Down go for last four place in McKenna

18 January 2017

DOWN have their sights set on a McKenna Cup semi-final place when they take on old foes Armagh at the Athletic Grounds tonight.

Sunday’s 0-15 to 0-14 win over Derry in Pairc Esler has thrust Down back into the limelight and a third win on the spin would be a perfect tonic at this stage of the season.

Tonight will be a dress rehearsal for June’s Ulster SFC clash — and they don’t come much bigger than that.

Alan Davidson’s contribution of nine points on Sunday was vital as Down shaded their keenly contested Section A encounter.

The relative newcomer hit six points during the first half and his side went in at the break holding a slender 0-9 to 0-8 advantage.

The second-half followed a similar pattern.

Eamon Burns will have been delighted with his side’s start to the year as they have already doubled their victory total of 2016.

He cut a relieved figure after Down ended a 21-month wait for a victory over a county side — the last one was against Laois in Division 2 of the National League back in April 2015.

“You like to win, obviously,” the Down manager said afterwards.

“Last year was a very tough year for us so we set our stall out this year and brought in a couple of fresh faces and that has helped the whole thing. I was happy with the way our fellas performed.”

“We have had a quite young and inexperienced panel out there over the last two weekends so we’re happy to get over the line.

“Cathal Magee had the flu during the week so that’s why he didn’t play, but the other lads we’ve brought into the panel — Alan Davidson, Shay Millar and Ryan McAleenan — all played well and that bodes well for the future.”

Davidson looks the real deal and the Bredagh marksman will be a contender for a starting place in Down’s full forward line come June.

Defensively, Down have shown signs of improvement and in captain Darren O’Hagan they have a leader in the back six who has held the pack together.

Peter Turley and Conor Maginn will need to force the issue against Armagh and if they can get plentiful enough supply to Davidson and O’Hagan then the Red and Blacks should be competitive again.

A defeat for Down and a victory for Derry over QUB would leave three teams tied on points and score difference becoming the decisive factor.

Down have a lot of catching up to do as Armagh registered a convincing 2-19 to 0-9 win over Queen’s at the Athletic Grounds and it seems that only a win might be good enough tonight.

Real improvement would be marked with a third victory on the trot. There are encouraging signs that Down are beginning to move in the right direction again.

Down are still at the experimental stage and on an upward learning curve, but all the signs are extremely encouraging.

Armagh will be a tough task, but there is nothing sweeter than getting one over the arch rivals from the Orchard County, especiallly in a cup semi-final.

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder