One final push

One final push

21 July 2021

THE Down U-20 footballers will have to wait a further six days to compete in the Ulster Championship final after the fixture was postponed at the request of a mourning Monaghan side.

Despite Down displaying another commanding performance in their Ulster Championship campaign, the tragic death of 19 year-old Monaghan captain Brendan Óg Duffy as a result of a traffic collision has cast a shadow over the occasion.

Down brushed aside a battling Fermanagh outfit at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh in the semi-final, whilst Monaghan booked their place in the final with a win over Donegal.

The showdown between the two teams was originally pencilled in for this Saturday, but it instead has been deferred until Friday week to allow Monaghan time to grieve.

The venue for the final is the Athletic Grounds, with a throw-in scheduled for 7.30pm.

Conor Laverty’s men will feel confident of their chances in the final, following a comfortable six point win over Fermanagh on Friday.

In what was an entertaining start to the game, both sides fired over the bar and the scoreboard quickly ticked over within the opening minute.

Down seemed to have a ‘go for goal’ mentality, and relentlessly sought to find the back of Fermanagh’s net.

This plan came to fruition on the fourth minute, when Ruairi O’Hare struck the ball with conviction to notch the opening goal.

Fermanagh’s man between the sticks, Sean McNally, must be recognised for his outstanding performance as the Mourne county could have been home and dry if it wasn’t for three point-blank saves to deny Down further goals.

Nevertheless, Down kept piling on the pressure, with captain Shealan Johnston leading the charge for his county in what was a heavily Kilcoo-influenced outfit.

Fermanagh’s Darragh McBrien and Ronan McCaffery answered the scores of Down’s Danny Magil, Anthony Morgan and Tom Close, but Laverty’s men were five points adrift at the first water-break with the scoreline reading 1-5 to 0-3.

A trio of scores from Clonduff’s John McGovern kept breathing space between the two sides as McBrien kept Fermanagh in the tie at the other end.

By the interval, Down were ahead by six and knew it was now a case of maintaining their lead and not making any mistakes.

Down never let their lead slip to below four points, and despite the rallying efforts of Fermanagh’s Joe McDade, Fionan O’Brien and a beautifully taken point from McCaffery, the Mourne county had an answer for everything.

In the end, Down showed they had too much to offer in their possession keeping abilities to see out the rest of the contest.

Down 1-13

Fermanagh 0-10

U-20 ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL