Down aiming for top spot says Donnelly

By Shaun Casey

IF Down can avoid defeat against Roscommon this weekend, then they’ll be guaranteed top position in their group and home advantage in the All-Ireland Intermediate quarter-finals, which is the big prize they are aiming for, says boss Colm Donnelly.

The Mourne Ladies upset the odds in round two when they hammered favourites Cavan, who had been promoted to Division One in the league. It leaves Down in pole position to top the group.

Cavan defeated Roscommon on the opening day, meaning anything other than a convincing win will end the Connacht county’s participation in the competition, so Donnelly is expecting them to come out swinging.

“We’re going to look to try and keep the momentum going against Roscommon,” he said. “We probably felt that it would come down to the Roscommon game to finish second in the group when the draw was initially made.

“Now we have an opportunity to top the group and get a home draw in the quarter-final and that’s going to be our main focus going into this weekend.

“We’re going to prepare as well as we did for the Cavan game. We’re going to go to Roscommon on Sunday and we’re going to look to get the performance and the win and get that home quarter-final.

“It’s a great position to be in. I watched Roscommon against Cavan in the first round and I think Roscommon were defensive, they tried to curtail Cavan.

“Roscommon have to win this game on Sunday and they have to play on the front foot, which would suit us because we like to play football on the front foot too.

“A draw will do for us, but we want to try and get that winning mentality back into the team and get a bit of a run going before the knockout stages start.

“When you’re playing the likes of Cavan, you have to be focused, have the work done and be well prepped. We felt that we prepared really well because we needed to be at our best. In fairness to the girls, they stuck to the plan, and it worked.”

Eimear Fitzpatrick was in sensational form last weekend and finished the game with 3-4, with 3-2 of her final tally coming from open play. Donnelly was delighted to see Fitzpatrick play with “freedom” and perform as well as she did.

“In fairness to Eimear, she was carrying a bit of a niggle during the week. On Sunday, we wanted to get her to play with a wee bit of freedom and she showed her talent on the day.

“Her third goal, it was the best goal of the day. The ball was kicked in and hit the crossbar, but she kept running and the ball bounced lovely for her, and she stuck it in the back of the net. It just shows what a really good forward she is and what a ruthless forward she is.”