By Kieran Lynch

DESPITE the serious allegations of sectarian abuse which Down manager Ronan Sheehan highlighted on Sunday night, the significance of their win over Carlow in Division 2A shouldn’t be forgotten.

As many teams experienced over the weekend, the poor weather made it difficult to create many scores, and in their 2-10 to 1-12 victory, it was the defensive display which came to the fore.

“Conditions were difficult on the day and scores were hard to come by, which was frustrating for us,” Sheehan admitted.

“But the win was very much built on effort, determination and work-rate. Some of the work-rate in our defence from the likes of John McManus, Matt Conlon, Tom Murray and CT [Caolan Taggart], was just unbelievable.

“Marty Kavanagh and Chris Nolan for Carlow are two top hurlers, and neither of those two players scored from play, which is testament to the work of our defence.”

Having led by one at half time after having the wind at their backs, Down must have thought they had let the points slip, with Carlow up by two in injury time, but a late Marc Fisher goal secured a win, which was built on character and grit.

“We just dug it out,” Sheehan explained.

“We kept on battling, and we were disappointed to not be further ahead at half-time because we had left a few chances behind us.

“But the character shown by the team, the fight, the drive the fitness levels – all of that is a real credit to the boys.

“It’s always great to start the league with a win. Sometimes you win with fantastic hurling, and we have done that on more than one occasion, and sometimes you just win where you fight it out and get over the line, and Sunday was probably one of those games.”

With little to separate the six teams, Division 2A promises to be unforgiving and with games coming thick and fast, Down must now turn their attention to Sunday’s match-up with Meath.

“Almost as soon as the Carlow game was over, we said ‘listen that game is done and dusted, so our focus now has to be solely on Meath,’” said Sheehan.

“We’re expecting a big challenge from them. I have no doubt that Meath will be focusing on winning their home games, so they won’t fear Down – they never have done and vice versa. So, this is a 50-50 game on Sunday.

“We beat them twice in Ballycran last year, so Meath will be out for revenge and targeting this game as one to win, but if we maximise our own performance and bring our intensity and tempo to the game, then I am confident we can get another good result.”