National Hurling League Division 2A final
Down v Westmeath
Saturday, Semple Stadium, 4.45pm

By Kieran Lynch

DOWN hurling manager Ronan Sheehan says that opportunities like Saturday’s Division 2A final against Westmeath ‘don’t come along too often’ as they’re one win away from returning to hurling’s top table for the first time since 2007.

In the 15 years since, Down spent most of that time languishing in Division 2B having been further demoted in 2012. They weren’t promoted from it until as recently as 2020, and with that mind, the Mourne County operated with a ‘safety first’ mindset when it came to Division 2A hurling in 2021 and 2022, and Sheehan conceded that his side have somewhat overachieved to have made it this far.

“If we’re being honest, we have probably exceeded expectations,” he told Gaelic Life.

“When we started out, we were looking to get four points from our first three games – which would leave us safe. Once we did that, we targeted a league semi-final place, and we sort of overachieved.

“So, we have definitely delivered on everything that we hoped for at the start of the year, but we’re in a league final, and we have a great opportunity to push on and to secure Division One hurling. Those chances don’t come along too often, so we’re determined to make the most out of it.”

With four wins from their five games, Down were the best team in the league, and a 1-19 to 0-20 victory over Kerry in round five allowed them to sit back and enjoy the semi-final clash between the Kingdom and Westmeath, with their place already secured in the final.

Despite that, Sheehan doesn’t feel that the extra week to prepare will have much bearing on the outcome of the match.

“We know a lot about them, and they know a lot about us,” Sheehan said.

“I suppose it’s going to come down to who performs on the day. I don’t think that the extra week’s rest will go against us, but I certainly don’t think that it will be the deciding factor either.”

Despite Down’s almost-perfect league record, they haven’t had it easy to get to this point, with every game coming down to the wire. In their five fixtures, the margin of victory for the winning side in each game was as follows: one point, two points, one point, two points and two points. Consequently, Sheehan feels as though another close encounter is likely in store for Down on Saturday.

“I suppose that’s indicative of how close the league is,” said Sheehan of the results.

“Division 2A is a competitive and fantastic league. If you look across almost of all of the results throughout the division, there probably was no more than one to six points between the teams in any of the games, which is indicative of the fact that all of the teams are fairly close to each other in terms of their standard – which should make for a very good league final on Saturday evening.”

Whatever the result is on Saturday, Down hurling appears to be at its strongest point for quite some time, but the Mournemen won’t be satisfied unless they’re travelling back up the road as Division One’s newest addition.

“It’s fantastic to be here, but finals are for winning,” Sheehan affirmed.

“These opportunities don’t come along too often; we’re 70 minutes away from Division One, so we want to grasp that with both hands.

“To take the next step for Down hurling would be absolutely fantastic, and that’s very much what we’re focused on.”

READ MORE – Derry skipper hoping his side learn their lessons from final defeats.  Click here…