OISIN MacManus reckons the Down hurlers’ NHL Division 2A campaign could be their toughest yet due to a threadbare squad – and laughed off the offensive Meath GAA tweet that consumed the hurling fraternity for a couple of days last week.
Meath GAA subsequently apologised for the remark that appeared on their official Twitter account, describing Down’s home pitch - McKenna Park - as a “kip” following Offaly’s three-point win there.
However, MacManus had his own interpretation on the tweet that was later removed.
“I didn’t expect it to be honest,” he said.
“Teams don’t like coming to Ballycran so it’s probably a good thing for us. It’s like Galatasaray. It works for us. You either go by boat or go round the road for an hour. It’s our wee advantage and we need all we can get.”
Down were already missing quite a number of players, through injury and travel, for last weekend’s opening NHL game – and they lost two more after Ballygalget pair Marc Fisher and Jordan Doran received straight reds against the Faithful County.
Donal Hughes and Eoghan Sands are away travelling and are undoubtedly big losses to Ronan Sheehan’s squad, while Daithi Sands is working in America but should be back for the county's last two NHL games against Derry (March 12) and Kerry (March 19).
MacManus himself is struggling with a hip injury but like several of his team-mates, they’ll line out down in Hawkfield on Sunday against a Kildare side that hammered Carlow by 14 points.
“I think it’s about staying in the division,” MacManus said, who transferred from Liatroim Fontenoys to Belfast club St John’s last season.
“Last year was class as we got to the League final but this year is probably more about surviving, especially with the players that are out at the minute, and then we’ll try and build for the Championship with more players back.
“We’ve quite a few U20s that have come in and are really helping us – the likes of Finn Turpin and Tom McGrattan.”
Down have only two home games in the League – the next against Derry on March 12 – and three away trips to Kildare on Sunday, Carlow and Kerry.
While a three-point defeat is not what you want to kick-start a new League campaign, MacManus – a second-half substitute in the game – could still draw on some positives against Offaly.
“The Offaly game was good and bad. We probably went into the game not knowing what to expect as we’ve had a lot of injuries and players missing. But we gave Offaly a rattle in Ballycran, even though we’d only 13 men for a part of it. That was tough, especially on the forwards as you were chasing shadows for half an hour. But, to lose only be three points was a positive.”
Without the Sands brothers and Hughes automatically weakens the Ardsmen – but MacManus wants others to step up to the plate this weekend.
“It’s up to us to do the work that Donal, Daithi and Eoghan were doing for the last couple of years; it’s up to us to take up that mantle. We can’t be relying on them all the time but when they come back we’ll be a stronger team for it.”
MacManus has just completed for his new club St John’s, Belfast – but he missed his home club Liatroim Fontenoys’ county and provincial successes at intermediate level before Colly Murphy’s men fell to Mayo outfit Tooreen by four points in the All-Ireland semi-finals in December.
“You can coast your way through things at times, playing junior and intermediate in Down,” MacManus said.
“In Antrim, you have to be on your game 24/7, even in training. That was one thing that I really noticed – you need to push yourself all the time and that makes you a better player.
“If you don’t play well, you’re off the team. It doesn’t matter if you’re a county player or not. Just the physicality, taking the hits and going on, all that stuff has been a learning curve, but it was definitely something I needed for myself for my own development.
“It was also a change of scenery, a fresh start and wanting to try something different,” added MacManus, now living in Belfast.
He admits watching his friends from home go so close to winning the All-Ireland title was hard at times.
“I was delighted to see it and I felt it was always going to happen whether I was there or not,” he said, “because at underage, we won everything – 16s, minors, 21s the whole way up.
“They were unlucky against Tooreen in the All-Ireland semi-finals and to be an All-Ireland final would have been unbelievable for them.
“Sometimes I was sitting back, watching them and thinking that it would have been nice to be involved. But at the same time I was coaching with the Clonduff camogs and they won the All-Ireland Intermediate title, so I got my All-Ireland out of that and that helped a bit when I was watching the Liatroim boys play.”
