Triumph over adversity still Down’s mantra

IT’S been a challenging season for Mark Turley and his Down minor footballers.

In the Ulster championship decider against Armagh, the Mourne youngsters came up short in a drab encounter as they lost out 1-8 to 1-5. Then, a suspected outbreak of swine flu in the camp led to the players being quarantined and their All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin postponed. The woes didn’t end there. Wing-back Paddy Boyle has been ruled out for the rest of the season, after suffering serious facial injuries when attacked in Castlewellan on Saturday night.

But in the face of all that adversity, Down have ploughed on. They produced a series of workmanlike displays early in the year to claim the scalps of Cavan, Fermanagh and Donegal in Ulster, and then carried off a stunning last-gasp win over Dublin in the quarter-final when Niall McParland netted a priceless late goal. Midfielder McParland, along with centre-back Ciaran McClean, and attacking trio Chris Clarke, Ross McGarry and Mattie Bagnall will be central to Down hope’s of success when they face Mayo in tomorrow’s All-Ireland MFC semi-final. Renewing acquaintances with Ulster rivals Armagh in the final is the carrot.

“Getting to the final would be special because Armagh are already there,” remarked Down boss Turley. “But we don’t want to get to the final just to beat Armagh, we want to be there no matter who we’re playing.

“We play a fairly direct brand of football. As long as we don’t try to play through them, I think our lads will enjoy the space of playing at Croke Park. But Mayo were in the All-Ireland final last year and they’ve been through the experience before and they’ll be hungry for it.”

Mayo enjoyed victory over Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-final by a handsome margin, after stumbling past Roscommon in a two-game Connacht final saga. They possess fine operators in defender Ciaran Charlton, midfield duo Daniel Kirby and Aidan Walsh, and attackers Cillian O’Connor and Alex Corduff. With the county’s seniors having flatlined against Meath, minor manager Ray Dempsey accepts that the onus is now on his side to deliver.

“We have a responsibility to Mayo supporters, who invest an awful lot of time and effort, to follow us. We can’t guarantee success but we can guarantee commitment to battle and dedication to the cause. Okay, we’re carrying the hopes and ambitions of the county now but when I took of the job of Mayo manager it wasn’t for the glamour or the limelight, I wanted to bring silverware to Mayo.

“We’ve done that with two Connacht titles but Down will bring a lot of quality and we’re expecting nothing easy. Our record against Down hasn’t been great in recent years but this is an opportunity for this group to be the first Mayo team to put that to rest. If we want to get to the final we have to beat them, it’s as simple as that.”