Late points give Down huge boost

Late points give Down huge boost

5 February 2020

FINGERNAILS were being bitten to the quick by worried Down fans in the main stand at Pairc Esler on Saturday night as this encounter hurtled to conclusion.

The sides had been locked in a fierce battle for supremacy and with time almost up, nothing separated them at 0-11 apiece.

However, Down had a sting in the tail and just when it looked as if they were heading for another draw, Barry O’Hagan, Jerome Johnston and Donal O’Hare plundered points to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.

All Derry could manage in reply was a single point from Chris Bradley, leaving manager Rory Gallagher lots to ponder on after his side squandered a host of great scoring opportunities.

Now for Division 3 favourites Cork away this weekend with a place in the new top tier of All-Ireland Championship very much at stake.

Derry, who also fancy a place at the top table and who drew their opener with Leitrim, last weekend, opened well with Shane McGuigan taking a marvellous score in the first minute.

Down responded well and Kilcoo’s Jerome Johnston, who wasn’t expected to start, quickly brought the sides level.

However, Derry re-established their lead with two well-taken scores from Benny Heron and Shea Downey. Down, who showed every now and again that they could breach the Derry defence, worked their way forward and Carryduff’s Owen McCabe halved the arrears with a super score.

Derry captain, Chrissy McKaigue, made it a two-point game again with an inspirational score from the right, before Barry O’Hagan and McGuigan swapped points with 18 minutes gone.

Worryingly, Down’s wide count was starting to mount as Paul Devlin and ‘keeper Rory Burns both wasted scoring opportunities before the reliable O’Hare converted another free to leave it at 0-5 to 0-4.

The tit-for-tat nature of the scoring continued with O’Hare and McGuigan exchanging points, but Derry maintained their hard-earned advantage with a point from Alex Doherty.

Cory Quinn and McGuigan also swapped scores, but just before the referee brought the first half proceedings to a conclusion, he denied Derry a goal chance and O’Hare took full advantage, pointing from a free to send Down in at the break trailing 0-8 to 0-7.

Immediately on the restart, Devlin was wide from a free and McGuigan showed how it should be done when he converted a 14m free to make it a two-point game again.

It was now Derry’s turn to waste chances before Longstone’s Conor Poland and O’Hare brought the sides level by the 47th minute. 

McGuigan was proving a real handful and he pointed his side back in front before Daniel Guinness levelled matters at 0-11 apiece.

The feisty nature of the game continued with Down losing Poland to a black card.

With just four minutes of the game remaining, Barry O’Hagan pointed Down ahead and a minute later Johnston eased his side into a two-point lead.

Bradley kept Derry interested with a good score from play, but a free from ice cool O’Hare four minutes into added time at the end of the game secure a home win.

Down: Rory Burns, Darren O’Hagan, Brendan McArdle, Ryan McAleenan, Shane Annett, Kevin McKernan, Gerard Collins, Jonny Flynn, Conor Poland (0-1), Barry O’Hagan (0-2, 0-1m), Paul Devlin, Owen McCabe (0-1); Jerome Johnston (0-2, 0-1m), Cory Quinn (0-1), Donal O’Hare (0-6, 6f). Subs: Liam Kerr for Devlin, Pat Havern for Quinn, Peter Fegan for McAleenan, Daniel Guinness (0-1) for Collins, Sean Dornan for Johnston. 

Derry: Odhran Lynch, Liam McGoldrick, Brendan Rogers, Conor McCluskey, Padraig McGrogan, Niall Keenan, Shea Downey (0-1), Chrissy McKaigue (0-1), Emmett Bradley, Ciaran McFaul, Padraig Cassidy, Danny Tallon, Benny Heron (0-1), Shane McGuigan (0-7, 4f), Alex Doherty (0-1) Subs: Niall Toner for Heron, Ryan Bell for A Doherty (55), Conor Doherty for McCluskey, Christopher Bradley (0-1) for Keenan, Gavin O’Neill for Downey.