DOWN upset more than the bookies’ odds by beating Monaghan last summer and after the game one columnist commented on how Niall McParland had added “cut” to the Mourne county defence on that balmy June evening.
There was talk of ‘dark arts’ after the men in red and black had thrown themselves into battle and McParland - a physical presence in Down’s defence – was one of a few who came in for criticism.
Not that it bothered him.
Like many a footballer, McParland suffers from ‘white line fever’. Off the pitch the 24-year-old primary school teacher is friendly and polite, but when he crosses that white line he gets, as they would say in his native Glenn, “tore in”.
Of course tenacity and aggression are obligatory qualities for any defender worth his salt and McParland readily concedes that he plays with “an edge”.
He’s had it since his school days at St Colman’s College, where he won a Hogan Cup, and throughout his two years at minor level with Down that led to his senior debut as a 19 year-old back in 2012.
“That first year I had no fear,” McParland, a teacher at Killowen Primary School, recalls.
“I played against Dublin in the League and we beat them in Newry. I marked Paul Flynn (four-time Allstar) – I didn’t know who he was and I didn’t care who he was.
“You have that bit of cockiness at that age I suppose.”
Down’s performance that year is a reminder of how quickly things can change in GAA. Under James McCartan the Mournemen finished third in Division One, reached the Ulster final and recovered from losing it to Donegal to meet Mayo at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.
McParland started that game but a combination of recovering from surgery on an abdominal injury and his studies meant he wasn’t seen from the end of the 2013 season until last year’s Championship.
His time out coincided with one of the darkest periods in Down’s proud history. There were three managers in three years (McCartan, Jim McCorry and now Eamonn Burns) and a 21-month spell without a League or Championship win that included a 19-point hammering from Monaghan in Ulster.
But that’s all water under the bridge now.
“I felt for the boys who had been there (through the bad times),” McParland admits.
“The likes of Kevin McKernan had two years without winning a competitive game. That’s not easy and then I came back in and got on a winning team.”
He adds: “2017 was a great year; it sets us up for this year a whole lot better and there’s a good feeling around the camp after a few wins.
“Getting to the Ulster final and getting to Croke Park breeds a bit of confidence. Eamonn Burns had been telling the boys that it was going to happen but until you see it happen, until you see some results it’s hard to back it.
“But we got a bit of success last year and it has switched everyone on that there could be another taste of that coming in the summer again if we put in the hard yards now.”
Burns, a legend of the Down teams that took the Sam Maguire back across the border twice in the 1990s, came through a storm of criticism in his first season as manager. Defeat followed defeat, but his belief in his players was unshakeable.
“Eamonn’s confidence in us never wavered,” says McParland.
“He tells us we’re the best footballers in Ulster and if we want to win something we can, it’s just about getting it all going at the same time.”
Burns is a teacher by profession and so are his assistants Cathal Murray and Gearoid Adams, but there is no baby-sitting service in this Down set-up. McParland and his team-mates are treated like grown-ups and trusted to use their own judgement when it comes to their social life.
“A lot of it would be left down to the players themselves,” he explains.
“You have three men there now in the management who are very experienced and they don’t treat us like children.
“If Eamonn asks us to do something we’re more than happy to do it. He doesn’t ask us anything ridiculous but if he did we would still probably do it.
“He gives us respect and we give him respect back. He’s a nice man to work under.”
In the end it boils down to a simple choice for McParland: Either you want to play for Down or you don’t. If you do, you have to live the life.
“I would enjoy Christmas as much as anybody but you have to ask yourself that if you’re busting yourself doing all this training, do you want to go and drink it all away on a couple of nights?” he explains.
“Boys are looking after their own nutrition and their own running and they don’t want to go and ruin it all at the weekends.
“So for me it’s not a chore.
“There’s no gun to anybody’s head – if you want to walk away you can, but the reason 30 boys want to be there is to compete at the highest level.
“You can go back to your club and be their best player if you want but everybody there (at Down training) is trying to compete. Maybe as I get older, it’ll get harder but at the minute I’m enjoying it.”
Neighbours and clubmates Shay and Ronan Millar are also in the panel this season. Shay emerged last season as a mobile half-forward with an eye for a score while two-footed inside-forward Ronan top-scored on his debut against Armagh in the Dr McKenna Cup.
The Glenn club is producing a steady stream of talent for the county and there were five from the club – including current Bradford City soccer star Shay McCartan - in the panel during McParland’s minor days.
“Me, Shay and Ronan live a stone’s throw away from each other and it’s handy for training and stuff,” McParland explains.
“Then again, the club suffers. Glenn is a small club and they are suffering for producing players who are fit to play for their county. We were relegated last year.”
He plays midfield for his club but operated as a mobile defender for Down in last year’s Championship run.
“For Down I’d see myself as a centre half-back and I think the management would see me there as well,” he said.
“In football now very few teams play with three inside so your number two becomes a different position. This year I would be hoping for the number six jersey.”
Whatever jersey he wears, Down fans can expect the same levels of commitment from him throughout what will be a testing Division Two campaign.
To survive the Mournemen will need to recapture the spirit of the summer last year and that will include playing “with a bit of an edge”.
“Everyone has their own brand of football,” he says.
“At county level especially you have to learn where the line is and you have to watch it very carefully because if the team goes a man down you’re the worst in the world but you need to play with a bit of an edge.
“With some of the forwards you come up against you need to try your best to get yourself any advantage. But you need to know what type of person you’re playing against because there’s no point winding somebody up if it’s not going to annoy him.
“You have to be a bit smart about it and make sure you’re doing it in all the right places.”
