All-Ireland SFC Group 3, round three
Monaghan 2-27 Down 1-26
DOWN will face a home preliminary quarter-final this weekend after Monaghan produced a fine last-quarter to deny the Mourne side an automatic quarter-final place.
Conor Laverty’s side had led by four halfway through the second half in a thrilling and high-scoring contest at The BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, but a goal from Jack McCarron, which should have been ruled out for a touch on the ground by the Monaghan forward, and a later 3v3 rules breach by Down proved costly.
Laverty wasn’t complaining about the controversial nature of the goal, but was more concerned how his team allowed the lead to slip.
‘‘Someone said it was off the ground. I get that,’’ said the Kilcoo man. ‘‘But they had a chance beforehand that hit the post. I cannot say we didn’t get the rub of the green.
“When we were four points up, we had two attacks and we didn’t get scores from (those). I felt that hurt us,’’ said Laverty.
“And then we had our hands on the ball again, and we gave it away, and they then got crucial scores from our mistakes at that time.
“The infraction for me was a big moment. The game was going back and forth at that stage, there were two points between us, and then suddenly there is an infraction, their lead extends to four and that meant Monaghan had that wee bit of breathing space at four points.
“They then used their experience to keep the ball and suck a wee bit of energy out of the game. Then we got back into it. We had opportunities. We fisted the ball over the bar; I’m not sure if there was a goal on at that stage.’’
Laverty stressed his pride in his team’s performance.
‘‘I am really, really proud of the lads. We came here with massive belief. That is a sign of how far this team has come from.’’
The Down boss also spoke positively about the game’s new rules, which have led to some exciting games this summer.
“Anyone who is not a fan of the new rules, I don’t know what planet you are on.
‘‘If you compare the games over the last couple of weeks with the ones where it was 0-12 to 0-10 then I don’t know what planet you are living on.
‘‘I don’t think we are 100 per cent there just yet but we are very, very far down the line with them.
‘‘As managers, and coaches, you have to remember the emotion and pressure and when you are two points down, in the home straight, players want to get on the ball and the last thing they are trained for is to put the brakes on. That is emotion. And that is life. You just have to deal with it.
“The handing the ball back, I think we have wee bits and pieces of tidying up to do (on the new rules). And when a person where there is a contest in the middle of the field and there is contact, those are areas that need to be tweaked.”
