Allianz National Football League Division Three: Down 1-10 Westmeath 0-11
DOWN gave their promotion ambitions an almighty shunt with a dogged second half comeback to clip Westmeath’s wings on another dramatic night in Newry.
Memories of that last-gasp win over Antrim earlier were still fresh in the memory as Down supporters filed into Pairc Esler on Saturday, but even the most optimistic of their number would have struggled to make a case for a comeback when they trailed by seven – having managed a measly three points - 10 minutes after the break.
Where the Mournemen struggled to get anything meaningful going in a malfunctioning attack, Westmeath were in cruise control - not brilliant, not shooting the lights out, but they didn’t need to.
Sitting with 14 behind the ball, Down walked right into the trap time and again, coughing up cheap possession and handing all the momentum to Dessie Dolan’s men. On the handful of occasions they went long, Pat Havern was isolated and unable to make any headway.
Westmeath took advantage of a black card shown to Eamon Brown before half-time, rattling off three scores in quick succession to stretch out their lead. And when John Heslin burst away from McEvoy then bounced off Anthony Morgan before fisting over with 20 minutes to go, it was hard to see any way back for the Mournemen.
But that was the last score they would manage, a Down defence that was questioned after conceding big scores to Antrim and Fermanagh successfully shutting the door as Conor Laverty’s side seized upon a shaft of light while Westmeath inexplicably wilted.
Just as against the Saffrons on the last Saturday night in Newry, it was a goal that galvanised the Down challenge – their 15th across seven games so far in 2023, and one that breathed new life into hopes of escaping Division Three.
Liam Kerr found space hard to come by on a frustrating evening, but when he finally wriggled free through the middle and advanced towards the square, James Dolan dragged him down. Referee David Gough awarded the penalty, Odhran Murdock sent James Daly the wrong way, and the roar from the stand told you, even at 1-5 to 0-11, Down were back in business.
The men in black fed off that energy, closing the space on Westmeath and denying them any opportunity to take the sting out of the game. Jerome Johnston, brought on for his first taste of inter-county action in two years, proved a calm head amid the madness, dropping deep and using his experience to keep the Mournemen moving.
Kilcoo club-mate McEvoy produced another outstanding performance and when his driving run from deep was checked by Kevin Maguire, Havern converted a second handy free in a matter of minutes to close the gap to one with seven minutes left to play.
Another Magpie, Ceilum Doherty, finally nudged Down’s noses in front, the 26-year-old loitering around the edge of the square to pick up breaks and fire over two crucial scores that piled further misery on the midlanders.
It was a testament to his attitude too. In the first half, nothing came off for Doherty at all, but he kept going, kept pushing, the reward coming in the end.
The Newry crowd of just over 3,000 might also claim a bit of a credit for this win – stamping their feet and whistling as Heslin lined up what looked a straightforward free to level in added time after Paddy Branagan brought down Dolan.
But, after a lengthy wait, and with Laverty leaping about on the sideline, the normally deadly Heslin sent his shot outside the post. Down prayers had been answered.
The impressive Andrew Gilmore could have gone for goal in the dying seconds but slotted over on the break, a collective sigh of relief finally breaking out around Pairc Esler. The margin for error narrowed further after the disappointment of defeat in Fermanagh, defeat could have signalled the death of Down’s promotion hopes.
Instead, they head for table-topping Cavan believing anything is possible; no cause ever lost.
“That’s National League football if you look across all the divisions - you have to understand that’s just the way the games go,” said Down coach Marty Clarke, who revealed midfielder Niall Donnelly would have a scan on his left foot in the coming days after suffering an injury at training.
“We've been there last week probably, so we were probably a bit more emotional at half-time because we were disappointed in certain elements. But we still knew we had the faith in the group.
“We had a good system there and we knew we had legs to introduce into the game, so we just kept it calm. Once we got momentum and we got the penalty, we always felt we had the run in the legs.
“We've tested this group physically earlier in the year, and it stood to us tonight.”
Down: C Smyth; R Magill, R McEvoy, P Laverty; N McParland, A Doherty, G Collins; P Branagan; O Murdock (1-0, pen); S Millar, L Kerr, C Doherty (0-2); E Brown (0-1), A Gilmore (0-4, 0-1 free), P Havern (0-3, frees). Subs: R Johnston for McParland (HT), J Johnston for Brown (40), R Mason for Collins (45), A Morgan for Millar (47), C Francis for A Doherty (60)
Black card: E Brown (32-42)
Yellow cards: N McParland (34), C Doherty (55)
Westmeath: J Daly; D Scahill, K Maguire, N Harte; J Dolan, R Wallace, S McCartan (0-1); S Duncan, R Connellan; D Lynch (0-1), R O’Toole, C McCormack (0-1); S Baker (0-2), J Heslin (0-6, 0-4 frees), L Loughlin. Subs: K Martin for McCormack (60), D Giles for Harte (63), S Smith for Baker (66), C Dillon for Lynch (69), A McCormack for Connellan (70+2)
Yellow cards: R Connellan (52), K Maguire (58), J Dolan (63)
Referee: D Gough (Meath)
