end, so both sides head into their round two fixture hoping to pick up their first wins of the campaign.

“The result last week was a shock in the sense that Tyrone have so much talent,” said McCartan, who manages the team alongside Neil Coulter. “

When you have the likes of Conor O’Neill and Conor Devlin, they have two u-20 All-Ireland medals already in their back pocket.

“They have a third year so it shows you the quality of player that Tyrone have and I would think, going through their line-up, there wouldn’t be too many lads without All-Ireland medals at minor or u-20 level.

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“Last week was a shock but the unfortunate thing for us is that we’re going to have a wounded animal on Wednesday night that will be looking to put everything that went wrong last week, right.

“We’re probably in the same position. We’re trying to get a result because it’s a really competitive group and Ulster is just a minefield.”

Down also met the Red Hand County last season, at Burren, and were really competitive for most of the encounter, but the introduction of Eoin McElholm at half time changed the game and Tyrone eased to a comfortable victory in the end.

“It was level at half time and then Eoin McElholm came on and it was a different dynamic with them. It’s that wee bit of forward quality that they had and they still have that,” the Burren clubman continued.

“They have Ruairi McCullagh as well in the present setup. At the top end of the field, they do have the quality forwards that you need to bring the game back if you’re in trouble and they have that array of talent.”

Down are operating without some of their best players at the minute. The standout performers in the Abbey CBS, Newry team that recently won the MacRory Cup just haven’t been available for one reason or another.

Ballyholland sharpshooter Charlie McGrath, who plays soccer for Newry City, hasn’t committed while Dan McKernan is currently in Zambia with the school. Dara Havern is also missing through injury and is unlikely to see any game time in the competition.

Reflecting on last week’s 0-19 to 1-12 defeat to Armagh, at Páirc Esler, Newry, McCartan was proud of the effort his side put in, especially after the half time interval when the game looked to be getting away from them.

“From our own point of view, it was disappointing,” he added. “It was a local derby and we went into it, Armagh were the favourites and we knew it was a big task but the disappointing thing was that, the 15 minutes before half time killed us.

“We got off to a decent start but that 15 minute period was where the game got away from us. We went in six down at the break and we got it back to two, but at that stage, there was 10 or 12 minutes to go but we committed a breech, which was at a really important juncture.

“The lads, in the second half, were excellent. They’re a really, really good group of players that are buying into what we’re trying to do and putting their shoulders to the wheel and want to play for Down.

“The second half, we were very proud of them and of the effort that they gave because going into it, everybody had us written off and they showed a lot of fight and determination but that was expected because of the type of characters we have in the changing room.”