Three wins from three for Down

Three wins from three for Down

21 February 2024

A STRONG finish saw Down pull clear at Corrigan Park on Sunday as Conor Laverty’s men made it three wins from three, handing Antrim their first defeat in the process.

The Mournemen were full value for their one-point win that could have been a lot more only for poor finishing as 12 shots went the wrong side of the posts.

Apart from that they will be very happy with their afternoon’s work in front of a packed house.

Solid in defence and quick in attack, they bolted the door at one end and created enough at the other, so there was no disputing their superiority on the day.

Pat Havern led the way with six points and Ceilum Doherty’s late 1-1 put a gloss on the board as they laid down a marker for when the sides meet again in the Ulster Championship.

“Antrim have a huge spirit and we saw that here when they played Offaly, so we knew they weren’t going to go away,” said Down selector Mickey Donnelly.

“When we went three up, we thought we were in a good position, but Antrim got the next score. If we got a goal we knew it was going to be crucial and thank God we got it at the end.

“Our target is the League final so two wins over the next games will be crucial.”

Down were in command for most of the opening half and early on they made the most of it with the first three points as Havern pointed frees either side of their first from play by James Guinness.

Antrim were struggling to get anything going at the other end, but out of nowhere they were level on 11 minutes when Marc Jordan kept in an Eoin Hynds shot that was tailing out and popped to Paddy McAleer who buried his chance.

Down could and should have responded in kind seconds later when Caolan Mooney found himself away one-on-one following an error, but goalkeeper Michael Byrne diverted his soccer-style shot out for a 45 that John O’Hare converted.

The wides were stacking up for Down – seven in total for the first half – but they were back to three in front before an Antrim rally late in the half saw Joseph Finnegan and Dominic McEnhill on the board, but Havern kicked his fourth of the opening half to give the visitors a 0-7 to 1-2 lead at the interval.

Havern extended the gap after the break, but Antrim began to enjoy a productive spell with a pair of McEnhill frees and another from Byrne to level.

The Antrim goalkeeper had to make a smart stop almost immediately from Odhran Murdock, while Daniel Guinness was off-target with a snapshot, but Down had upped the stakes with the next three scores through Murdock, Havern and Oisin Savage.

Byrne pulled one back, but it would be Antrim’s last score as Down pulled away in the final 10 minutes as Savage, James Guinness and Danny Magill pointed before Doherty’s late salvo, the goal coming as he stabbed home the rebound after his initial shot was blocked with Down rounding off a good day to maintain their 100 per cent record.

“Ultimately, we weren’t good enough there today so we’ve got to be better,” said Antrim manager Andy McEntee.

“There was a lot of heart shown in the first half when we looked under pressure. We stuck at it, got level but just didn’t push on and Down took over.”

Down: John O’Hare (0-1); Ryan McEvoy, Peter Fegan, Ceilum Doherty (1-1); Niall McParland, Miceal Rooney, Pierce Laverty; Odhran Murdock (0-1), Pat Havern (0-6, 4f); Daniel Guinness, Conor Francis, Caolan Mooney; Shane Annett, James Guinness (0-2), Liam Kerr (0-1)

Subs: Jonny Ryan for N McParland, Oisin Savage (0-2) for J Flynn, Danny Magill (0-1) for S Annett, Ryan Magill for C Francis, Anthony Doherty for J Guinness.

Antrim: Michael Byrne (0-2, 2f); Ronan Boyle, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; Marc Jordan, Joseph Finnegan (0-1), Dermot McAleese; Colm McLarnon, Paddy McAleer (1-0); Eoin Hynds, Niall Burns, Ruairí McCann (Creggan); Patrick McBride, Cormac McGettigan, Dominic McEnhill (0-3, 2f).

Subs: Benen Kelly for C McGettigan, Ryan McQuillan for N Burns, Declan Lynch for D McAleese, Pat Shivers for C McLarnon, Oisin Doherty for E Hynds.

Referee: Enda McFeely (Donegal)