FORMER Down star Benny Coulters admits the county’s defensive woes are a concern heading into Saturday night’s make-or-break relegation play-off against Laois – though he still fancies the Mournemen to escape an immediate return to Division Three.
Burren full-back Gerard McGovern, who came back into the fold in 2021 after three years in Australia, is still serving the four week suspension handed down for the red card picked up against Meath last month.
That ban ends on June 20, in time for the following week’s Ulster Championship preliminary round clash with Donegal in Newry.
The experienced Benny McArdle was drafted in to replace McGovern against Westmeath the following week, only for a hamstring injury to force him off before half-time.
Losing such key personnel in an area where Down have struggled at times is far from ideal for boss Paddy Tally, and Coulter admits the Galbally man faces some big decisions ahead of Saturday’s Newry clash.
“Looking at the full-back line there, Gerard and Benny are two of our two biggest men. Laois have some huge men and that’s where Down might struggle a bit – those two boys are a big, big miss,” he said.
“Do you move Patrick Murdock to full-back from corner back, then put Finn McElroy into the corner? Ryan McEvoy has done well at midfield but he plays full-back for Kilcoo – are you robbing Peter to pay Paul then by taking him out of the middle?"
“I wouldn’t be fearful of putting Paddy Murdock to full-back and maybe Finn to corner-back… I just think that area is a problem with Benny and Gerard missing.”
Coulter was part of Tally’s management team the last time Down faced Laois, in a National League clash back in 2019. That night Down were short of several key men and, after a decent first half, couldn’t cope with the sheer size and physicality of the O’Moore men around the middle and in attack.
“We were down to the bare bones and big Evan O’Carroll and Donie Kingston, who came off the bench at half-time, they just destroyed us.”
Gaining primary possession continues to be a major issue, as evidenced in the earlier Division Two North defeats to Mayo and Meath, and Tally has alternated between goalkeepers Rory Burns and Marc Reid in a bid to help find a solution.
Burns has been the regular number one in recent years but dropped out against the Royals before returning for the win over Westmeath – saving a second half penalty to preserve Down’s lead. And it is another crunch call the Down boss will have to get right on Saturday.
“Teams are probably looking at Down and saying we can get at them on their kick-out - you could see that against Mayo and Meath,” said Coulter, who is currently in charge of Longstone.
“Rory Burns was hung out to dry a wee bit - in the Mayo game there wasn’t much movement in the defence. Marc Reid came in against Meath and was getting the kick-outs away better but Rory came in and made some big saves against Westmeath, so Paddy has a big decision to make.”
Despite those concerns, and Down’s shaky form, Coulter remains confident that the Mournemen have the pace to pose problems for Mike Quirke’s men at Pairc Esler.
“When I look at the Laois scorelines so far, they’ve had a few drubbings and conceded some big scores so that gives me a bit of confidence.
“They are definitely an aging team and I believe Down have the legs on them. Down have pure pace, right from the half-back line up, a lot of flying machines. If they can move the ball through the hands and get a good start, they can do damage.”
