Poland: No county could have coped with adversity as well as Down

Mark Poland believes no other county would have coped with the amount of player unavailability as well as Down.

Emigration, inter-county career breaks and injuries have all hit James McCartan’s side, especially in defence.

While Poland insists Down can’t afford to cough up near as many scores as they did against Derry on Sunday if they are to beat Donegal, he recognises the win was a character-building one.

They conceded 1-10 in the first half before a miserly second period when they were hit for just five points.

Poland wouldn’t say it was a Jekyll and Hyde Down win but would have understood if people assumed after the first half, when they trailed by four points, that the team were returning to their old bad habits.

“The boys were working hard and it was a very warm day. The first half, it probably took its toll on our legs and we just weren’t doing the things we set out to do. It was probably ‘same old’.

“We’re going to have to learn if we’re going to compete. Conceding 1-15 is not going to do against Donegal.

“With the turnover of players we’ve had this past two or three years, I don’t think there’s a county in Ireland that would keep doing what we’re doing.

“Fair dues to James because if we had been beaten (by Derry) he would have been slated.”

Poland savoured Sunday’s Ulster quarter-final win over Derry by watching a repeat of Down’s famous 1994 success over the same county.

Comparisons can be easily made between the game 19 years ago, which provided as much enjoyment as Down’s latest win in Celtic Park.

Poland revealed: “A couple of weeks ago, I put a thing out on Twitter about a dvd of the match and I had five in front of me in the kitchen the next day.

“I didn’t watch it because I didn’t want to think too much about that game but I’ll definitely sit up with a cup of tea and watch it.!”