Down misery follows defeat

Down misery follows defeat

27 June 2018

DOWN were cruelly denied a deserved place in the third round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers at Brewster Park, Enniskillen, on Saturday when fate conspired against them.

The expectant Down fans who travelled to support the team dared to dream when Castlewellan’s Sean Dornan pointed Eamon Burns’ warriors into a 0-13 to 0-9 lead after 48 minutes.

Alas, those dreams were shattered a minute later when Ryan Johnston was controversially sent off and Cavan took full advantage of their numerical advantage to go 1-11 to 0-13 clear a few minutes later with a soft goal from Gearoid McKiernan and points from Padraig Faulkner and Ciaran Brady.

Ronan Millar momentarily brought the sides level again, but the extra man proved too much for a brave Down side who went down fighting.

Things didn’t start too promisingly for Down and Cavan seized a first minute lead with a Seanie Johnston free. Conor Maginn quickly brought the sides level with a sublime point from play.

Ciaran Brady nudged Cavan in front again before Dara McVeety and Anthony Doherty exchanged points to leave Cavan with a 0-3 to 0-2 lead by the ninth minute.

Two Johnston frees and a minor score from Gearoid McKiernan sent Cavan well clear, but a Connaire Harrison point and a Ronan Millar free after 16 minutes left just two points between the sides, 0-6 to 0-4.

Conor Bradley and Down’s Kevin McKernan swapped scores before unanswered points from Doherty and Millar, both frees, brought the sides level by the 25th minute.

Down were then dealt a double blow when both Harrison and McKernan were shown black cards as the action really heated up with Niall Madine and Davy McKibbin taking their places.

However, Down were on a roll and a rare Peter Turley point handed his side a 0-8 to 0-7 lead as half-time approached, but the scoring was far from finished.

Sean McCormack pointed to bring the sides all square again, but it was Down who had a sting in their tail in added 

time and points from Madine and Dornan sent them into the break with a 0-10 to 0-8 lead.

Cavan’s Niall Murray opened the second half scoring with a point from play, but this was answered by Down points from McKibbin, Millar and Dornan to give the Red and Blacks a 0-13 to 0-9 lead  after 48 minutes.

Down were now in complete control, but everything came crashing down a minute later. Johnston was harshly red-carded and they were down to 14 men, facing an uphill battle for the remaining 21 minutes.

Cavan seized the moment and McKiernan’s extremely lucky goal was immediately followed by points from Faulkner and Brady to give Mattie McGleenan’s side a narrow 1-11 to 0-13 lead with 62 minutes gone.

Millar converted another Down free to leave it all square, but consecutive points from Oisin McKiernan and Faulkner stretched Cavan’s lead to two points with five minutes left.

Doherty lofted over another free from distance to leave the minimum between the sides, but when the chips were down it was Cavan who came up with the crucial score from McKiernan in added time to send his side through to the third round of the qualifiers.

There was a bit of a fracas in heated scenes after the final whistle. Cavan pair Conor Moynagh and Dara McVeety and Down’s Doherty were all sent off.

Down: S Harrison, R McAleenan, B McArdle, A Doherty (0-3f), D O’Hagan, N McParland, C Mooney, P Turley (0-1), N Donnelly, R Millar (0-4f), K McKernan (0-1), C Maginn (0-1), S Dornan (0-2), C Harrison (0-1), R Johnston. Subs: N Madine (0-1) for Harrison (black card), D McKibbin (0-1) for McKernan (black card), J Flynn for Mooney, C Poland for Donnelly, C Francis for Turley.

Cavan: J Farrelly, K Brady, P Faulkner (0-1), E Flanagan, C Brady (0-2), C Moynagh, M Reilly, S McCormack (0-1), B Magee, O Kiernan (0-1), G McKiernan (1-3), N Murray (0-1), C Bradley (0-1), D McVeety (0-1), S Johnston (0-3f). Subs: F Reilly for K Brady, C Mackey for Magee, C O’Reilly for Johnston, A Cole for McCormack, N Clerkin for Bradley, J McLoughlin for Flanagan.

Down 0-15

Cavan 1-14

ALL-IRELAND QUALIFIERS