By Niall McCoy

KINGSPAN Breffni is the venue for the All-Ireland U-20 semi-final between Down and Roscommon on Saturday evening – and the venue holds good memories for the Mourne county and their manager Conor Laverty.

It was, after all, where their journey to the Ulster title began as they dismantled Cavan 2-17 to 0-9 on their home pitch before victories over Fermanagh and Monaghan, in an emotional decider, secured their first provincial title at this level since 2009.

For Laverty, it’s also a venue in which he has enjoyed performing in the black and white of Kilcoo. He scored five points from play as they took Kingscourt Stars apart in the 2015 Ulster Club Championship and more notably, it was the scene of the club’s All-Ireland semi-final win over Ballyboden last January.

Laverty is looking forward to returning to the venue, but he doesn’t believe that past glories will count for much against the Connacht champions.

“We played Cavan in the first round at Kingspan and I told the lads that it’s a pitch I have fond memories of,” he said.

“But at the end of the day it’s just a pitch with two sets of goalposts and four white lines around the outside. It’s what the lads do inside those lines on Saturday that will determine the outcome.”

Down needed extra-time to get past Monaghan in last Friday’s Ulster final at the Athletic Grounds. If they had lost, it would have struck in the craw for a very long time given the opportunities they passed up.

They recovered, with Justin Clarke’s goal sealing the deal in those extra 20 minutes, but Laverty said that their shooting must be more polished if they are to reach an All-Ireland final against Offaly.

“As a group we sat down and analysed the match and we identified that our decision-making and execution in the final third is an area we have to improve going forward.

“There are a good bunch of lads. From one to 34 they are a very hard-working panel and always willing to learn. They’re a very honest team.

“They’ve all bought into the ethos that there is no one bigger than the team. I think that’s very important and I am delighted with how they have gelled together. That bond has formed.”

Laverty has been studying the tapes of Roscommon and he has been more than impressed.

Liam Tully’s side hit eight goals across their comfortable wins over Leitrim and Sligo, but it was their seven-point Connacht final win over Mayo that really caught the eye.

“I watched the Mayo game there the other day and they are a very strong side with some really dangerous forwards. They scored 10 goals in the Connacht Championship. That just shows the quality they have in attack.

“They’re very well set up at the back too so this is going to be a very, very difficult game. If we’re not at the pitch of our performance it simply won’t be good enough.”