Donnelly hails passion and desire of magic man Laverty 

Donnelly is well travelled throughout Ulster as a former underage coach with Derry and Tyrone county teams, as well as various club sides, but hasn't come across a figure quite like Kilcoo man Laverty.

CHARISMATIC: Down manager Conor Laverty during the Tailteann Cup Semi-Final match between Down and Laois. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Mickey Donnelly can't say for certain when he first met Down manager Conor Laverty.

"Look, that man knows everybody anyway," smiled the Down assistant manager. "I don't know if he has a notebook of names or what, he must have a mobile phone with infinite memory on it. We just bounced off eachother and he was involved in schools football with St Michael's.