Down can end final hoodoo

By Niall Gartland

THIRD time’s the charm? Down were stumped by Meath in last year’s Tailteann Cup final, and their Division Three final against Westmeath back in March didn’t exactly go according to plan either, but there’s something to be said for sheer bouncebackability and they find themselves strong favourites to prevail in Sunday’s Tailteann Cup showdown against Laois.

It’s little wonder they’ve been lumbered with the favourites’ tag given what transpired the last time these two sides faced up to each other. In last year’s semi-final, Down trounced an abject Laois on a scoreline of 8-16 to 2-12 and the final tally doesn’t even tell the whole story.

At one point the deficit ballooned to a 27-point margin, Down could’ve scored 10 goals had they the inclination, and Laois put a little respectability (the word respectability is doing a lot of heavy lifting here) on the scoreboard by claiming 2-5 of their overall tally in the final 10 minutes.

It was apocalyptic stuff from a Laois perspective and it was no surprise whatsoever that manager Billy Sheehan stepped down from his post shortly thereafter.

But if we’ve learnt one thing this year – we’re looking at you, Donegal – is that it doesn’t necessarily take a five-year plan to rejuvenate a team at its lowest.

Former Armagh defender Justin McNulty was appointed for a second stint in charge of Laois, having previously led the county to an All-Ireland quarter-final and promotion to Division One, and it’s fair to say the move has worked a treat.

They’ve rebounded to Division Three after the briefest possible spell in the bottom tier and they’ve enjoyed a fruitful Tailteann Cup campaign, recently overcoming Antrim in a semi-final clash.

That doesn’t tell the whole story of their resurgence – McNulty has placed his trust in youth with a nucleus of u-20 graduates already making an extremely positive impact, they have a sound defensive structure, and they’re scoring plenty of goals, bagging three of them on their last day out against Antrim.

Brian Byrne grabbed the headlines with two goals against the Saffrons, but their win was also forged on defensive solidity and rapid counter-attacking from the likes of James Kelly and Ben Dempsey to name just two.

So there’s no doubt they have already made significant strides under McNulty, and it’s hard to foresee a similar capitulation to last year against the Mourne men, but whether it’s quite enough to upset the odds is another matter.

Conor Laverty’s Down side have had a few disappointments to contend with this year – defeat to Westmeath in the Division Three final, combined with their failure to reach the Ulster final (always a big ask) meant that the All-Ireland series remained out of bounds, but they’ve shown some great form in the Tailteann Cup competition.

They blazed a trail en route to their semi-final clash against Sligo, their margin of victories up until that point reading 14, 17, six and nine points respectively. The Sligo game proved an entirely different kettle of fish, but it was a match where they showed immense courage, not to mention commendable fitness levels, to eventually prevail after extra-time. The big disappointment from their day’s work was Oisin Savage’s broken jaw, and how they’d love to win the Tailteann Cup for him as much as anything else.

With Laverty at the helm for a second year, they seem to have taken the learnings on board from their defeat to Meath in last year’s Tailteann Cup final, a day where their characteristic running game and propensity for goals was snuffed out by the Royals. They haven’t thrown their game-plan by the way-side but they’ve become more willing to shoot from distance and are reaping the rewards.

They’re also an extremely well-rounded side with scoring threats throughout the pitch. 11 of their side found the scoreboard against Sligo, including defenders Ryan McEvoy and Pierce Laverty, while subs like injury-hit Caolan Mooney and Liam Kerr were among those who made a hugely positive impression from the bench. That’s without mentioning mainstays of the attack like Pat Harvern and Odhran Murdock, both of whom have been consistency personified throughout their campaign to date.

It’s a big ask for Laois to keep all of them at bay, but Down fans would be forgiving for feeling the jitters about Sunday’s game. Much has been made of Down’s record in finals – have endured a barren spell without winning silverware of any description since getting their hands on the McKenna Cup back in 2008 and have lost plenty of finals in the meantime.

Two of those finals have come in the last 12 months, but manager Laverty put a positive spin on the matter, saying after the Sligo game that “with Meath last year and Westmeath this year and whenever games were going against us, we probably felt that we didn’t show the character that we needed to get ourselves back into the game so I’m really proud of them.

“People questioned this Down team about why they weren’t able to do that but everybody knows that you can’t buy experience and you can’t buy them situations – you just have to be in them time after time.

“You probably learn more from defeats and you take something away from it every time you come here.”

That said, if they lose another final it will surely be a crushing disappointment to a team and a county that desperately want to put their hoodoo to bed this Saturday. Surely this is their time to do so?