Down hit by injury blow

Down hit by injury blow

4 June 2025

DOWN guaranteed themselves at least a place in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals with victory over Louth, but they will have to contend with the absence of key man Daniel Guinness.

The Mourne Men were forced to field without the 26 year-old at Páirc Esler on Saturday, despite originally naming him in their starting line-up, replacing him with Finn McElory.

Carryduff star Guinness has been one of the most valuable assets at manager Conor Laverty’s disposal this season and while he was a notable absentee for the group stage clash with the Leinster champions, Down looked like a full-strength outfit in the first half. 

They blew neighbours Louth out of the water in the opening 35 minutes, building a lead of 0-16 to 0-7 before the mid-way point.

However, they could have used the experience and star-quality of Guinness in the second half, as Louth came back firing and trailed by 

just one point, at 0-25 to 0-24, by the time the hooter was sounded.

It took a heroic block from Adam Crimmins to prevent Louth’s Tommy Durnin from snatching victory with a last-gasp two-point attempt and while Down made it two wins from two, the issue of Guinness’ injury remains.

Laverty and his side will be keen to avoid the preliminary knockout round and victory away to Monaghan in the final group match would guarantee passage to the quarter-finals, with the two sides boasting an identical record so far.

With Guinness’ 14-month period on the sidelines, due to groin problems, from 2021 to 2023, a not too distant memory, his manager and the county medical staff will not want to take any premature chances this time around. 

He will not feature in next week’s crunch match at St Tiernach’s Park and it is not clear when he will return to action. The injury has come at a crucial time for Down and the impact has not been lost on coach Mickey Donnelly.

“Daniel picked up a knock during the week and it was an awful blow to the group. It’s going to be a few weeks.

“If we could see him for a preliminary quarter-final or, even better, for an All-Ireland quarter-final, that’s the sort of timeframe we’re looking at,” he said.

“There was no mind games in terms of running it down the line to keep him in the squad, we just wanted to give him every chance to try and make it. Unfortunately, it just came too soon and he’s not right.”

“We’re still waiting on a scan, but he’s a huge loss because he’s definitely in the top echelon of players we have, and that’s not being disrespectful to anybody.”

Down will now have a week’s break before they travel to Clones, staking their claim for a place in the last eight of the Sam Maguire series, and it will be all systems go between now and then.

“The amount of preparation that’s being done now is phenomenal, in terms of video preparation, match-ups, looking at individual players. There’s a hell of a lot goes into it,” Donnelly added.

“So, to cram that into seven or eight days is crazy. We’ve just got to get our homework done because there’s a massive challenge coming up.”

All-Ireland Senior Championship round three: Monaghan v Down at BOX-IT  Athletic Grounds, Armagh, on Sunday, June 15. Throw-in 2pm.