Mournemen are in the last chance saloon

By Niall Gartland

DOWN’S season hinges on Saturday’s Tailteann Cup round three clash away to Longford.

Conor Laverty’s side would rather be nowhere near the Tailteann Cup competition in the first place, and perhaps that goes some way to explain their shock defeat to Offaly on their last day out.

Offaly’s vastly superior conversion rate was pivotal as they emerged victorious on a scoreline of 3-22 to 1-20.

Down spurned a number of goal chances and opportunities for two-pointers in a disappointing day at the office, but at least they can console themselves with the knowledge that they created the opportunities in the first place.

Their upcoming opponents Longford bounced back from an opening day defeat to Fermanagh with an entertaining 2-17 to 1-18 win over Clare. In general they’ve had a decent season, achieving promotion from Division Four before losing the league decider to Carlow.

In Leinster, they had no answer to eventual champions Westmeath, but they’re a steady enough side and have the ability to spring an upset against the Mournemen.

Down have a number of top-tier performers in their ranks like Odhran Murdock and Daniel Guinness bolstered by a batch of seasoned intercounty campaigners, but they simply haven’t been at the races since their memorable victory over Donegal in the Ulster Championship. They were brought back down to earth by a rampant Armagh side at the last-four juncture. Compounding matters are injuries to Ryan McEvoy and Liam Kerr, neither of whom featured against Offaly.

Before the championship started, they were expected to feature in the All-Ireland series having clinched an extra-time victory over Wexford in the Division Three final. That’s not how it panned out with Westmeath blazing a trail through Leinster, bumping Down into the Tailteann Cup competition.

Now they’re firmly in do-or-die territory. Defeat to Longford would spell a massively disappointing end to their season, while victory would set up a quarter-final tie against a Round 2A or preliminary quarter-final winners.

The question is one of appetite – if they can embrace the Tailteann Cup, they have every chance of going all the way.

Otherwise there could be a hasty exit for a team that only recently claimed one of the results of the championship with that aforementioned ambush of Donegal.