McCartan managing expectation as Down wary of Lilywhites

JAMES McCARTAN admits he has had to pinch himself at times during Down’s unlikely run through to next Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final showdown with Kildare.

The two-time All-Ireland winner only took charge last September, succeeding Ross Carr in the role of manager after a summer in which Down had lost to Fermanagh in Ulster and Wicklow in the qualifiers.

“Down haven’t been at this stage for a long time but every game that we went into this year, we felt we could win,” said the man popularly known in his native county and beyond as ‘Wee James’.