EVERY team needs a Shay Millar in their ranks.
Making his Championship debut on Sunday, the Glenn forward clearly set about making an impression.
If you happened to be watching on TV you might not have noticed him. Probably the only piece of his work that might have made a highlights package was the sole point he scored towards the end of the first half.
But anyone that was present in Páirc Esler couldn’t have helped but notice the influence he had on Down, particularly from an attacking perspective.
One of the great frailties in their League campaign was their transitional work from back to front but Millar, along with Caolan Mooney and Darragh O’Hanlon in particular, rectified that on Sunday.
The other two may even have caught the eye that bit more having registered two points from play each. You can’t help but notice Mooney with the bright yellow boots and the 100mph support runs that caused such devastation at times.
Millar’s contribution was simply more steady and consistent. He was awarded The Irish News’ man of the match yesterday and that tallied with the statistical analysis by Performa Sports.
The 24-year-old was never far from the ball. He was showing wide for Michael Cunningham’s kickouts, of which he won three over the 70 minutes.
They contributed to the 23 possessions he had, with only Jamie Clarke touching the ball as often through the game, and crucially Millar lost just one of them.
In the first half, he had a hand in five of Down’s nine scores, including the one he kicked himself.
Down’s shape in the first half was an attacking one despite them playing into the teeth of the Newry wind, and that was consistent with Millar playing high up the pitch.
What he did crucially was keep his width. Primarily on the right hand side, he hugged the touchline until the second he would engage with the attack. Cutting in field was effective in setting up Darragh O’Hanlon’s 28th minute score, where he darted across at exactly the right time to feed the Kilcoo man.
Seconds later he burned into space and took on Aaron McKay before feeding Connaire Harrison for another score and as things opened up, he found a mass of green grass into which he could gallop for his own score.
He had started out inside his own 45, supplementing the defence and as Down broke, he was untracked. Again he stayed wide and bided his time before coming in to kick his first Championship score.
After the break, Down’s shape changed and his own role changed with it. His positioning was much more defensive, spending most of it inside his own 45, or else meeting Aidan Forker’s runs on the counter-attack.
All the while he continued to move up and down the pitch. His workrate and energy were colossal and with 30 seconds of normal time left, he was one of the three tacklers ganging up on Jamie Clarke in a dangerous area.
As debuts go, it wasn’t half bad.
