LAST FRIDAY, DOWN took the most unusual step of championship preparation by flying down to Kerry to face them in a challenge match eight days before an Ulster quarter-final.
They were barely in the Kingdom 24 hours and flew back up feeling they were onto something.
“That probably worked out because, looking at the fixtures, Kerry don’t play a lot of challenge matches… if somebody hadn’t said, it wouldn’t have been spoken about. But it was always going to get out,” admitted manager Conor Laverty.
“Listen, we asked the question now, and that was a big decision because if we had went to Kerry last weekend and got our asses handed to us, we would have been struggling all week to get form. I know some of the lads said to me ‘right, are we really going?’
“But it worked for the U20s in my first year, we played Kerry, we played Dublin, we played the best teams in the country. If we’re coming to play Donegal today and I can say to these lads ‘listen, after 35 odd minutes in a game that we’re executing things that we want to do’
Advertisement
“I understand people are going to say Donegal and Kerry play different kind of styles, but for pressure on kick-outs and for zonal presses on kick-outs, it was a great workout.”
It gave a side perhaps brittle on confidence after a tight Division 3 final extra-time win over Wexford, some feeling they were close to achieving something.
“I think they are believing; I think they’re starting to believe that they can maybe dine at the top table,” said Laverty.
“Division 3, we know how difficult a grind it is in lower divisions, and sometimes you don’t play great and it’s not pretty, but you get over the line.
“That’s what it was all about in Division Three and then the opportunity now to come, the ground hardening up, I think Down come to the fore a wee bit better when the ground starts hardening up and that kind of a day there today.
“The age profile of this team is very good but where this team want to go where this team have ambitions to get, we have a serious amount of work still to do.”
They now have less than seven days to prepare for an Ulster semi-final against neighbours Armagh. This is where the condensed season becomes a bit of a balls. Days like Sunday in Letterkenny should be cherished.
But Laverty won’t have it.
“Isn’t it brilliant to be bouncing their step tonight or bouncing their step this evening or smiling from ear to ear?” he said about his players.
“I think football is about momentum at the minute and whenever you get on that wee crest of a wave of winning anything can happen. Absolutely anything can happen.
“But listen, Armagh were really good last night in the first half, really good in the first half and that’s another puzzle now but isn’t it brilliant to be heading now to do recovery and get our bodies right and for us to sit now for the next probably most of the night and start getting stuck into Armagh?”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'If we had went and got our asses handed to us' - How Kerry challenge helped Down cause upset
LAST FRIDAY, DOWN took the most unusual step of championship preparation by flying down to Kerry to face them in a challenge match eight days before an Ulster quarter-final.
They were barely in the Kingdom 24 hours and flew back up feeling they were onto something.
“That probably worked out because, looking at the fixtures, Kerry don’t play a lot of challenge matches… if somebody hadn’t said, it wouldn’t have been spoken about. But it was always going to get out,” admitted manager Conor Laverty.
“Listen, we asked the question now, and that was a big decision because if we had went to Kerry last weekend and got our asses handed to us, we would have been struggling all week to get form. I know some of the lads said to me ‘right, are we really going?’
“But it worked for the U20s in my first year, we played Kerry, we played Dublin, we played the best teams in the country. If we’re coming to play Donegal today and I can say to these lads ‘listen, after 35 odd minutes in a game that we’re executing things that we want to do’
“I understand people are going to say Donegal and Kerry play different kind of styles, but for pressure on kick-outs and for zonal presses on kick-outs, it was a great workout.”
It gave a side perhaps brittle on confidence after a tight Division 3 final extra-time win over Wexford, some feeling they were close to achieving something.
“I think they are believing; I think they’re starting to believe that they can maybe dine at the top table,” said Laverty.
“Division 3, we know how difficult a grind it is in lower divisions, and sometimes you don’t play great and it’s not pretty, but you get over the line.
“That’s what it was all about in Division Three and then the opportunity now to come, the ground hardening up, I think Down come to the fore a wee bit better when the ground starts hardening up and that kind of a day there today.
“The age profile of this team is very good but where this team want to go where this team have ambitions to get, we have a serious amount of work still to do.”
They now have less than seven days to prepare for an Ulster semi-final against neighbours Armagh. This is where the condensed season becomes a bit of a balls. Days like Sunday in Letterkenny should be cherished.
But Laverty won’t have it.
“Isn’t it brilliant to be bouncing their step tonight or bouncing their step this evening or smiling from ear to ear?” he said about his players.
“I think football is about momentum at the minute and whenever you get on that wee crest of a wave of winning anything can happen. Absolutely anything can happen.
“But listen, Armagh were really good last night in the first half, really good in the first half and that’s another puzzle now but isn’t it brilliant to be heading now to do recovery and get our bodies right and for us to sit now for the next probably most of the night and start getting stuck into Armagh?”
*****
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Down GAA GAA Gaelic Football Kingdom Come