Down facing big challenge in the Wee County

By Shaun Casey

A REGULAR rule of thumb in the National League is that winning your home games are a must and anything you get on your travels is a bonus. Down will be chasing a bonus two-points this weekend as they hope to fend off fears of relegation.

The Mourne men surrendered their unbeaten run in Páirc Esler of over two years last weekend, with Meath handing Conor Laverty his first defeat inside 70 minutes at the Newry venue in round three of the league.

That defeat leaves Down battling it out at the bottom end of the table, where they’re joined by Ulster rivals Cavan and this week’s opponents Louth on two points, while Westmeath rest below that with nothing to show for their efforts.

The good thing about the league is the week-on-week, game-on-game approach so both Down and Louth don’t have too long to ponder their recent results and thoughts will have quickly turned to this weekend’s action and getting back to winning ways as soon as possible.

While Down will be disappointed to have lost their record on home soil, their focus will now centre around away day battles as three of their final four league fixtures are on the road. A difficult ask for any team.

Louth have only experienced one home game so far this season, and that ended in a two-point defeat to Roscommon. Perhaps that will inspire some confidence in the red and black changing room on Sunday.

Plus, the form of Pat Havern, Ryan McEvoy and Daniel Guinness will certainly please the Down management team as well. Their scoring return has been awesome during the early rounds as well.

They have that killer pace that strikes fear into opponents and if they can keep Louth talisman Sam Mulroy quiet, which will perhaps be Ceilum Doherty’s job this weekend, then a win is well within their grasp.

Louth have been an up-and-coming team over the past few years and have earned themselves the tag of the second-best team in Leinster, after the Dubs of course. But they only have two points on the board after three outings.

The winner of this weekend’s battle at Drogheda can breathe a little easier heading into the final three games while the loser will be looking over their shoulders at the realistic possibility of Division Three football in 2025.