THERE has been a very positive start to Conor Laverty’s reign as Down manager and this has come as no surprise given the success he had recently with their U20 side. When a club side dominates the county championship year after year as Kilcoo have done, then divides can be generated between them and the county set-up. It’s difficult to create strong levels of communication and understanding between both parties.
This is similar to the situation Armagh found themselves in when Crossmaglen were the dominant force, but to be able to compete at the highest level possible, you need all the top players in the county making themselves available to play. This matter seems to have been dealt with by Laverty and with that, there seems to be a renewed energy about the team and the supporters.
Just last March, Down played Offaly in an important Allianz Football League match and only a couple of hundred supporters, if even that, turned up to get behind their team. Compare that to the weekend's Dr McKenna cup match against Derry, where the stand was full with plenty on the terrace side also, and you can see the instant impact that the appointment of Laverty has made.
As a player, he has been very successful and coaching teams has been something that he has been heavily involved in for most part of his own playing career, so the level of knowledge and understanding of the game is there for all to see, but he wants to win and that is a massive bonus to have in a dressing room.
When you have a manager with an aura and confidence about themselves, then that seeps into the players and all of a sudden, results start to improve. I’ve been in dressing rooms like it myself in the past having been blessed that I played under managers like Joe Kernan, Sean Boylan and Anthony Tohill. It’s very easy to motivate yourself to play when they all possess and encourage this type of mindset.
The first and main objective for Down must be to gain promotion back to Division Two and with a tough start away to Tipperary, it won’t be easy, but looking at their results so far and their renewed energy, I expect them to hit the ground running with a run of positive results. Laverty will demand this of his players.
David Clifford is a footballer that never seems to disappoint. Once again on the biggest stage for his club, he put in a huge performance scoring 11 points as Fossa saw off Stewartstown Harps to win the All-Ireland junior title.
He is simply a sensational footballer and right now, totally unmarkable. What I love about his game is that he scores heavily in most games but is not reliant on frees to do this. Of course, he is an excellent free-taker but his overall play generates opportunities for him to take scores from open play.
I’ve said this often in the past that not enough forwards that play in the modern era think their main role is to provide the scores for their team. A lot are happy to offload the ball or play from deep, instead of thinking about where and how they can affect the scoreboard and hurt their opponents. Clifford has it all though. He can play off both feet, has great balance and is strong and athletic.
On top of this, he can win easy ball played to him but also ugly ball and has a great ability to leap and catch clean. That is a nightmare for any defender trying to contain him. In fact, containing him to limited extent is all you will ever be able to do because, with a player of his sheer brilliance, it is inevitable that he will create some level of havoc in the game.
He is now the GAA’s equivalent of Lionel Messi. The crowds attend his matches in great numbers just to see him play and the kids swarm around him at the final whistle to get a photo taken or an autograph signed. Some of the scenes you watch on social media are great to see and he always seems to have time for each and every person. Players like David Clifford only come around once in a while, so it’s an opportunity for supporters to embrace and appreciate his brilliance. That is as long as it’s not to Armagh’s detriment of course.
On Armagh, they play Monaghan in the first round of the League in Castleblayney in a couple of weeks, and because of this strange decision to take the game to this venue with limited capacity, hundreds of supporters on both sides are being let down because tickets are already sold out.
Both teams carry big support, so common sense should have prevailed here but unfortunately, common sense is quite often overlooked when it comes to decisions like this. Surely Clones would have been the right choice here.
