Down out to make amends

Down out to make amends

19 February 2025

DOWN’S footballers and manager Conor Laverty could be feeling the pressure when they travel to face Louth in a must-win game in Drogheda on Sunday.

The Mourne men have suffered two defeats from their opening three games after making the return to National League Division 2 and are now in danger of slipping into the relegation spaces.

They embarked upon the camping fancied as one of the stronger sides in the division, but fell at the first hurdle.

Laverty’s men found themselves on the wrong end of a seven-point defeat, albeit against a strong Roscommon team, and although they bounced back with a win over Cork, that match was anything but smooth sailing.

Down found themselves in a 10-point deficit after 25 minutes against the Rebel County, but fought their back into the game and completed the most unlikely of heists through a Pat Havern two-pointer.

Many thought their season would have kicked on from there. However, their defensive woes continued as they lost out to Meath on Sunday.

Havern was on form once again, racking up nine points, and Ryan McEvoy netted the only goal of the game, but the defence could not contain the sheer fire-power of Meath’s Eoghan Frayne and Jordan Morris - a duo that hit Down for a combined 16 points.

The home side rallied to within two points with a flurry of late scores but, despite Ronan Jones’ red card leaving Meath a man short, they could not overhaul the margin.

Laverty admitted Meath were just too strong in attack.

“It’s inevitable when teams have the ball they’ll get the shot away,” he said afterwards.

“I thought Meath’s shot-to-goal ratio would have been pretty high. Whenever you have that scoring ratio, you’re going to score quite heavily.”

Down lie third from bottom, with only Cavan and Westmeath beneath them, and will be aiming to avoid two defeats on the trot against a Louth team that has experienced similar struggles so far.

Louth pipped Fermanagh in the race for survival by just one point last term and have fallen short in the quest to prove their doubters wrong, having being tipped for relegation this year.

They opened their campaign with a 1-17 to 0-18 win at Westmeath, but lost out by two points against high-flying Roscommon and conceded three goals in an unsuccessful trip to Cavan.

Down and Louth are evenly matched on paper considering their form and the Mourne men will have to be on their A-game if they are to combat the home advantage.

Their potential downfall could arise as a result of their lack of size in the midfield areas — something Laverty is well aware of.

“Odhran Murdock is our stand-out player but is still standing smaller than some of the opponents he’s coming up against,” he said.

“We definitely hunted far and wide for big men that were able to move quite well. It’s just one area that we aren’t blessed with.”

Aaron McClements came on and made an impact against Meath and he is one man the Down boss could turn to as he looks to gain a stronger grasp on the midfield this time out.

“Aaron had a good club championships. He came on and I thought he had a good impact around the middle,” Laverty added.

Throw-in is set for 2.30pm on Sunday.

Down Supporters Club will be running a bus to the match.

The bus will set off from Castlewellan Upper Square at 11am sharp and stop at Hilltown Square (11.15), Mayobridge (11.25) and Newry Courthouse (11.35).

The cost of the fare is £20 for adults and £10 for children. Tkets can be purchased through the Clubspot app or through Seamus McGeeney (07725 952999) and Eamon O’Hare (07733 439191).