DOWN boss Paddy Tally has backed his players to recover from the second half horror show that contributed to their Ulster Championship exit at the hands of Cavan on Sunday.
The Mournemen started the semi-final like a house on fire and led by 10 at one point before half-time, Tally’s side looking like they already had one foot in this weekend’s final against Donegal.
However, Cavan came on strong after the break, the introduction of super-sub Conor Madden - as well as their complete domination of the midfield sector - seeing the Breffnimen reel Down in on their way to securing a dramatic one-point win.
“The players will be devastated after today - it’ll take them a wee bit of time to recover from that,” said Tally, who rated Down’s first half performance the best since he took charge in the Mourne County.
“It’s been a very long year, from last November to now. It’s been very short in terms of Championship and we didn’t intend it to end here today.
“The way we played for parts of that game, especially in the first half, I thought we were going to push on and get another game. It’ll be sore for a few days because the expectations among the group are higher than that and the way we lost the game will take a while to recover from.
“But it’s a learning process, there’s a lot of young fellas there who will be chastened by the experience but hopefully it’ll stand to them in the future.”
And, despite the disjointed nature of the 2020 campaign, Tally can reflect on the progress that has been made during his second year at the helm.
Following the disappointment of their last-day promotion near miss in 2019, Down completed the job this time around when some impressive early performances ultimately helped them escape Division Three once it resumed in the autumn.
However, Sunday’s defeat also showcased some of the areas of concern that have dogged Down for years, with the aim now to make improvements in time for the start of next year’s inter-county campaign when they will be competing against the likes of Mayo and Meath in the League.
“The squad has been pretty good, another two or three players made their Championship debuts there today as well, and that’s a good thing,” said Tally.
“You’re trying to build a squad, it’s the end of the second year now and they definitely look a lot stronger than when we started. The key next year is that they learn and push on.
“They’re going to play in a higher league next year which is good for them, so there’s the backbone of a decent team there. But listen, there’s still so much work to do.
“We’ve got the fundamentals of being able to attack really well, create scores, that’s not a problem to this team. We have work to do in terms of our ball-winning ability, especially in the middle sector, and in terms of our defensive structure. That’s for the future.”
