Football

Down manager Eamonn Burns focussed on Clare after bright start to Division Two

Eamonn Burns insists that Down will take Division Two "one game at a time"
Eamonn Burns insists that Down will take Division Two "one game at a time" Eamonn Burns insists that Down will take Division Two "one game at a time"

LAST season, five points was enough for Down to survive in Division Two. With three games gone in the 2018 League campaign the Mournemen already have four on the board and are sitting second in the table.

Wins on the road against Louth and Roscommon leave Down level on points with Cork at the top of the second tier. However, third-placed Meath have a game in hand and with trips to the Royal county and Ulster rivals Cavan coming up, manager Eamonn Burns insists his side will take this campaign “one game at a time”.

“Winning in Roscommon was a satisfying result,” said the Down bainisteoir.

“It gives us four points and it puts us into a strong position in Division Two which is going to be very competitive.

“We will take it a game at a time. You could be caught on the hop if you start thinking about what you’ll need to survive or what it would take to get into the League play-off.

“Clare is our next game in Newry in a fortnight’s time and it will be a difficult battle so we need to make sure we are ready to give it a real good lash and try and get a result.”

Three of Down’s five League points last year came on the road - a win in Derry and a draw in Cork. If the Mournemen can improve their home form – and they have yet to host Clare and Tipperary in Newry – they could well be pushing for promotion to Division One. Burns’ side have already lost twice at Pairc Esler this year – to Cork in the League and against Armagh in the Dr McKenna Cup – but he insists that playing in Newry is “not an issue”.

“The Cork result was very disappointing and everybody was annoyed with the performance,” said Burns.

“We got our focus right for Roscommon but we need to improve our home form and Clare in a fortnight is going to give us an opportunity to do that.

“But playing at home is not an issue – last year the biggest game we had at home was Armagh in the first round of the Ulster Championship and we really played well that day.

“The boys enjoy it when we get training at Pairc Esler, so it’s definitely nothing to do with the ground.

“On the day against Cork for long periods at the start of the second half we were in control but we didn’t get scores on the board and Cork then got a couple of scores on the counter and then we gave them a goal that finished the game.

“It was disappointing because everybody felt we could win the game, but we didn’t do enough, Cork were deserving winners.”

The way Down reacted to that loss will have given Burns, his management team and the players a lot of encouragement. The Mournemen started on the front foot in Roscommon and were six points to no-score ahead before the Rossies managed their first point.

Kevin McStay’s side battled back to close the gap to three points by half-time but Down – helped by Marc Reid’s penalty save – were able to keep their noses in front and clinch a valuable win.

“We played hard in very difficult conditions,” said Burns.

“It’s always difficult to go to Hyde Park and get a result but we managed to do it and I’m very pleased with the result.”