By Niall Gartland DOWN coach Mickey Donnelly makes no bones about it – coaxing the players to move on from a humbling Ulster Championship defeat to Armagh took much more than a simple pat on the back. The prospect of Tailteann Cup football was sickening in the circumstances, and the manner of their second-round defeat […]
By Niall Gartland DOWN’S season hinges on Saturday’s Tailteann Cup round three clash away to Longford. Conor Laverty’s side would rather be nowhere near the Tailteann Cup competition in the first place, and perhaps that goes some way to explain their shock defeat to Offaly on their last day out. Offaly’s vastly superior conversion rate […]
By Niall Gartland IF Down legend Ross Carr has one message to impart before Saturday’s Tailteann Cup opener against Leitrim, it’s this – football sure is a fickle business. The Mourne Men were the talk of the country after a stunning victory against Donegal in the first round of the Ulster Championship. And then the […]
By Michael McMullan THE million-dollar question for Down on Sunday was how they step out of the rubble of their Ulster exit at the hands of Armagh. With Westmeath’s win over Kildare, it combined to leave Conor Laverty’s side back in the Tailteann Cup. It was a tough day at the office as Armagh eased […]
By Michael McMullan WHAT a difference a week can make. Ask Down. Ask Conor Laverty. From the highs of beating Donegal to Sunday’s chastening defeat at the hands of Armagh. “We are gutted now,’ he said, facing up the media despite their 3-33 to 0-14 defeat. “Listen, it’s hard to put your finger on that. […]
By Michael McMullan CEILUM Doherty was the glue in Down’s performance as they ousted back-to-back champions Donegal from the Ulster Championship. Despite their impressive performance in Letterkenny, every hour counts this week as they tune their engines for a tilt at Armagh on Sunday in Clones. Standing in the middle of O’Donnell Park, Doherty takes […]
By Shaun Casey STANDING side by side at a recent underage game in Ballymacnab, Kieran McGeeney and Conor Laverty were able to shoot the breeze. They weren’t inter-county managers on that sunny Sunday morning, just two fathers watching their children play as Kilcoo made the journey to the mid-Armagh club. Two weeks on from that […]
By Michael McMullan THERE are two stories going into Sunday’s Ulster semi-final showdown in Clones. Firstly. Armagh are going in with one day extra of recovery having had a comfortable win over Fermanagh. On the flip side, Down had the rollercoaster of chinning the Ulster champions in their own backyard. Advertisement Sunday’s result will write […]
By Michael McMullan CONOR Laverty praised his side’s level of desire to improve after Down’s win over champions Donegal in O’Donnell Park on Sunday. In the last two seasons, Down pushed eventual All-Ireland champions Armagh and Donegal all the way before coming up short. Speaking after both games, Laverty pointed to the level of preparation […]
BY RYAN FERRY DONEGAL senior football manager Jim McGuinness says their recent training camp in Portugal has left the team in good stead ahead of the Ulster Championship. McGuinness’s charges have enjoyed a super season so far after winning both the Dr McKenna Cup and the National Football League. Now it’s time for the next […]
