Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Fermanagh 0-11 Down 1-15
IT was their first meaningful game since March 1, but Down put their eight-month lay-off behind them to see off Fermanagh and set up an Ulster semi-final showdown with Cavan on Sunday.
Although the already-promoted Mournemen played out a facile final Division Three game against Louth two weeks ago, it was a completely different side from the one which took to the field against an Erne outfit without eight starters from their last Championship game against Monaghan in 2019.
And yet, after a slow start, Paddy Tally’s side came on strong in the second half to ease into the last four, Donal O’Hare’s 42nd minute goal sending them on their way to a seven point victory.
Tally admitted the long break away from competitive inter-county action was “at the back of my mind” going into the game, but was delighted with how his players eventually got the job done with some to spare.
“I sort of knew the last few weeks since we got back together that things were going really well in training,” he said.
“Now, you don't know if that's going to work out until you start playing a match so I knew the start of the game would be ropey enough and there would be a period of the game to settle in.
“Because it is the Ulster Championship, you are away from home, a fairly young team coming together and they hadn't played together as a group in a competitive situation.
“But I was very happy with how they kicked on. Once they had a bit of cohesion in the game, a bit better understanding, got it organised a bit better at the back, they played really well in the second half.”
It was captain Mooney - wearing the red and black jersey for the first time since a McKenna Cup game against Fermanagh on December 29 last year – who provided one of the few moments of magic in a game devoid often devoid of inspiration.
O’Hare was on hand to finish a move that began with an electrifying run from the Rostrevor speedster as the Mourne County moved into an unassailable lead.
“You do need people to step up on these days - Caolan’s run was fantastic,” said Tally.
“That game was always going to be so hard to win, I felt it could go right down to the wire, but the goal definitely made the difference and it took Caolan’s run to do this.”
The Breffnimen lie in wait on Sunday, on the back of earlier Championship wins over Monaghan and Antrim, and Tally knows his men will need to up their game for the challenge ahead.
“The game against Antrim, you sort of expected having had a massive game against Monaghan, you could see they were a bit leggy but Cavan are a good team.
“They were in an Ulster final recently, they’ve a lot of really good players, they’re very physical from Padraig Faulkner right through the middle. It’s a game we have to be at our best, and to avoid those physical clashes because it’ll play into Cavan’s hands."
