Footballers go down but still display lots of fire in Newry

Down 2-11Galway 1-9

FRANK FARRAGHER

FEARS of an apocalyptic demise in the heart of Mourne Country thankfully proved to be unfounded for the small band of supporters who travelled North on Sunday, but despite a refreshing level of spirit and commitment, Galway were still a fair distance away from a badly needed league win.

Talk of a possible Mutiny on the Bounty at this early stage of Tomás Ó Flatharta’s voyage proved to be good bit off the mark on the evidence of a very committed display from Galway . . . it certainly would be utterly premature to send a Captain Bligh adrift so soon after leaving port.

It must be said that all of the Galway players did play this game with their heart on their sleeves and at the very death, they were slightly unlucky to concede an injury time goal that somewhat distorted the final scoreline, but objectively, Down — after a very jittery opening quarter — were by far the better side.

Páirc Estler on Newry’s Warrenpoint Road, is a fine venue and the home crowd of about 5,000 that packed into the cantilever stand, wanted to see an energetic display from a team that came within a kick or two of the ball of winning the All-Ireland final last September. 

Galway’s list of missing men — allied to a couple of national newspaper ‘splashes’ last week about a major feud in the camp — probably contributed to a slight note of complacency in the Down ranks. For the first 15 minutes of this match, James McCartan’s charges just forgot to compete.

Similar to Clones a couple of weeks back, Galway started the match with refreshing abandon, picking off five points in the first 12 minutes with Cormac Bane (2), Sean Armstrong, Matthew Clancy and Joe Bergin all finding the range.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.