SCHOOL EDITION 29 MAY 2024 - Flipbook - Page 32
THE IRISH NEWS
SPORT
United beat Brighton
on penalties to set up
FA Cup final derby
with City
WEDNESDAY APRIL 26 2023
Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-nal Down 2-13 Donegal 1-11
MOURNEMEN ON THE MARCH
Old rivals Armagh await in semis as Tír Chonaill are taken down
FROM KENNY ARCHER
AT PÁIRC ESLER
k.archer@irishnews.com
THEN THERE WERE FOUR
A
SIX became four over the weekend
as the Ulster Championship
semi-nals were decided, with Derry
and Monaghan facing off on one side
of the draw while Armagh meet Down
on the other.
Healy Park, Omagh will host Derry
against Monaghan (Saturday, 5pm),
in a repeat of last season’s Ulster
semi-nal, which the Oak Leaf county
won 3-12 to 0-17 on their way to lifting
the Anglo-Celt for the rst time in
24-years.
Armagh and Down will clash in Clones
on Sunday (4pm) as the pair meet in
the Championship for the rst time
since 2019. Armagh are bidding for
their rst Ulster nal appearance since
2008, while Down haven’t been there
since 2017.
STAT
to
show
the
signicance of this win:
it was 4.35pm, around 45
minutes after the game
ended, before Pat Havern
nally left the Páirc Esler pitch,
Down’s top scorer wearily stripping
off his jersey as he walked towards
the changing rooms.
The full-forward from Saval had
scored 1-3, including a coolly
converted penalty goal 10 minutes
into the second-half as the hosts
moved ve points clear, a lead they
held at the long whistle to spark
joyous celebrations and a pitch
invasion.
All of his tally was from placed
balls, and he had no more room for
manoeuvre after the game ended, as
well-wishers and autograph-hunters
engulfed the Down players.
The Mourne men’s assistant
manager Marty Clarke acknowledged
that this was a major breakthrough
for his county, with their only other
Ulster SFC wins since the 2017
nal coming against Antrim and
Fermanagh: “We were absorbing it
up there [in the Newry Shamrocks
complex]; it was a signicant step
for us to get a victory against a really
good team in the Championship.
‘If you’re watching us
this season, that’s the
epitome of how we like
to go about it’
Marty Clarke
“We’re fully aware that it is only
one step in this year’s Ulster
Championship, but it was great for
the boys to see it out.
“To have Newry fairly well lled
and have Down people out onto
the eld after a Championship win,
it was an important stage in our
journey.”
Clarke was thrilled by the manner
of the build-up to their second goal,
the penalty, awarded after Donegal
full-back fouled Ryan Johnston: “If
you’re watching us this season,
that’s the epitome of how we like to
go about it.
“We were moving the ball fast,
taking no touches, and we got the
penalty.
“Odhrán Murdock is our penalty-
TIPPING THE SCALES Down’s Pat Havern converts his penalty at Páirc Esler, Newry yesterday afternoon
taker, but Pat Havern stood up and
put it away really well.”
With Armagh already assured of
their place in the new 16-team Sam
Maguire Cup series, Down need
to reach the Ulster nal to join
them, which Clarke sees as extra
motivation for the Mourne men:
“That adds another layer to the
importance of it for ourselves.
“Getting to an Ulster nal with this
group would be enormous in its own
right, but to potentially be moving
into the All-Ireland series is another
carrot for the group, and something
that we’ll look at. From [Monday] on,
we’ll certainly be focused on that
xture.”
Donegal manager Aidan O’Rourke
missed out on facing up to his
native county next weekend, but
he was dreadfully disappointed by
Donegal’s display – especially their
defending for the two Down goals:
“They scored a lot of goals in the
League and we were acutely aware
that we had to track their runners all
the time.
“They got two runners away in
the game. [Liam] Kerr got away for
Picture: Philip Walsh
the rst goal and Ryan Johnston
got away for the penalty. Both runs
weren’t tracked.
“They’d a bit of luck for the rst
goal in terms of how the goal broke
to Kerr, but he made the hard
run and got his reward for it. We
switched off for the two goals and
that’s unacceptable.”
The Dromintee man was also
strongly critical of Donegal’s
shooting, saying: “In the rst-half, I
felt we missed opportunities to put
more scores on the board.
“We took the foot off the gas a
bit when we got the goal and that
allowed them to get a foothold in the
game instead of pushing on.
“It isn’t close to good enough – I
think we’d 34 shots in the game so,
if you take that return, it is not good
enough at this level.”
O’Rourke did praise the Donegal
players’ efforts: “I thought they put
in a serious shift.
“They owned the kick-out count
and had a lot of possession
throughout the game.
“But if you don’t turn that into
scores, you are giving your opponent
opportunities. Between kicking
wides and turning the ball over, we
really shot ourselves in the foot…
“In the second half, we really hurt
ourselves – they scored 1-5 directly
from us giving the ball away and
you’ll not win any games at this level
giving the ball away as much.”
An Ríocht clubman Clarke was
understandably delighted that Down
withstood Donegal’s late surge,
saying: “When they got those three
[scores] in-a-row to bring it back to
one point, I think we actually lost
that next kick-out but then we won it
back and got a score – and that was
a really big moment for us.
“We were able then to stretch that
[lead] out and Donegal were really
chasing hard late in the game as the
clock was ticking down.
“That’s an important part of the
development of this squad to be
able to see that game out.”
Getting past Armagh will be an
even tougher task – but at least
Down football is on the up.
INSIDE Reports, reaction, ratings and analysis from both the weekend’s Ulster SFC quarter-nal matches
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