'We really do push it to the end': Down never believe they are beat says Liam Kerr

LIAM Kerr knows Down can’t keep leaving themselves so much to do – but the Burren ace insists a renewed belief has helped keep the Mourne County’s promotion hopes alive.

Trailing Westmeath by seven points 10 minutes into the second half of Saturday night’s clash in Newry, Down looked set to fall to a second successive defeat that would have seriously impacted any ambition to reach Division Two.

However, just as they had done against Antrim three weeks earlier, Conor Laverty’s side produced a storming late comeback, holding Westmeath scoreless for the final 20 minutes as Down turned the screw to secure an unlikely victory.

And while the Mournemen are still searching for consistency across 70 minutes, there was a time when Down may not have pulled games from the fire.

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That kind of attitude, Kerr feels, is priceless in a developing side.

“It’s hard to put your finger on,” he said.

“We weren’t following the game-plan, we weren’t putting on a good show for the crowd. There was a good turnout here tonight and we wanted to put on a good show for them.

“For whatever reason in the first half, we weren’t doing that. So we wanted to give the whole county something to be proud about, and everyone who came something to be proud about.

“You could say we haven’t been playing well but, whatever way the results have been going, we’ve been going until the very end. Hopefully it’ll all click soon, you can see there tonight the never-say-die attitude… we really do push it to the end.

“We’re a very young group, and the management team we have in place, they wouldn’t accept us not giving 100 per cent – we’d be called out on it.

“We always have belief that we can win these games, even though we’re making it hard for ourselves. Hopefully we can change that as we go on.”

It was Kerr’s burst towards the square that led to Saturday night’s crucial second half penalty, converted by club-mate Odhran Murdock, but space was at a premium as Westmeath sat deep and invited Down on.

The 23-year-old’s pace is a key weapon in the Mourne County armoury and, with close attention a given, Kerr knows he has to make any opportunity count once space opens up.

“As I’ve got a wee bit older I’ve started to try and stay a bit more patient.

“You know you’re going to get man-marked, and men especially at inter-county standard are very tight on you, so the key for me is to stay patient and not lose focus.

“Even if you’re not 100 per cent in the game, don’t get frustrated. Games go the way they go, sometimes it’s not happening, but if you get the chance to make something happen, you have to take it.”

Victory at the weekend sends Down into Sunday’s clash with Cavan on a high.

The Breffnimen have looked on a different level thus far, swatting aside all comers on the way to the top of Division Three.

Kerr was part of a struggling Down side eased out of last year’s Tailteann Cup by Mickey Graham’s men but, while Cavan will be fancied to keep that winning run going at Kingspan Breffni, there has been little between the counties in most recent meetings.

“Cavan are going very well,” said Kerr.

“Maybe in the Tailteann Cup last year we didn’t give a great account of ourselves, but we’ve had many a good battle with Cavan down the years and I’m sure this will be another one.”