THE DOWNS 2-12
RATOATH 0-17
Paul Keane reports from Croke Park
THE DOWNS ADVANCED to this season’s Leinster football final after a dramatic conclusion to this evening’s semi-final at Croke Park.
Afterwards man of the match Luke Loughlin told RTÉ: “It’s unbelievable to get this win. We are a special club with special ambition and this is just part of our journey.
“We are a young team. But we have belief. We never give up. Everything now is a bonus.”
Downs manager Lar Wall added: “At half-time we realised we had to get tight on their key man; the win was all about work rate and belief and application.”
And so The Downs are back in the AIB Leinster club SFC final, 50 years after their one and only appearance, though they wiped beads of sweat from their brows after hanging on in a dramatic Croke Park finale.
Goals from Ciaran Nolan and Niall Mitchell, allied to five points from Man of the Match and Tailteann Cup winner Luke Loughlin, left The Downs apparently on the cusp of a relatively comfortable win with a six-point lead and only seven minutes of normal time remaining.
Wing-forward Andrew Kilmartin was sent off shortly after though and with Ratoath already building up a head of steam and launching a revival, it lent further fuel to their comeback.
David Brady’s Meath champions ultimately reeled off five points in a row to leave just one in it and the Brownstown outfit had the opportunity to level it seven minutes into stoppage time but Jack Flynn’s kick from a free way out on the left wing at the Hill 16 End sailed high, right and wide.
It brought relief for The Downs who will return to Croke Park on December 4 to face Kilmacud Crokes or Portarlington in the provincial decider.
They will hope to become the first team from Westmeath since Garrycastle in 2011 to lift the title though it’s the end of the line for former junior and intermediate Leinster champions Ratoath.
They came into the contest as slight underdogs though buoyed by their quarter-final win over an ultra experienced Rhode team, the club’s first in the provincial senior championship.
They carried that momentum into the opening stages with Eamonn Wallace, best known as a club and county attacker, bursting forward from his new half-back role to stroke over the opening score.
Mitchell tied it up in the fifth minute with a point from a free, setting the tone for a tit-for-tat encounter that was level on six occasions up to 0-6 apiece before The Downs surged clear.
Nolan’s 26th minute goal, a scrappy score that Ratoath will feel they should have cleared, left the Westmeath representatives 1-6 to 0-6 clear and they retained that three point advantage with a minute of normal time remaining in the half.
Ratoath’s response was impressive as they closed out the half with three points in a row from top scorer Daithi McGowan to level it up yet again at the interval, 0-10 to 1-7.
McGowan, a starter for Meath in June’s All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Clare, showed exceptional leadership with two of those scores from long range points that he had the confidence to take on.
McGowan’s Meath colleague Joey Wallace was absent due to a cruciate knee ligament injury, robbing him of the opportunity to punish The Downs manager Lar Wall again. Wall was in charge of Gaeil Colmcille when Wallace starred for Ratoath against them in the 2020 Meath final, scoring 1-3 that day.
Ratoath’s Flynn was involved in two first-half goal chances, wincing as his 16th minute shot was deflected away by goalkeeper Trevor Martin and then, six minutes later, clearing off his own line when he foiled Loughlin.
The Downs pushed hard for a second goal during a strong third quarter and duly delivered in the 42nd minute when Mitchell pounced. They put together a clever hand-passing move down the right which ended with Kevin O’Sullivan picking out Mitchell from the right endline and the dual star poked home from close range.
That score put them four clear for the first time and when Andrew Kilmartin curled over a 45th minute point, arguably the score of the game, they were five to the good with a 2-10 to 0-11 advantage.
The Downs were six points clear with 53 minutes on the clock and apparently on course for a comfortable win.
But the dismissal rocked them and Ratoath took full advantage in the closing stages, reeling off scores from Wallace, Flynn, Daithi McGowan and Bryan McMahon to take it right to the wire.
Elsewhere Tourlestrane qualified for their first Connacht club senior football championship final in 40 years after a two point win – 0-8 to 0-6 – over St Mary’s Kiltoghert.
Windy conditions dictated the terms of this game, Tourlestrane four points down at half-time before they held their opponents scoreless in the second half.
Liam Gaughan put them ahead with three minutes to go before Rian Bailey added their eighth point.The Downs scorers: Luke Loughlin 0-5 (0-2f), Niall Mitchell 1-1 (0-1f), Ciaran Nolan 1-0, Andrew Kilmartin 0-2, Ian Martin 0-1, Jonathan Lynam 0-1, Eanna Burke 0-1, Conor Coughlan 0-1.
Ratoath scorers: Daithi McGowan 0-6 (0-3f), Cian Rogers 0-2, Jack Flynn 0-2 (0-1 45), Eamonn Wallace 0-2, Bryan McMahon 0-2, Bobby O’Brien 0-1, Keith McCabe 0-1, Conor Rooney 0-1.
1. Trevor Martin
3. Peter Murray
4. Eanna Burke
2. Darragh Egerton
5. Conor Coughlan
6. Mark Kelly
7. Joseph Moran
17. Jonathan Lynam
8. Charlie Drumm
9. Ciaran Nolan
10. Andrew Kilmartin
12. Kevin O’Sullivan
13. Ian Martin
11. Niall Mitchell
14. Luke Loughlin
Subs
15. Tom Tuite for Martin (53)
21. Liam Moran for O’Sullivan (60)
22. Dean Clarke for Drumm (61)
20. Dean Egerton for Kelly (64)
RATOATH
1. Darragh McPartlin
4. Ben Wyer
3. Conor McGill
2. Ciaran O Fearraigh
6. Eamonn Wallace
7. Gavin McGowan
5. Brian Daly
9. Ben McGowan
14. Cian O’Brien
12. Keith McCabe
11. Jack Flynn
8. Daithi McGowan
15. Bryan McMahon
10. Cian Rogers
13. Bobby O’Brien
Subs
28. Conor Rooney for McCabe (42)
19. Padraic Byrne for Rogers (53)
21. Andrew Gerrard for Gavin McGowan (55)
27. Brian O’Connor for Cian O’Brien (58)
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).