Joe McDonagh Cup Round One: (Down v Kerry, (Saturday, Ballycran, today 1pm)
Down will be hoping to get off to a fast start to their Joe McDonagh Cup campaign, when they host Kerry in Ballycran on Saturday.
Ronan Sheehan’s men had a challenging Division 2A league campaign, with defeats taken against Offaly, Kildare and Kerry, but a last-gasp point from Pearse Óg McCrickard, which earned them a draw against Derry, was enough to see them stay up.
Despite their low points total, manager Sheehan pointed out the tight nature of each of their games and said that his side’s performances merited more than just a solitary point on the table.
“We’d be slightly frustrated with the results, as opposed to our performances,” he said.
“The margins were incredibly thin; we drew one game, lost two games by one point, and the other game by three points. If a couple of things
had gone our way, we probably could have ended up with four or six points and have been pushing for a league final.
“We probably were relieved in the end that we stayed up, given the way the results panned out, but we felt as though at times our
performances merited slightly better results.”
Down’s League wrapped up with a one-point loss away to Kerry in Tralee on March 19, but they don’t have long to wait to get their own back,
as they host the Kingdom in their championship opener.
The Ardsmen will be without Caolan Taggart, Eoin Sands and Danny Toner, but they hope the trio will be able return over the next few weeks,
while Daithi Sands came back in against Kerry last time out, having missed most of the League.
Encounters between the counties have been tightly contested between the two counties in recent years, but Sheehan hopes that playing at
home will give Down the edge.
“We’d like to think that the home advantage will be worth a couple of points,” he said
“Home advantage is even bigger, given the journey involved. For the other four teams, are all within about 45 minutes of each other, so even
their away games are relatively simple journeys.
“For us, we have three-hour bus journeys to any of our away games. That probably puts a wee bit more emphasis and importance on our
home games.”
The other teams in the competition are Leinster sides Carlow, Kildare, Laois and Offaly, and Sheehan sees very little between the six teams in the competition.
“The Joe McDonagh Cup is the most even competition in the GAA,” he said.
“When you look at the six teams that are in the Joe McDonagh Cup, there is no weak team. It is incredibly competitive, and we’re aware of
that. But we’re confident in our ability to maintain our status and indeed, push on.
“To be honest, our first aim is to stay up, and if we can get our safety secured as quickly as possible, then we may reassess and see whether
or not we can push on for a final place.”
With the margins so thin in the Joe McDonagh Cup, the importance of getting off to a fast start isn’t lost on the Down boss.
“We want to get points on the board as early as possible,” said Sheehan.
“Four points probably guarantees you safety and six points has you pushing for the McDonagh final, so getting two points on Saturday
brings you on a long way on both those journeys.
“There’s a saying in Irish, ‘tús maith leath na hoibre,’ – a good start is half the work.
“So, we’re targeting getting off to a flyer, but so are Kerry. It’ll come down to who gets the breaks, and who performs on the day.”