By Niall Gartland

REIGNING Ulster Intermediate champions Down begin their campaign with a semi-final joust with Tyrone this Sunday – and they won’t need reminding of their last encounter with the Red Hands.

Their new manager Colm Donnelly was part of the backroom team when the two teams met in Clones in an All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final, Tyrone digging deep to overcome the Mourne County on a scoreline of 2-11 to 1-11.

The Castleblayney man has taken charge this year, while well-known former Down footballer Mark Poland remains in situ as coach, and he’s happy with how things are going even if they failed to achieve their stated goal of achieving promotion out of Division Three.

“The league was a bit of a mixed back, we lost two games against Cavan and Laois, and then drew with Wexford, which meant our promotion hopes were virtually gone.

“But in saying that they’ve been on an unbeaten run of four games, which is something to be positive about particularly as this is a very young team compared to last year.”

Donnelly is mindful that Tyrone plied their trade in Division One last year, albeit they found themselves relegated when all was said and done.

The Red Hands got their championship account up and running last Sunday with an extremely hard-earned victory over outsiders Fermanagh, overhauling a five-point deficit in the final ten minutes to win out by 4-10 to 3-11. Does that bode well for Down’s chances of plotting an upset? Donnelly thinks complacency may have played a part in their narrow win over the Ernesiders.

“I was at the Fermanagh game, and my thinking was that Tyrone probably underestimated their opponents, and to be fair they showed great grit and determination to squeeze out the game in the final 10 minutes.

“We feel like there’s an absolutely massive challenge ahead of us. There’s a big gulf in class between Division One and Three, so we’re up against it but we’ll give it our best shot.”

It’s still early days in his tenure and he says that their long-term ambition is making pulling on the Down jersey an attractive prospect for any talented younger players coming through the ranks.

“Our aspiration is to develop Down ladies football into a consistently strong team. I think it’s on an upwards curve as it is, with all the young girls coming through.

“We want to be role models for any talented youngster, that they want to line out for Down, and that would be the main ambition for the management team beyond our championship campaigns.”