Meenagh involvement offers “strange dynamic” says Rooney


By Shaun Casey ROAMING Kilcoo defender Micéal Rooney says Ciarán Meenagh’s involvement with Loughmacrory offers “a strange dynamic” after the Tyrone native spent two seasons as Down coach under Conor Laverty. Meenagh has been appointed as Derry manager for the upcoming season but has a good insight into the Kilcoo changing room having coached Rooney […]


Down return not on Smyth’s radar


By Shaun Casey NEW Orleans Saints’ kicker and former Down shot-stopper Charlie Smyth doesn’t see a return to the red and black jersey happening anytime soon as he targets a starting spot as an American football placekicker. Smyth, who signed a three-year contract with the Saints in March 2024, kicked two field goals for his […]


KEVIN CASSIDY: The Mourne Ultimatum


THERE are three things certain here in this life – death, taxes and pundits getting predictions wrong. Over the last few weeks, it has been next to impossible to predict some of the championship games so great credit must go to the Football Review Committee because this is exactly what we have been looking for. […]


Laverty chasing Down momentum


By Shaun Casey DOWN’S round three defeat to Monaghan means the Mourne men could possibly be playing three weeks on the bounce, if they reach the All-Ireland quarter-finals for the first time since 2012, but boss Conor Laverty doesn’t mind. His side put in a solid shift and were leading heading into the final quarter […]


Carr excited by Galway visit to Páirc Esler


By Shaun Casey CHAMPIONSHIP clashes between Down and Galway are few and far between. In fact, Sunday’s encounter will be the first since the All-Ireland semi-final in 1971, when Galway won by seven points. Aidan Carr never faced the Tribesmen in the championship during his years in the red and black shirt, but he did […]


Laverty pleased with Mourne men’s progress


WHILE Conor Laverty and his Down team believed they would see out the group stages with three wins from three, they can taking plenty of learnings from their hectic tie with Ulster rivals Monaghan, which ended in a narrow defeat. Midway through the second period, the Mourne men were four-points ahead and looked like the […]


Danny Magill – From cross-country to blazing a trail with Down


By Shaun Casey AS a teenager at St Colman’s College, Newry, Danny Magill would compete in cross country events. Anyone that has witnessed the Burren clubman in full flight, with a Gaelic football under his arm, won’t be overly surprised by that fact. An All-Ireland Senior Cross Country winner for the school in 2019, that blistering […]