McCartan: Time to size up to Rebel challenge

Down’s Greg McCartan feels his county’s recent poor run of results against Cork is largely down to their players being dwarfed by Conor Counihan’s totemic side.

Since losing to Counihan’s men in the 2010 All-Ireland final, Down have suffered three heavy defeats to the Rebels and by margins of 11, 10 and 13 points respectively.

After that string of drubbings, McCartan isn’t certain if Down are suffering a fear factor of Cork. However, he is convinced their cause isn’t helped by their relative diminutiveness to their Division 1 semi-final opponents on Sunday.