Clones clash

Clones clash

24 April 2024

THE countdown to Clones is on as Down senior footballers prepare to face Armagh in the Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final this Saturday.

Throw-in is at 5.15pm with the Mournemen tipped as big underdogs for the contest off the back of a number of factors, including how both teams performed in their previous Ulster outings and the last time these 

counties went toe to toe in the competition, which was last year when Armagh recorded a comfortable ten-point win.

Down grabbed a 0-13 to 0-9 victory over Antrim in their quarter-final match a fortnight ago at Páirc Esler but it was a less than convincing performance by the hosts who didn’t play with the usual fluidity they have shown they are capable of producing.

“It just wasn’t the level of performance that this team aspires to get to,” said Down manager Conor Laverty.

“I feel that we have a talented bunch of players and we were just well below our standard line there.

That’s just as honest as you can call it,” he continued.

“It was a poor standard and that’s not acceptable for the talent in this team. 

“Our objective was to be in the hat for the Ulster semi-final. I would say if you’re Armagh looking in, you’ll not be too worried.” 

Meanwhile, Armagh overcame Fermanagh in their latest Ulster clash and finished ahead by an 11-point margin on the day.

Goals were crucial to their win with Conor Turbitt, Jarly Óg Burns and Stefan Campbell all netting inside the opening half to essentially put the contest to bed.

But, Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney believes Down won’t be doubtful that they can get past the Orchard County, as this historic tie has shown that neither will expect to rollover. 

“I’d imagine if you ask Conor [Laverty] he thinks they’ll beat us,” said McGeeney.

“They topped Division 3 and been flying, no one has come close to them in terms of their scoring and there is serous pace in their team as well.

“Down and Armagh games typically no one really fears each other, they like to get out there and get stuck into each other.”

Away from the sidelines and on to the pitch, Down star Daniel Guinness is eager to put on a much-improved performance against Armagh this time around and knows the team have to be at their best this weekend to keep the chance of Sam Maguire football alive.

“We knew what Antrim were going to bring and Ulster Championship games are never won too easy,” expressed Guinness.

“We tried to work on keeping the scoreboard ticking over, we didn’t do it as well as we would have liked and there were a few too many turnovers, especially inside their 45. A win is a win, but we’ve a huge amount of work to do.”

He continued: “We’re not too happy with how we played. 

“But we always knew it was going to be a tough game and we got the result in the end and got into the semi-final which is all we could ask for.”