Kavanagh back in the groove for Donegal

THE last time Down rolled into Ballybofey for championship Sunday, Donegal manager Brian McIver went against the grain of his predecessors.

Rory Kavanagh had been kicking his heels for longer than he cared to remember. For five years he’d been involved in the county senior set-up without so much as a sniff of starting a championship match.

But by June Bank Holiday weekend in 2006, McIver, on his own championship bow, flung the St Eunan’s forward in. Down, rather like Sunday, were shorter odds and that favouritism seemed justified when Daniel Hughes blasted the game’s opening goal inside of nine minutes.