MAYOBRIDGE manager Steven Poacher felt his players answered any questions about their character by bouncing back from their limp loss to Kilcoo to
[ beat Warrenpoint.Opens in new window ]
The Newry native also pointed out that ‘Bridge have only been beaten by either reigning champions Kilcoo or their strongest rivals, Burren, in recent seasons in the Down SFC. The quarter-final draw has pitted the Light Blues against Glenn, with Kilcoo taking on Carryduff, Burren up against Ballyholland, and Clonduff meeting RGU Downpatrick.
Mayobridge lost by eight points
[ to the Magpies in round 2AOpens in new window ]
, sending them into the knockout stage of round three against last year’s losing finalists, the ‘Point, and Poacher revealed that public comments on their performance had fired them up:
“A lot of people questioned our character this week, which is something that I can’t stand over… There were a couple of scything attacks on us this week – that was a nice wee bit of internal motivation for us during the week there.
“People forget this is a proud club, a club with a rich history, rich tradition, great Championship culture, and we’ve a group of lads that have given absolutely everything for the last two years. These lads have been on a journey now since the Championship final in 2012. A lot of these boys played in that final 11 years ago.”
Kilcoo won that day, starting a record-equalling run of six consecutive Championship triumphs, but Down has been a duopoly since 2008, the last time Mayobridge lifted the Frank O’Hare Cup.
Poacher pointed out that the Light Blues have kept coming up against those two clubs: “What people forget is that over the last 11 years, only Burren and Kilcoo have ever won the Championship and ironically, over the last five or six years, only Burren and Kilcoo have knocked Mayobridge out of the Championship.”
Mayobridge captain and full-back scored the only goal in the 1-11 to 0-10 win over Warrenpoint on Sunday night and Poacher hailed the skipper’s display:
“You can talk about tactics, systems, and all sorts, but when you come into the last 10 minutes it’s about diving on that ball, putting your body on the line.
“I thought Shane McNamee was an absolute warrior at full-back, a colossus, an unbelievable lad. The changing room is full of great characters and that’s one thing that really stung us this week, the character of this group being questioned.”
He did accept that they had fallen short of their own standards against Kilcoo, but said: “Kilcoo are a very good team, they’re still the benchmark, still the kingpins in Down unfortunately for everyone else. It’s up to someone else to step up to that level.
“We played them the last day and we’re obviously bitterly disappointed with our performance, but we learnt an awful lot from that game as well…
“Kilcoo are a fantastic side – they’ve been in the last three Ulster Finals, they’re a very experienced group, Karl Lacey has re-ignited them this year. They’re playing a very fast, counter-attacking brand of football. Newry suits them as a team.
“Some of the older brigade have sort of slid away and they’ve brought in a lot of young lads, the likes of Chrissy Rooney, Sean Og McCusker, McDarragh Hynes, they’ve added a fierce amount of pace. You see the Johnstons playing really good stuff as well.”
Poacher enjoyed the occasion against Warrenpoint, and called for Down GAA to return to a full knockout football format:
“This was just about getting over the line. It’s Championship football: you saw the intensity, the passion, the crowd. You saw balls being dropped, missed, off the line, off the post, bar, decisions by the referee: that’s what Championship football is all about.
“There was a wee bit of atmosphere about the game and, moving forward, that’s something we need to look at as a county as well, going back to knockout football.”
The rainy conditions in the second half made for some scrappy play, but Poacher didn’t mind that:
“We live in Ireland, so we practice in that weather quite a bit, it’s not alien to us. We played Bryansford in the first round and I thought our handling on that night, on a wet, windy Kilcoo pitch was outstanding.
“The rain wouldn’t faze me, in fact it probably adds to the occasion a bit for the supporters, there’s a bit of slipping and sliding, a bit of loose ball, plenty of ball being spilled and broke, people diving on it. That’s what people want to see.
“You have to give the referee, Brian Higgins, credit as well. In the second half I thought he let the game flow and that’s what supporters want.”
McNamee finding the Warrenpoint net after 20 minutes was key to Mayobridge’s win, with Warrenpoint never able to get level after that score, but Poacher’s men still had to battle to the end for the victory:
“Goals are massive, goals win games, and that’s something we’ve worked on an awful lot this year, trying to hit the onion bag as much as possible. Please God now we can push on from this, recover well. There’s a lot of sore bodies, tired legs, but that’s what squads are for.
“We’re in the last eight, that’s exactly where we want to be. We’ll just enjoy this victory.”
