Ulster SFC quarter-final: Down 2-13 Donegal 1-11
WHEN the legs started to wilt, it was the heart that saw Down into a mouth-watering Ulster semi-final showdown with neighbours Armagh on Sunday.
The Mournemen stumbled, recovered and eventually took control before Donegal finally sounded the emergency alert. When substitute Oisin Gallen curled over to cut the gap to a point with six minutes to play, Down looked to have little left.
Having been ahead by five when Pat Havern coolly slotted home a 45th minute penalty, this was a serious test of mettle, the temperature suddenly soaring inside Pairc Esler.
It would have been easy for whatever energy they had left to exit there and then, to succumb after a valiant effort, to pack up and head into the Tailteann Cup off the back of a decent League and a spirited Championship showing.
It’s early days still under Conor Laverty, after all, and failure to escape Division Three – even if promotion was only missed due to head-to-head results - tempered early season expectation inexplicably built on the back of the Dr McKenna Cup.
But, as shown with some gutsy finishes during the spring, there’s something a bit different about this Down side. Where heads might have dropped in days gone by, they gritted their teeth, stayed steady and managed the final minutes superbly.
There were a few stray balls but no sense of panic, no major rushes of blood. Instead the Mournemen sat back, kept their shape and made it difficult for Donegal to get their shooters in position.
That led to a series of pot shots as the Tir Chonaill ran out of ideas down the stretch. In such critical moments, how they were crying out for the deadly accuracy of a Patrick McBrearty or, standing nearby in a suit, kicking every ball, the talismanic Michael Murphy to lend a guiding hand.
When Down broke at the other end, they did so with purpose - Havern, Daniel Guinness and substitutes Conor Poland and Andrew Gilmore finishing the job in style to complete what some considered an ambush, even if it didn’t quite feel that way.
Indeed, the script had become so skewed in recent weeks that it was difficult to discern who was expected to win the closer it got to game day. Even when one-sided victories for Armagh, over third tier Antrim then Cavan, either side of Derry’s dismantling of Fermanagh, showed the chasm in class, it did little to quieten swelling talk of a possible upset in Newry.
This was dangerous territory for the Mournemen, and they knew it. Down wanted it to be David versus Goliath but, as chaos gripped Donegal on and off the field, so the odds continued to narrow.
The loss of teenage sensation Odhran Murdock - Down’s best player through the League, held in reserve for Wednesday’s Ulster U20 final against Derry - could have knocked the wind from their sails, but Laverty shuffled his pack and found a way to make it work.
Kilcoo club-mate Ryan McEvoy went out to midfield, while Ryan Johnston was like the artful dodger as he ghosted into space when there was none, finishing up with three points – two from marks – and winning the crucial second half penalty before being replaced by younger brother Shealan.
Daniel Guinness hadn’t played a minute all year, only joining the panel in recent weeks as he came back from a hip injury, and showed exactly what Down have been missing. That the Carryduff man lasted the full 70-plus minutes is testament to his fitness, with his driving runs key in unsettling Donegal.
And what a Championship debut for Danny Magill. Son of 1994 All-Ireland winner Miceal, Magill played as though his life depended on it – throwing himself at Donegal boots all day, then somehow summoning the composure to look up and play when it mattered. The 22-year-old’s doggedness epitomised the Down effort.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the opening 35 quickly evolved into a staring competition as the stand went largely silent – the main talking point, indeed the main noise, a plane flying above the ground bearing a message about Down secretary Sean Og McAteer. The county board issued a statement on Sunday night condemning the incident.
Back on land, Down and Donegal remained terrified of making a mistake – that fear perhaps justified given how the two first half goals came about.
Donegal’s arrived three minutes in when a quick break saw Michael Langan punt forward towards Jason McGee. When Niall McParland and Anthony Doherty couldn’t decide who was going to take charge of the situation, McGee burst clear and slotted beyond Niall Kane.
Down’s in the 20th minute was a consequence of similar defensive calamity, this time Liam Kerr eating up yards of green grass after Caolan Ward and Eoghan Ban Gallagher bottled up Eugene Branagan but forgot about the ball, leaving Kerr to lash past Shaun Patton.
That brought the Mournemen level and, with injury forcing Langan from the field just after the quarter hour mark, the pendulum was starting to swing ever so slightly in their favour.
When Johnston was felled for a second half penalty, the home support really started to believe. Ceilum Doherty’s burst was the catalyst, Shane Annett with the inch perfect pass into Johnston’s chest, the Kilcoo flyer running across Brendan McCole to draw the foul. Referee Brendan Cawley had no hesitation, Havern cool as you like to send Patton the wrong way and Down had daylight, 2-7 to 1-5.
There was a kick in Donegal yet though.
They rattled off three without reply as Down found themselves struggling for a foothold. McGee had a chance to crank the pressure up further but sent two efforts wide, while Kane was in the right spot to stop a fisted effort from O’Donnell’s lofted ball in added time.
But desperation had crept into Donegal, the goal they so needed proving elusive as the Mournemen pushed for home, leaving Tir Chonaill to limp on towards the All-Ireland series in a year that continues to go from bad to worse.
Down haven’t had too many days like this in recent years, and hopes of rubbing shoulders with the big boys are kept alive for another week. The physical toll taken makes the task of toppling on-song Armagh all the more great - but Laverty’s men are set up to make life difficult for anyone.
Now that would be a real underdog story.
Down: N Kane; P Laverty, A Doherty; N McParland; S Annett, D Magill (0-1), M Rooney; D Guinness (0-2), R McEvoy, D McAleenan; R Johnston (0-3, 0-2 marks), C Doherty, L Kerr (1-0); P Havern (1-3, 1-0 pen, 0-3 frees), E Brannigan (0-1). Subs: C Francis for Annett (50), A Gilmore (0-2, 0-1 free) for Branagan (54), S Johnston for R Johnston (60), C Poland (0-1) for McParland (66), G Collins for McAleenan (70+1)
Donegal: S Patton (0-1, 45); M Curran, B McCole; E Ban Gallagher; C Ward (0-1), C McColgan, S McMenamin; C McGonagle, H McFadden; D O Baoill (0-3), M Langan, C Thompson (0-2, frees); J Brennan, J McGee (1-1), C O’Donnell (0-2). Subs: L McGlynn for Langan (16), O Gallen (0-1) for McFadden (47), K Tobin for Ward (49), R O’Donnell for McMenamin (65), K Barrett for McGlynn (70+1)
Yellow card: S McMenamin (64)
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare).
Attendance: 9,139
