Down eye final date at Clones

Down eye final date at Clones

20 June 2012 - by BY MATT FITZPATRICK

DOWN travel to Armagh on Sunday knowing that they are just 70 minutes away from a place in the Ulster Championship final.

The Morgan Athletic Grounds is the venue for the clash with Monaghan and fans will be expecting nothing less than a Red and Black victory.

But the Farney men will be no pushovers. They are fiercely competitive and, with an Ulster final place at stake, will fight for every ball.

Meetings between Down and Monaghan have always been close affairs. Three years ago the Mourne boys fought out a thrilling victory over their Farney rivals. On Sunday it will take an even bigger effort with Monaghan riding high after their impressive win over Antrim in the last round.

It was all the more encouraging after a poor showing in the National League in which they won just two of their seven games and finished bottom of Division 2.

Down go into this game in the knowledge that the Athletic Grounds is a reasonable lucky venue for them, despite losing to Armagh in last year’s SFC by 1-15 to 1-10.

They have had a good NFL campaign, finishing third in Division 1 before losing to Cork in the semi-finals. In last year’s Qualifiers they had wins over Clare, Leitrim and Antrim before falling to their bogey side Cork.

They certainly got a serious examination against Fermanagh at Brewster Park Enniskillen in their opening outing in this year’s Ulster campaign. While many would contest that both Down’s goals were of a rather fortunate nature there was no doubt that the Mourne men were the better side and deserved their victory.

Monaghan too got a serious examination by Antrim before they emerged winners by 1-12 to 1-9 after leading by two points at half time.

They are a well balanced side who year after year show up well in the knockout competition. They are solid in defence where full back Vincent Corey, Darren Hughes at centre half flanked by Dessie Mone and Kieran Duffy form a strong rearguard.

At midfield Dick Clerkin and Owen Lennon are a very strong combination and certainly Ambrose Rogers and Kalum King will need to be at their very best if they are going to compete.

Up front the Monaghan manager will be pinning his football faith in Thomas Freeman, Paul Finlay and Conor McManus, a trio of scoring players who can make and take scores from all distances and angles.

Good news for Down is that Benny Coulter has had the cast removed from his ankle. He has been receiving physio and doing some light training, but is unlikely to be risked from the start.

Liam Doyle is fit again and will come into the selection spotlight, but star half back Niall McParland, who broke a hand in training and missed the Fermanagh game, is still a big doubt for their semi-final.

Down manager James McCartan is well aware of what it takes to win big games and will have his side well tuned.

In defence Daniel McCartan, Kevin McKernan, Conor Garvey and Gerard McCartan will certainly to be vigilant and mark the Monaghan attackers closely, especially Paul Finlay who is very adept at taking scores from play and placed balls.

It will be up to the Down attack to again turn on the scoring power. Mark Poland, Danny Hughes (inset) and Aidan Carr will certainly test the Monaghan defence, while Conor Laverty, Donal O’Hare and Arthur McConville need little encouragement to go for their scores.