Down's Dearbhla Magee hopes side find their spark against Cork

HOPE SPRINGS: PwC GPA Player of the Month for May in camogie, Dearbhla Magee of Down, with her award at PwC’s offices in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Dearbhla Magee has insisted that Down have not given up hope of pulling off a landmark win over Cork, or Galway in their final round robin game, to avoid a relegation battle in the camogie championship.

The Ulster champions are desperate to retain their senior status but blowing a sizeable lead in the closing minutes against Clare last weekend has left them favourites to finish bottom in Group 1.

That would leave Down, in their third season as a senior team following their 2020 intermediate championship win, facing into a relegation battle.

Galway hammered Down by 3-23 to 0-6 in last year's Championship while Cork, the 2022 All-Ireland runners-up and 2023 league finalists, will be expected to win on Saturday week also.

Asked if Down truly believe they can beat Cork or Galway to secure their status, PwC GPA Player of the Month for May in camogie Magee nodded.

"We're pushing really, really hard and I would say that we'll give it everything we have," said the full-back.

"We're well aware that they're two must-win games. To win even one of them would be massive. We will be pushing for that.

"I think last year against Galway was a kind of a blip in the system. Every team has a bad day and I think Galway happened to be our bad day and we were punished heavily but I think we'll be pushing on massively in the next month or so to get the wins."

Magee revealed her frustration that Down let the win over Clare slip through their fingers last weekend.

"If we had beaten Clare, that was us then, we knew we would have been safe," she said, outlining the circumstances of the defeat. "We were up by six points with 10 minutes to go.

"I just think there was maybe a bit of tiredness that came into it with our team and then the frees went against us towards the end.

"We should have probably won the game but that's sport at the end of the day. Clare did come out with that bit of fight in the last few minutes and we just found it hard to withstand it. But we are there or thereabouts."

Aside from that competitive display, what gives Magee hope is their Division 1B league win over Limerick back on March 18.

"That Limerick game was also a must-win game for us, to keep us up in Division 1," she recalled. "We played in Liatroim, which is my home pitch. There was just something different that day. There was a spark in everybody. It was massive.

"We just turned on a show. We came out there and just stormed the pitch. Even playing on the pitch, you could feel it, there was something different within us. Hopefully that reignites and comes again, it might just come hopefully against Cork or Galway."