Tailteann Cup final: Down 0-14 Meath 2-13
DOWN have bounced back from a few setbacks during his first year at the helm – and Conor Laverty expects his side to improve again after the disappointment of Saturday’s Tailteann Cup final defeat to Meath.
League losses to Fermanagh and Cavan ultimately put paid to Down’s Division Three promotion hopes, Armagh proved too strong in the semi-final of the Ulster Championship before the Mournemen were rumbled by the Royals in the Tailteann Cup round robin.
Each time, though, the Mournemen came again, and they will have to do so once the long winter ends as sights turn to securing a shot at the All-Ireland series, either via League or provincial Championship.
And Laverty believes their exploits this year leave Down with a solid platform to build upon in 2024.
“Aye, listen, it's gutting in that dressing-room,” he said.
“Nobody likes losing finals and probably the hardest thing to take is whenever you don't perform and you're beaten. If you're beaten but you've performed to the best of your ability, you can accept it that wee bit better but I suppose this is a foundation.
“In our first year we would have liked to have got out of Division Three but just with results and that we didn't achieve that. That's what we'll be looking at next year and we seen this competition as a good stepping stone to get into the Sam Maguire, because inevitably that's where everybody wants to be playing.
“We don't want to be a curtain raiser for other teams. But the boys will go back to their clubs for a number of months and then we'll re-evaluate how our season has gone and then we'll regroup and get back later on in the year.
“This is a very young team, they’re only starting this journey with us as a management team. This competition has been brilliant, a lot of boys have got a lot of game-time, and two games in Croke Park will stand to them experience-wise.”
After a brilliant semi-final showing, Down didn’t quite hit the heights on Saturday as Meath grabbed the game by the scruff in the second half, the Mournemen left to rue four gilt-edged goalscoring opportunities.
“The last day out [against Meath in the League] we created goal chances and took them, then today we had two near the end of the first half, then a couple more,” added the Kilcoo man.
“It’s something we had worked hard on in the games since Parnell Park, we had seen real good improvement, but probably just that composure in the final third was something that let us down today.”
It was a different story for Meath boss Colm O’Rourke, a year after leaving his seat in the RTE studio for a crack at inter-county management.
It was a bumpy road that brought the Royals to Croke Park, but the Meath legend put Saturday’s victory up alongside all the achievements from a storied playingf career.
“Ah it's as satisfying as anything I was ever involved with,” he said with a beaming smile.
“Nothing replaces the All-Irelands that I won with Meath in the ’80s and championships won with Skyrne, but this is a huge day for us.
“I couldn't be happier on a personal level but I couldn't be happier for the hard work that our players have put in and I'm delighted they have got a reward. They have just been fantastic since the start of the year and I couldn't commend them highly enough and I've said that all along.”
