Donnelly hoping Down’s underdog tale pays off

By Shaun Casey

IT always seems impossible until it’s done. Down against Donegal. Division Three champions against Division One winners.

The Mourne men still aren’t 100 per cent sure of their championship path. They could end up in the Tailteann Cup. On Sunday, at Letterkenny, they come up against the frontrunners for Sam Maguire.

You won’t find too many people that think Down will come away with a win. Mickey Donnelly doesn’t mind. He knows the challenge Jim McGuinness’ men, chasing three Ulster crowns in a row, will present.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t have a cut at it.

“You can pull out all the David and Goliath analogies, Wimbledon and Liverpool and all these sporting analogies but we’re there to give it a go and to give it our best shot,” said the Down coach.

“We’ve had over four weeks to prepare and to really throw the kitchen sink at it and that’s what we’re prepared to do. We have a management team that are very diligent and we take great pride in trying to set up a team to be as competitive as we possibly can.

“We watched a brilliant Donegal performance in the league final, but ultimately, teams can have off days, and we could have a really good day. We probably just need the perfect storm that will meet somewhere in between.

On Donegal, Donnelly continued: “Donegal have unearthed new players and it’s difficult to prepare for Donegal because there’s that many fires that you have to put out.

“You look at the Donegal team in the league final without (Shaun) Patton, without Daire Ó Baoill, without Oisin Gallen. Ciaran Thompson is coming back, Ciaran Moore, these lads are all household names.

“Finnbarr Roarty only came off the bench because of the u-20s. They’re a serious outfit with a huge depth chart in terms of playing ability. We’ve had four weeks of intense prep, and we haven’t been far away when we’ve had that lead in to big games.”

Down, who are heading into their 32nd year since last lifting the Anglo Celt Cup, got to within six-points of Donegal in last season’s Ulster semi-final, and Donnelly hopes they can take confidence from that.

“We definitely had a great goal chance when we were five down, but I think we were shadow boxing a wee bit,” he added. “I think Donegal always had us at arm’s length and we probably needed to be in a better position at half time.

“Conceding the goal was a big sucker punch for us because we felt it was fairly toe-to-toe for 20 minutes and then Patton got a long kickout away, Murphy was able to hold off Ryan Magill and within ten seconds the ball’s in the back of the net.

“We’re not saying that we want to take it down the track, but we want to make as big a pest and a nuisance out of ourselves as we can for 70 minutes.

“We think we have the quality. We think we have the players that can hurt other teams on any given day and we’re just hopeful that those boys can stand up on the 26th of April.”

While Down needed extra time to shake off Wexford in the Division Three league final, they have some of the best players in the province. The likes of Pat Havern, Daniel Guiness and Odhran Murdock would walk onto most teams.

Playing in the Sam Maguire competition, and against the best teams out there, will only make Conor Laverty’s side better, Donnelly believes, though their status is in danger following Westmeath’s shock win over Meath.

“As long as Leitrim or Westmeath don’t upset the apple cart (by reaching a provincial final). I think that’s why getting into Sam Maguire football is so important for this group, playing as many big games as you possibly can.

“Playing teams in the Tailteann Cup that you weren’t being stretched against isn’t what this group needs. They need to be playing in big stadiums, playing on big days, playing against excellent players with top referees and against top coaching teams.

“It excites everybody particularly the supporters. Look at Armagh, you don’t have to delve into the deepest, darkest past to remember Armagh playing Division Three football and look at them now.

“It goes hand-in-hand that when you go to the Athletic Grounds for a National League game, you’ll get a ding on your phone that the match has been pushed back 15 minutes due to a full house. So hopefully being in the All-Ireland series gets the county excited again.

“There was a great Down support at the league final, it was heartwarming to see young children wearing Down jerseys and getting behind the team. That’s where we want to be and we want to play there as much as we possibly can.”