Mournemen make winning start overcoming Garden County

31 January 2024

DOWN senior footballers got off and running in their bid to climb out of Division 3 with a five-point victory over Wicklow at Aughrim on Sunday.

The Mourne county boasted a three-point advantage by half-time, which was expected with a heavy wind in their favour, but were let off the hook on numerous occasions as the hosts spurned chances in front of goal.

Down custodian John O’Hare was partly to blame for the Garden County’s misfortunes as he reinforced his intentions to be the man between the sticks for the foreseeable future now that Kilcoo shot-stopper Niall Kane has stepped away from the panel.

Nevertheless, Down overcame their sticky patches, which included a clearance off the line from skipper Pierce Laverty, with help from stand-out performances from all over the pitch in Pat Havern, Daniel Guinness, Finn McElroy and Odhrán Murdock to name but a few.

Conor Laverty’s charges began with intent and raced into a three-point lead with Liam Kerr kicking over the opening score from a free before Loughinisland clubman Oisin Savage, who has been widely touted for a bright future, split the posts to double the Mournemen’s advantage.

Kerr once again converted a free before JP Nolan and Christopher O’Brien narrowed the margin to the minimum.

Down defender McElroy then landed a cool point from play and it was shortly after this that custodian O’Hare pulled off a fantastic save to prevent the green flag from being raised.

The back and forth affair continued but before the break Down were well buoyed by a point from Daniel Guinness and a double from Havern to create breathing space.

At half-time Down led, but there was undoubtedly a question if they could manage to hold onto this advantage as Oisin McConville’s Wicklow side were set to benefit from the battering conditions at their backs.

In short, Down answered emphatically.

Pierce Laverty played his captain’s role to perfection by quickly pointing upon the restart before the impressive Havern added two further scores to his tally.

Substitute Rory Mason then landed a monstrous point which, given the conditions, certainly impressed upon the eye.

Wicklow’s goal threat O’Brien succumbed to injury and Down continued to find their range.

After various scores the Mournemen held a 0-16 to 0-9 lead and although a late barrage of Wicklow points decreased the gap, Down saw out the contest to collect all two points on offer.

Following the full-time whistle, Down coach Mickey Donnelly reflected on the county’s winning performance.

“We knew it was going to be tricky coming down the road,” he said.

“We did mention all week about Oisin McConville and Mark Doran that they knew us probably better than anyone in the division so it is good to get a good result and get the league programme up and running.

“We got out of jail a wee bit, Pierce [Laverty] scrambled one of the line, he gave a bad hand pass away as well so, we did get out of jail a wee bit but we’ve a bit of work to do defensively.

“Thank God we recovered and played fairly well the first 15 to 20 minutes of the second half.”

He added: “We have Limerick on Saturday evening and hopefully we have a big Down support to get behind the lads and hopefully get another two points.”

Wicklow: S Doyle; T Moran, M Nolan, J Tracey; J Prendergast, P O’Keane, J McCall; D

Healy, C Maguire; C O’Brien (0-5, 4f), JP Nolan (0-1f), C Baker; B Nesbitt (0-3, 2f), K Quinn (0-4, 1m, 2f), J Cartin.

Subs: O McGraynor for C O’Brien (44, inj), G

Murphy for JP Nolan (50), D Doyle for J Carlin (55), G Fogarty for J McCall (62), D Fee for C Baker (62).

Down: J O’Hare; P Fegan, P Laverty (0-1), R McEvoy; F McElroy (0-1), D Guinness (0-4), P McCarthy; O Murdock (0-1),

J Flynn; R Magill, L Kerr (0-3, 1m, 1f), J Guinness;

G McKibben, P Havern (0-5), O Savage (0-1).

Subs: S Johnston for J Guinness (28), C McCrickard for G

McKibben (32), C Francis for F McElroy (h-t), R Mason (0-2, 1f) for L Kerr (temp, 44, reversed after 50), R Mason for O Savage (65), R Mcgill for N McPartland (62), A Doherty for L Kerr, (temp, 68, inj),

Referee: A Coyne (Westmeath).

Wicklow 0-13

Down 0-18

ALLIANZ NATIONAL LEAGUE DIV 3

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder