Down despair at Clones in final shocker

Down despair at Clones in final shocker

25 July 2012

IT was ‘D Day’ at St. Tiernach’s Park, Clones, on Sunday all right. Disaster day for Down, that is, as they were well beaten by champions Donegal in the Ulster SFC final.

This must have been one of Down’s worst Ulster final displays. Apart from the opening 30 minutes, they were outplayed, out scored, out thought and given a lesson on team play and scoring power by a Tir Conail side that showed all the qualities which Down lacked and deservedly retained their title for the first time.

The large attendance, the biggest in years, saw the two sides of Down football.

The first half saw them at their best while in the second period they fell apart completely. There seemed to be no Plan B, no leadership on the field and players seemed to b caught out of position, hard won possession was thrown away by sloppy passing and when Donegal moved up a gear it seemed that Down went into reverse mode and were lucky to escape with an 11 points defeat.

The changes made by Down before the throw-in saw Kalum King and Liam Doyle introduced for the ‘injured’ Danny Hughes and Eoin McCartan. King went into a half back position helping out at midfield while Liam Doyle occupied the left corner position.

However, Hughes came on as a substitute early in the second half for Donal O’Hare and scored a point. The question is: if he was fit to come on as a substitute why did he not start the game?

Down took the game to Donegal and with a little more accuracy could have led at half-time.

As it was, they shot eight wides to Donegal’s three with Aidan Carr missing from two well placed long range frees while Ambrose Rogers fired over the bar when it looked certain he would find the net. However, it was Down’s attacking system that presented Donegal with both their goals.

The five minutes before half-time saw Down give away possession with a sloppy pass and Donegal’s Ryan Bradley secured possession and set up Leo McLoone to send to the Down net.

The second, midway through the second half, saw the Down defence caught out of position and allied to a misdirected pass that saw Donegal left back Frank McGlynn race in to beat Brendan McVeigh.

Ryan Bradley shot Donegal ahead with a point after five minutes. Down missed three good chances before a Liam Doyle point from a free after 12 minutes gave them their first score.

Scores were slow in coming with Donal O’Hare and Patrick McBrearty exchanging points before Liam Doyle from a free and Donal O’Hare from a similar award saw Down lead by 0-4 to 0-2 with five minutes of the half remaining.

A minute later the Down defence was caught out of position as Ryan Bradley set up Leo McLoone for Donegal’s first goal. Down replied with points from Ambrose Rogers and Liam Doyle from play, but Donegal finished the half with points from Declan and David Walsh while Kevin McKernan had a Down point to leave half-time Donegal 1-5 Down 0-7.

Down were level within a minute of the restart when Conor Laverty pointed, but Donegal were quick to reply with points from a Colm McFadden free and one from play by Michael Murphy by Mark McHugh and a Colm McFadden free with Liam Doyle replying for Down.

When Frank McGlynn raced in for Donegal’s second goal midway through the half the cup was safely back in Donegal hands and although Down replied with three points, it was all Donegal in the final quarter as they added eight points pulverising the Down defence with Aiden Brannigan getting late Down point as Donegal cruised to victory.

Down: B. McVeigh, D. McCartan, B. McArdle, D. O’Hagan, L. Doyle (0-4, 0-2 frees), D. Gordon, A. Brannigan, A. Rogers (0-1), K. King, K. McKernan (0-1), M. Poland, A, Carr, D. O’Hare (0-2, 0-1 free), C. Laverty (0-1), B. Coulter. Subs: E. McCartan (0-1) for Coulter (ht), C. Maginn (0-1) for Carr (44), D. Hughes (0-1) for O’Hare (48), Coulter for McKernan (53).

Donegal: P. Durcan, P. McGrath, N. McGee, F. McGlynn (1-0), Declan Walsh (0-2), K. Lacey, A. Thompson, R. Bradley (0-2), R. Kavanagh, David Walsh (0-1), L. McLoone (1-0), M. McHugh (0-2), P. McBrearty (0-1), M. Murphy (0-1), C. McFadden (0-6, 0-3 frees). Subs: M. McElhinney (0-2) for David Walsh (ht), C. Toye for L. McLoone (44), D. McLaughlin (0-1) for R. Bradley (58).

Donegal 2-18

Down 0-13

ULSTER SFC FINAL