Hurling & Camogie

Danny Toner still harbours big ambitions with Down hurlers

Simon McCrory (Antrim) and Danny Toner (Down) could still be facing one another in next week's Ulster final, if they overcome Donegal and Armagh, respectively
Simon McCrory (Antrim) and Danny Toner (Down) could still be facing one another in next week's Ulster final, if they overcome Donegal and Armagh, respectively Simon McCrory (Antrim) and Danny Toner (Down) could still be facing one another in next week's Ulster final, if they overcome Donegal and Armagh, respectively

Ulster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Down v Armagh (today, Inniskeen, 3pm)

FROM the days of swinging hurls around the family farm with his cousins, Danny Toner dreamed of playing against the best in the country.

Now in his sixth year with the Down senior hurlers, the 24-year-old still harbours the same dream.

“I’d like to be playing 1B hurling,” he says.

“When I started out we were playing Limerick, Clare and Laois. Are we ever going to get back up there?

“I’m not too sure. Promotion has to be our goal every year – getting into Division 2A, at least.

“I’d love to win another Christy Ring and I’d still love to win an Ulster Championship even though it probably doesn’t hold the same prestige as it once did. A lot of Down hurlers feel the same.”

The Ardsmen didn’t really get a sniff of promotion this season.

Division 2B played to form. Meath and Wicklow reached the League final. And, true to form, Meath won and move up another rung to Division 2A next season.

“It was always going to be difficult against those two teams – Meath and Wicklow – anybody with a bit of rationale behind them would have predicted those two teams are probably ahead of Down at the minute, especially Meath who beat Antrim last year.

“They’re a very big side and maybe if we played them in May it might be a bit different but the heavy pitches suit the bigger teams.

“Our games with Meath and Wicklow were just replicas. That’s just how it went.”

Speaking at Monday night’s Ulster Senior Hurling Championship launch in Belfast’s Balmoral Hotel, the Ballygalget man is still hopeful about the months ahead.

They face Armagh in an Ulster semi-final in Inniskeen this afternoon but the Orchard men didn’t manage to win a game in the higher altitude of Division 2A this year.

Not much separates Down and Armagh – but momentum may be with the Ardsmen.

“I wouldn’t be with Down if I didn’t think they could do something,” says Toner, a Christy Ring winner in 2013.

“There are hurlers in Down. Whether you can keep them buying into it the whole time, that’s tough.

“At the end of the day, you don’t get paid for it. It’s tough but I wouldn’t be there if I wasn’t enjoying it.

“You do question yourself sometimes but if you commit to something you should stick it out.”

Marty Mallon, Gary Savage, Paul Coulter and Jerome McCrickard have been tasked with raising standards in the county this year.

So far, Toner has enjoyed Mallon’s back to basics approach.

“Marty forgets his stopwatch sometimes!" Toner laughs.

“But I think every team needs that. I don’t think Brian Cody would be too much into sports science. It’s just trying to find the mix.

“But it’s not all blood and guts; they know their hurling at the end of the day.

“Training is tough, really tough. But you’re there and you’ve just got to do it.”

Down have shown good moments so far this year and Toner still feels silverware is still an achievable goal in 2017.

They face Roscommon in their Christy Ring opener – a team they defeated during the League – while they will fancy themselves to overcome a deflated Armagh side to reach a provincial decider.

Employed by the Down County Board, Toner’s been coaching in the schools around the Ards, south Belfast and east Down over the last four months – but he still gets the odd early-morning knock on the door to help out around the family farm.

“We all worked away at the farm when we were younger. My dad’s a plumber but he farms and my uncle as well. Before National League games you’d get a knock on the door at five o’clock in the morning to get up and milk cows. Whatever needs done."

With Toner hitting the high notes, Conor Woods manning the back-line and Conor O'Prey firing in midfield, Down might just have enough to see off a familiar foe in Inniskeen this afternoon.