JOE MCDONAGH CUP ROUND ONE

KERRY V DOWN

Saturday, Austin Stack Park, 1pm

By Kieran Lynch

DOWN will be looking for a positive reaction in their Joe McDonagh Cup opener against Kerry, after a disappointing end to a very promising league campaign.

Despite a 14-point loss at the hands of Westmeath in the Division 2A final, Down can take a lot of positives from the league, and carry them into the championship, feels their manager Ronan Sheehan.

“Ah look, we’d be very happy with the league campaign overall,” he told Gaelic Life.

“To top the group was fantastic, and we had a number of really good results along the way, but unfortunately, we probably left our worst performance for the final – at least in terms of taking our chances.

“Because 19 wides are always going to leave you struggling to win a match and that’s how it proved. We created many chances, but we just didn’t take them.

“But, we’ll take a lot of positives from the campaign in general. We beat Kerry, Westmeath, Meath and Carlow. You couldn’t complain about the level of performances.”

On Saturday, they have an away trip to Fintan O’Connor’s Kerry, who will be out for revenge, after Down overcame them 1-19 to 0-20 in Ballycran, last month.

“They’re a very strong team, particularly at home. Nobody goes down to Tralee and wins easily,” said Sheehan.

“They’ll be looking to bounce back I’m sure from what they would probably see as a disappointing league campaign. We know that we’re in for a massive battle, but we’re up for that battle and on Saturday it’s going to come down to whoever gets the break of the ball.”

The quick turnaround between the end of the league and the start of the Joe McDonagh Cup gives Down a chance to get the defeat to Westmeath out of their system, but Sheehan says his team won’t dwell on it, as they don’t need any additional motivation.

“I think that the guys are looking forward to playing in the championship, because it’s the championship. I don’t think they’re approaching it hoping to get some vindication for what happened in the final,” he said.

“Because ultimately, our aim was to reach a league semi-final, so we ticked all of our boxes. I don’t think that the defeat is playing on their mind to the extent that they can’t wait to get out onto the pitch, to rectify what went wrong. I think they’re more focused on maximising their performance and seeing how they perform in the Joe McDonagh.”

With good parity across Division 2A, every game provided Down with a stiff challenge, and Sheehan is expecting the exact same across their championship campaign.

“There’s very little between the teams in the McDonagh Cup, with the exception probably of Antrim who are the clear favourites,” said the Newry Shamrocks man.

“But we’re just taking it one game at a time. I know that sounds like a cliché, but you can’t do anything else, because it’s so competitive.

“It won’t be easy – our first three games are Kerry away, then home to Antrim and Offaly who played in Division One this year and would see themselves as McCarthy Cup teams. But we’ll face into that and relish the challenge.”