Joe McDonagh Cup Round three: Down 0-28 Carlow 6-23
THE Down hurlers managed 28 scores to Carlow’s 29 – but the difference was six of the visitors’ scores ended up in the back of the home side’s net at a sun-kissed McKenna Park, Ballycran yesterday.
It leaves second-placed Carlow in a great position of reaching the Joe McDonagh final as they host leaders Offaly next weekend in their last round robin fixture, while Down face a relegation shoot-out with Kildare at Hawkfield.
Down’s fate was probably always going to be decided by the outcome of the Lilywhites game next Saturday as Ronan Sheehan rued the concession of some sloppy goals against a physically imposing Carlow side.
Nothing went right for the home side in the opening half but they were authors of their own downfall too.
They were out-muscled all over the pitch, turned over a heap of times once they entered Carlow’s half of the field and they found themselves trailing 4-14 to 0-11 at half-time.
It looked and felt like an unassailable advantage, with Conor Kehoe raising the first green flag of the afternoon on three minutes, Chris Nolan scampered away from Caolan Teggart to fire home Carlow’s second goal 10 minutes later, and they hit their hosts with two more majors in the 30th and 33rd minutes through man-of-the-match Martin Kavanagh and powerhouse attacker Chris Nolan grabbed his second.
Carlow's approach was as uncomplicated as you could get, hammering long, direct balls down the throat of the home side's defence, and they couldn't cope.
“Carlow have something that most of the other teams don’t have and that’s physicality under the high ball which makes them very difficult to deal with," said Sheehan, who was forced to watch the game from behind the wire after previously picking up a one-match sideline suspension.
“We talked about it during the week and we thought they would target that, so we’re disappointed with that aspect of our play."
And when Down had possession from Stephen Keith's short, uncontested puck-outs, they simply didn't have enough ball winners up front and very little stuck.
Daithi Sands and Oisin MacManus couldn't find room to use their pace, and so it was left to Pearse Og McCrickard's accuracy from placed balls and the fine stick-work of young Finn Turpin to keep the scoreboard moving for Down in a testing first period.
Teggart and Mark Fisher kept bringing the fight to Carlow from their half-back positions while midfielder Jordan Doran embarked on some gutsy runs that unnerved the visitors a couple of times.
But the home side lost the Ballygalget man after he picked up his second yellow card in the 45th minute.
For Down to stand any chance of putting themselves back in the frame, they needed to convert all their goal chances that came their way.
In first-half stoppage-time Pearse Og McCrickard and Turpin forced saves out of Carlow ‘keeper Brian Tracey – but it at least showed positive signs for the second half despite the yawning deficit.
The small contingent of travelling Carlow supporters couldn’t believe their luck when Down 'keeper Stephen Keith turned Jon Nolan’s speculative effort into his own net in the 40th minute to push Carlow’s advantage out to 5-15 to 0-14.
Seven minutes later, wing-forward James Doyle waltzed through from the left side to land Carlow’s sixth and final goal of the afternoon.
And yet, Down won the second half by two points and might have narrowed the gap even more had Brian Tracey not saved Ruairi McCrickard’s penalty on the hour mark.
Young Turpin stood tall in a much-improved second half for Down, ending his afternoon with five points from play. Daithi Sands twice split Carlow’s posts and substitutes Matt Conlan and Eoghan Sands improved the home side.
But they had left themselves with a mountain to climb after the break.
“Goals win matches,” sighed Sheehan, “and we’d be disappointed with the number of goals that went in. Two or three of them were our own fault and we probably had three or four clear-cut goal chances and took none of them, which made it difficult.
“We were happy with how the boys performed in the second half, outside of the two poor goals we gave away.
“But it was always going to come down to next week against Kildare. We’re disappointed, we can’t change what happened today, but we’re focused on next week.
"We’d be very happy with scoring 28 points - by far the most we’ve scored this year and it wouldn’t have been beyond the realms of possibility that we could’ve ended with something like 2-30. We’re just disappointed with the concession of some of the goals – some of them were howlers.”
Sheehan added: “ The Kildare game is a test of character. It’s a final – it’s a relegation final – but finals are generally won by the team that works hardest and shows the willingness to ride it out and being resilient.
"Next week will be decided by small margins. It’s a challenge that it’s going to be in their back yard but we feel over the last 12 months we’re probably due a break. We haven't had any breaks in the League and Championship, so hopefully we’ve saved them all for next week.”
Down: S Keith; J McManus, B Trainor, N McFarland; M Fisher (0-2), C Teggart (0-3, 0-2 frees), R McCrickard (0-1); J Doran (0-1), L Savage; F Turpin (0-5), P Sheehan, D Sands (0-2); O McManus (0-3), C Egan, P Og McCrickard (0-10, 0-8 frees) Subs: D Mallon for B Trainor (h/t), E Sands for C Egan (h/t), M Conlan (0-1) for P Sheehan (43), T Murray for J McManus (50), J Croskery for N McFarland (58),
Blood substitution: T Murray for J Doran (30-32)
Yellow cards: R McCrickard (19), J Doran (20 & 45)
Red card: J Doran
Carlow: B Tracey; P Doyle, C Lawlor, P O’Shea; F Fitzpatrick (0-2), D Byrne (0-1), J McCullagh; C Kehoe (1-0), K McDonald (0-1); J Nolan (1-2), M Kavanagh (1-11, 0-7 frees), J Doyle (1-1); J Kavanagh, JM Nolan (0-1), C Nolan (2-4) Subs: P Boland for JM Nolan (h/t), R Coady for C Kehoe (55), F O’Toole for P Doyle (70), N Bolger for C Lawlor (71)
Yellow card: M Kavanagh (45)
Referee: M Kennedy (Tipperary)
