Laverty puts brave Banner to the sword

LAST year’s defeated All-Ireland finalists Down may have been the hottest of favourites coming into Ennis on Saturday against a Clare team hammered by Cork in the Munster championship.

But this morning they are the luckiest team in the country to be still alive and kicking in the championship.

Let’s not patronise — Clare should have won this game. They didn’t have individuals of the undoubted and proven talent of Marty Clarke and Benny Coulter or a lethal finisher like Conor Laverty. However on this summer’s day at least, they were a better team than the Mourne County men.

They conceded 1-2 without reply in the opening six minutes with Laverty pouncing for 1-1. But Clare knuckled down and fought back to lead 1-3 to 1-2 after 18 minutes, with their goal coming via a Cathal O’Connor effort which rolled into an empty net off full-forward Timmy Ryan after Down keeper Brendan McVeigh lost his footing.

They trailed by a point (1-6 to 1-5) at the interval before Down rattled off five points without reply (1-11 to 1-5) to seemingly put this game to bed early in the second half.

Against a team of the quality of Down lesser teams would have folded, lesser teams would have settled even for damage limitation. Not Clare. Driven on by their powerful midfield duo of captain Gary Brosnan and Ger Quinlan, along with sharp-shooter David Tubridy, back they came. They took the fight to Down, and with substitute Joe Dowling prominent they were level by the 67th minute (1-12 apiece).

Down stormed back up field, Coulter first winning a vital ball on his own 45m line before drilling a superb ball 50m forward to the elusive Paul McComiskey, who fisted the ball over the bar.

The final act of this game, however, should have been a glory goal for Clare corner-back Laurence Healy, two minutes into the three signalled for added time.

Healy raced forward in those dying seconds and beat Down All Star goalkeeper McVeigh to a high dropping ball. All of the Cusack Park crowd seemed to inhale as the ball spun towards an open goal. But then, from nowhere, Laverty emerged to clear off the line and save the day for Down.

Laverty recalled: “It was my mistake earlier on when we lost the ball up front. The ball was played in to the forwards and we didn’t win it. So it’s up to us then to try and win it back; James (McCartan, manager) has installed that in us — workrate.”

But what of poor Healy? “I saw it, it was so close. It was bouncing about six inches from the line, I was just about to punch it in and he came flying from nowhere — I don’t know how he came across. So close.”

Oh, so close, and after the hiding suffered against Cork, Laurence and his teammates can feel so proud of themselves after this display.

“We gave it everything. We conceded five points after half time to go behind by six and I thought we’d be under pressure to come back from that but we did, clawed our way back point after point.

“We were sore after being beaten by so much by Cork. We said we’d give it everything against Down. And we did that — we are very unlucky not to come away with the result. I’m gutted.”

Scorers for Down: C Laverty 1-3; P McComiskey 0-3 (1f); M Clarke 0-3 (3f); B Coulter 0-2; C Mooney, M Poland 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: D Tubridy 0-4 (3f); T Ryan 1-0; G Quinlan, J Dowling 0-2 each; John Hayes, M Tubridy, G Brennan, A Clohessey 0-1 each.

Subs for Down: P Murphy for King (49); D O’Hagan for Duffin (54); P Fitzpatrick for Doyle (61); K King for Murphy (63).

Subs for Clare: D Callinan for M Tubridy (39); M O’Shea for Donnelly (49); J Dowling for Ryan (52); D Russell for O’Connor (65).

Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry).