By Niall McCoy

CAUTION with a strong dash of confidence – Stephen Keith is well aware that Down’s upcoming Joe McDonagh Cup campaign is another chance to show that hurling in the county is tracking upward.

Ronan Sheehan’s side are in the second-tier championship this season and an opener away to Kerry this Saturday will be followed by a home tie with Meath. Survival, according to the goalkeeper, is the main aim – but he can’t help but wonder what would happen if they get their best game going.

They are massive underdogs for the trip to Tralee, but they were also not fancied by anyone outside their own panel when they met Offaly in last year’s Christy Ring Cup semi-final, so Keith – who was the hero in the penalty shoot-out that day – is hoping for a repeat.

“Our aim for the Joe McDonagh is to avoid relegation. We want to stay in it for next year too.

“We need to win one game, but as a group of players we honestly believe that if we play to our best we can get to Croke Park. We’re going to Kerry trying to win.

“We played Offaly way at the start of last season in the Kehoe Cup in Abbotstown. It was a cracking game of hurling. Obviously they were missing a few but we were missing a good few players too.

“That game gave us a lot of confidence and we knew we could win against them in the semi-final. To be honest, we could have had it wrapped up in normal time.

“We got it done in the end and that gave us a massive boost. It was disappointing to lose the final (against Kildare) but it gave us so much confidence going into this year and playing at a higher level.”

They started that higher level hurling in trying circumstances as this weekend’s opponents put 4-18 past them in the first round of Division 2A.

The game was lost in six second-half minutes when Keith was beaten three times while another two points were added to the Kerry tally. Eleven points in six minutes in a game Down lost by the same margin.

“As a group of lads we’re champing at the bit to get back to Kerry. We let ourselves down a bit in the third quarter of that match,” the goalkeeper said.

“The other three quarters we more that matched them. In six-and-a-half minutes we conceded 3-2.

“It was a wake-up call for us as well. This is the level we are at now and if you do switch off you’re going to get punished.

“That stood to us for the rest of the league and hopefully it will for the championship too.”

That defeat appeared to spell trouble, especially with Carlow arriving in round two, but the Ballycran factor came into play and Sheehan’s side won three of their remaining four games to secure a commendable third-place finish.

“As a group of lads we all love playing in Ballycran, in McKenna, we are very hard to beat in McKenna,” Keith continued.

“We have proved that again this year and we won our two games we played there.

“I have been playing since 2011 and I think I have lost maybe one game there and I’m pretty sure it was London who beat us.

“The Carlow match was a massive result for us, especially after the start we had. I remember looking at the scoreboard and I think it was 1-5 to 0-1 and I was just think ‘Jesus, we could be on for a trimming here.’

“We knuckled down though, came back at it and it turned our season around.

“We backed it up the following week with a good win in Wicklow.

“The day we played Offaly down in Tullamore they were the better team. You just have to hold your hands up. Then we finished the league off with a win (against Meath).”

Joe McDonagh Cup
Group B round one
Kerry v Down

By Niall McCoy

DOWN manager Ronan Sheehan is sweating on the fitness of a few key players as they prepare for what could end up being a make-or-break Joe McDonagh clash with Kerry in Tralee on Saturday.

One team will emerge from a three-team Group B and the victor here will be strongly fancied to make it to the final with games with Meath to follow for both.

Conor Woods, Caolan Taggart and Donal Hughes are all carrying knocks into the game, but there is an expectancy that they will play some part, if not all appearing from the start.

To be in a position where they could look at the Meath match and know a win would send them through would be dreamland for Down, but this is a side that knows how to cause a massive upset.

Last year they faced four-time All-Ireland champions Offaly in the Christy Ring Cup and won after penalties. When mulling the result, Sheehan wondered how they didn’t win it in normal time and then extra-time.

What he will be mulling over in the lead up to this is how to reverse the 11-point defeat they suffered down in Kerry in the first round of the league.

Their reaction to that loss was first class as they earned wins over Carlow, Meath and Wicklow with a heavy loss to Offaly thrown in there too.

They’ll also know that they weren’t outclassed by Kerry with the damage done in a short period in the second half. The visitors had actually led at the interval but three goals before the second-half water break swung the tie firmly in Kerry’s favour.

Shane Nolan terrorised them when he moved into the full-forward line for the second half, so Down must have a better plan if he does move in there again.

If this was in fortress McKenna Park it would have ‘potential shock’ written all over it. But down in Kerry nothing comes easy, and the Kingdom should rule again.

Verdict: Kerry