THEY may be fading fast with the passage of time but the memories of Down’s run to the 2010 All-Ireland final will remain with Conor Maginn for the rest of his days.
However, having only been brought onto the panel by Ross Carr the previous year, it was an experience he couldn’t have anticipated if those first tentative steps onto the inter-county stage were anything to go by.
“I actually made my Championship debut against Wicklow in Aughrim, 2009,” he says.
Mention of Aughrim alone is enough to send a shiver down the spine of most Down supporters, even 11-and-a-half years on.
In what would turn out to be Carr’s final year in the hot seat, the Mournemen were bounced out of Ulster by Fermanagh but recovered to record qualifier wins over London and Laois.
Confidence was returning as they headed for Wicklow, only for Down to be caught by a sucker punch on a day to forget.
“It was very disappointing,” recalls Maginn, who is a business intelligence analyst with bookmakers Boylesports.
“I remember being in the car park after the game, the bus couldn’t get our for ages because of the crowds. Micko was managing Wicklow, there was a big buzz after that game, but it was a real low for us.
“I felt for Ross, I’ve loads of time for Ross, he’s a great manager but that was definitely one of the darker days.”
The following year, though, a 21-year-old Maginn was part of the panel that made the most of the qualifier route – bouncing back from an Ulster semi-final defeat to Tyrone to go all the way to Croke Park on the third Sunday in September.
“There was a big players’ meeting after the Tyrone game, a lot of the senior boys like Benny [Coulter] and Danny [Hughes] felt there was a lot of potential in the squad and we really needed to get things together – ‘let’s not have the season peter out’, and thankfully it didn’t.”
Quarter-final victory over Kerry at a sun-soaked Croke Park was one of the magic memories of that summer, and Maginn remembers the buzz as the Kingdom date loomed.
“The momentum we built through the back door was great.
“When we knew it was Kerry, we all came to training with a lot of excitement that we had drawn the big guns. Playing Kerry in an All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park, going in completely under the radar, sure what more could you want? As a young player in the squad all you wanted was to be part of those sorts of games.
“It was a great forward line to be a part of… I only made sub appearances in quarter, semi and final, but I was happy to be involved in all those games or helping see them out at the business end.
“The previous year we were playing Division Three football, then all of a sudden you’re in an All-Ireland final. It’s something I look back on with a lot of fondness - thinking that it was over 10 years ago now is a bit strange.
“Playing in big games, in front of big crowds, 20-30,000 people, those days stay with you, but there is definitely that disappointment that we weren’t able to get over the line in an Ulster Championship – that would’ve been nice.”
