Hughes happy to do the hard graft for Down
While not an old team by any stretch of the imagination, Hughes is just one of half a dozen of those men in and around the first 15 who have at least half a dozen seasons under their belt.
Some — like Benny Coulter — are closer to twice that time in the ranks and Down’s record in recent years would suggest that this is, indeed, a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of them.
The fact is that Down has been limited to just one unsuccessful Ulster final appearance in the years since McCartan, Linden, Blaney et al& last lifted the Sam Maguire 16 years ago. A rare opportunity lies within their grasp.
“It’s a good chance to go to a final and that’s the only thing I am looking at,” said Saval forward Hughes. “It’s a semi-final and you can’t really look beyond that. We didn’t expect to be here. It’s only one game and a massive, massive test. It is a big ask with the way Kildare are playing.”
That one provincial decider came against Tyrone in 2003, early on in Paddy O’Rourke’s reign, and it is still one that hurts given the fact that Down led by nine points before being caught on the line and hammered by 15 in the replay.
Had they managed to hang on, who knows how their recent history — and Tyrone’s — might have looked from this juncture. No wonder then that Hughes looks back on O’Rourke’s reign as one punctured by ill-fortune.
“I know that myself, Benny and a lot of the other lads who played under Paddy have great respect for the guy and we will always be thankful for what he done for us. That was carried on again by Ross (Carr) and he deserves a great deal of credit too for what he did.
“He brought us on again and he helped to take Marty Clarke home as well. With James and the backroom coming in, the county board have to take a bit of the credit as well. The continuity we have had with (trainer) Paddy Tally as well can’t be sneezed at because he knows us from Paddy’s last year. It was a brave move by the county board to keep Paddy there.”
McCartan has continually played down his influence in taking Down to this elevated stage. Like Hughes, he speaks of luck. Unlike O’Rourke, his has been of the more welcome variety.
Or so he would have it. There is clearly more to the story.
If there was a moment that saved Down’s season, it came two nights after their Ulster semi-final defeat to Tyrone when a number of home truths were hammered out and promises were made for the days ahead.
Equally important, according to Hughes, was McCartan’s refusal to panic after their traumatic loss to Mickey Harte’s side. Instead, McCartan kept the faith and offered the same men a chance of redemption in the qualifiers.
It was a policy vindicated against Kerry.
“I would say one thing he has brought is continuity of selection. He could have maybe changed a lot of things after the Tyrone game but he stuck with it and, from a player’s point of view, that is good man management.”
All of which isn’t to say that there hasn’t been any changes. There has. McCartan was the epitome of Down’s famed footballing style in his playing days but he was introduced a more hard-nosed approach to their play.
Defensive fragility has been addressed and the work ethic that propelled Tyrone, Armagh, Kerry and Cork to such heights in recent years has been imported and distributed in and around the Mourne mountains.
Hughes is evidence of that. He never saw himself an automaton but he has embraced a more demanding role further away from the posts this year some years after O’Rourke first suggested it.
“Paddy used to say to me that I could do the Brian Dooher role and I used to say, ‘no Paddy, I’m a finisher like Benny’ but I think Benny got a few more goals than I did. I enjoy the role that I do.
“I know what I have to do. I take a great deal of pride in doing it. If he wants me to go nets I’ll go nets. You have to change with any management team that comes in.”
The next step is their biggest.
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