Morgan Fuels Down SFC round 2A: RGU Downpatrick v St Mary’s, Burren (tomorrow, St Patrick’s Park, 5pm)
BURREN had to dig deep to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in their championship opener against Mayobridge, and they will face another stiff test of their mettle against RGU Downpatrick in Newcastle tomorrow.
Even in the absence of injured Down star Caolan Mooney, out for the year with a cruciate ligament injury, Aidan Robinson’s Hoops showed they cannot be taken lightly after seeing off An Riocht in their round one clash.
Indeed, in last year’s championship Downpatrick were good value for their victory over a Carryduff side who had reached the 2020 final, and would go on to push eventual All-Ireland champions Kilcoo all the way in the last eight.
Veteran midfielder Peter Turley was dominant as RGU hit the front against the Kingdom, while Gerard Collins, Anthony Doherty and tricky forward Jarlath Brannigan bring plenty of experience as they bid to upset a fancied Burren outfit at St Patrick’s Park.
Jim McCorry’s side had a mixed bag against a well-organised ’Bridge outfit, starting well before Steven Poacher’s men took control – indeed goalkeeper Charlie Smyth had a 60 metre free right at the death to send them into the winners’ group.
It dropped short and Burren ground out the win in extra-time, Liam Kerr’s late goal seeing them through. Experienced pair Gerard McGovern and Connor Toner both returned from injury to come off the bench in that game, and are in contention for starting spots.
Forward Donal O’Hare, meanwhile, was suspended for the Mayobridge game and is also expected to play some part tomorrow.
McCorry, knowing the type of challenge they would face from the ’Bridge, was loathe to describe that game as a wake-up call – but the Lurgan man believes Burren must be better if they are to keep their championship ambitions alive.
He said: “Kilcoo are the kingpins and everybody wants to try and beat Kilcoo, but probably the top four that they talk about, there’s one or two points between them. Then there’s another three or four teams behind that top four and there’s very little between them as well.
“There’s going to be plenty more close games like ours before anyone reaches the final. People who are just thinking automatically it’s going to be a Kilcoo-Burren final because it was last year, or because it was in the league, things don’t just happen like that.
“Downpatrick are very strong all over, there’s no doubt Caolan is a fantastic player, lightning pace, a great leader on the field and a massive loss to them. But sometimes you find when you lose a player like that it galvanises the rest of them.
“It won’t be the deciding factor for Downpatrick – they beat us in the league, so they’ll see this as an opportunity, having watched the Mayobridge game, maybe to get one over on Burren.
“We know we’re going to have to play an awful lot better than we did against Mayobridge.”
Having some of his more established players coming back into the fold is a boost for Burren, although the towering Shay McArdle remains sidelined for the foreseeable future.
And, with the success of the underage teams brought through by Stevie O’Hare and Eoin McCartan during recent years - both of whom are part of McCorry’s backroom team alongside Gearoid Adams - the former Down boss has plenty of quality at his disposal.
Another man McCorry hopes to be able to call upon soon too is Armagh defender Paddy Burns, who transferred from Forkhill earlier this year.
“Paddy was doing a rehab programme with the county, so he will come back in whenever he is cleared by them.
“He’s not doing full training with us but he’s fully integrated into the squad, he’s fitting in very well with the guys, and he’s a great asset to the club.
“I hope to see him playing very, very soon but that’s totally down to the medical people in the county. He’s a quality player, he’d be an automatic on the Armagh team and, from a personal point of view, you couldn’t get a more committed player.
“A great fella to work with, very genuine, very hard-working. He’s a real asset.”
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CARRYDUFF AND GLENN TO RENEW RIVALRY
Morgan Fuels Down SFC
BEING paired with Glenn in the next round of the championship drew a few grimaces from elder statesmen around Carryduff who remember nothing but knife-edge battles between the clubs through the years.
A new era may have dawned for both but, with a quarter-final place at stake going into today’s round 2A clash (2pm), another typically tight tussle is expected to unfold in Downpatrick.
Having reached a first-ever Down SFC final in 2020 before almost bursting the Kilcoo balloon in last year’s county quarter-final – the all-conquering Magpies only prevailing after extra-time in what was one of their toughest games of the year – it is with good reason with Carryduff are looked upon as potential challengers once more.
Former Armagh stalwart Finnian Moriarty has been there and done it before, leading Maghery to the county title two years ago, and there was evidence of the progress made as they kept Bryansford at arm’s length a fortnight ago.
Although without influential pair Josh Connery and James Guinness due to injury, the return of men like John McGeough and Ronan Beatty, as well as the presence of ex-Fermanagh midfielder Eoin Donnelly, makes Carryduff a potentially formidable proposition.
Glenn, though, showed what they are made of when cruising past Bredagh in the first round, with Niall McParland superb around the middle, former county ace Shay Millar pulling the strings up front and Declan O’Hare solid at the back before injury forced him off.
A solid, settled outfit, they will fancy their chances of coming out on top in a game Carryduff are expected to edge.
This weekend’s sole round 2B game sees Bredagh bid to bounce back from that opening defeat to Glenn when they take on Castlewellan in Mayobridge tomorrow (3pm).
The Ormeau Road men were left to rue a series of missed opportunities the last day, including two efforts that came back off the crossbar. They will need to be more clinical tomorrow against a Castlewellan side who so nearly toppled Loughinisland in the first round, only to come up short at the last.
