THE opening game of the Ulster Championship may be at Pairc Esler in Newry, but Down lose everything that goes with home advantage due to this cursed pandemic, which prevents fans from packing out the stadium.
Down’s chances of beating Donegal on Sunday would have been improved with a 16th man – those fans in the stands.
On a few occasions, particularly in 2008 when Tyrone came to Newry for a replay of our drawn first round game, the proximity of the crowd to the field fuelled an electric atmosphere, helping us to deservedly beat the Red Hands, although Tyrone had the last laugh and were crowned All-Ireland champions a few months later.
For many of us, those days remain some of the best but they also provide a source of internal struggle and frustration in equal measure. Regret is something everyone must live with and it is only natural to think about what might have been. I see many similarities in this current Down team.
On a given day they can be very good – see the Laois and Westmeath games – and on any given day they can be equally poor – see Mayo and Meath. At times, watching Down should come with a health warning. The current players are doing everything they possibly can to improve and are as committed as any panel in the country. Are they a few players short?
To be honest they probably are. One type of player they’re missing is a Marty Clarke to guarantee scores, either from play or, more importantly, from frees. Kalum King and Mark Poland made huge contributions, but Marty’s addition to the team made all the difference between 2009 and 2010.
He offered you points anywhere within 50 metres, especially from free kicks. When you were under pressure, that kept the scoreboard ticking over and helped to arrest any momentum the opposition enjoyed. Realistically, we are not going to win the All-Ireland, so an Ulster Championship title has to be our number one priority in the short term.
It’s 27 years and counting, not that ‘94’ can provide much inspiration to the current side, with many of the team lining out on Sunday not born the last time we managed to secure the Anglo-Celt Cup. I would need every page of a copy of The Irish News to fully examine why we have not been able to secure and sustain success at provincial level over the years.
My own generation of players lived through the barren years so we all have to accept some personal responsibility. None of that is particularly relevant to Sunday, of course, but rather provides a wider context should Donegal, as expected, win. It may well be a cliché but Down really have do have nothing to lose.
Derry star Conor Glass turned the team’s focus to ‘Donegal’ rather than ‘Donegal or Down’ in what appeared to be a Freudian slip after Oak Leafer convincingly beat Offaly in the Division Three final, but it was understandable.
Donegal should be hurting from last season’s shock Ulster final defeat to Cavan. Cavan’s woes this year puts the freakish nature of the result in even starker terms. Declan Bonner will be under a little bit of pressure and will be very wary of complacency.
A lot will depend on Michael Murphy. If he plays and is fit then Down are facing a massive battle to stay in the game. Should Murphy not make the starting line-up or should Bonner decide not to risk him, then Down’s chances automatically improve.
Patrick McBrearty, who was substituted against Dublin due to an injury concern, is in the category. However, Donegal still possess the quality up front in Ciaran Thompson, Jamie Brennan and Michael Langan, though the fact Odhran Mac Niallais will miss the game is good news for Down.
Ryan McHugh remains a threat for Donegal, a real outlet for launching attacks and winning frees. He has been a constant since 2014 when he burst onto the scene, helping Donegal inflict Dublin’s most recent Championship defeat. Donegal are a superb football team and are much more offensively ambitious than they used to be.
Worryingly for Down, they also have players who can score all over the field, so when Down retreat into a defensive formation – which they will – Donegal have the skill and running power to break defensive lines.
Tactically, Paddy Tally and Down will have to come up with something very different in order to stay in this game. Frustrating the opposition is fine, but Newry is a tight field and Donegal have players capable of scoring from distance.
The Down natives remain tied to the romanticism of the ’60s and ’90s and it has dogged every other team apart from those All-Ireland winners. Unfortunately, Down fans still see it in black and white terms: if you’re not playing an offensive brand of football and outscoring the opposition, then you’re ultra defensive.
There’s a lot more grey in modern football, as was illustrated when Jim McGuinness recently asserted that Dublin are the most defensive team around these days. Paddy Tally has had to be pragmatic, as we are simply not blessed with a midfield like Dublin, Mayo, Kerry or even Donegal.
I would be a supporter of Paddy and at the start of the year, given the knockout Championship format, staying in Division Two of the League was a realistic priority. He and the players admirably achieved this with two wins that may not amount to much in many people’s eyes, but there has to be a bigger picture.
The kickout strategy and struggles in securing primary possession has affected how Down fans view this team. This is one area Donegal are likely to target as a weak point and, without primary possession, how will Down get enough scores to win this game?
Without some of Down’s better forwards in the last few seasons, who have opted out of the panel, they will be reliant on scores from a counter-attack and perhaps even more than a few goals will be required to stay in this game.
However, those statistics do not provide much comfort as Down have really struggled to get enough in this department. I go back to my original point in saying that Down have absolutely nothing to lose on Sunday. If they win, Tally is a genius and perhaps these Down players will experience their own ’08’ moment.
But that was a different time and era, just like the ’60s and ’90s, and is best remembered in the past and left there. Down’s greatest battles remain off the field in a wider context but the best thing the players can do on Sunday is stay in the game, inflict a few bloody noses on Donegal and die with their boots on.
If you lose, best to lose in the right way.