Conor Laverty the spark to set Down ablaze, insists namesake Pierce

Down are now an enjoyable team to watch, full of speed and creativity.

LEADER: Pierce Laverty of Down. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

They say you're either winning or you're learning and Down have been doing a lot of both under new manager Conor Laverty.

As potential dark horses for a lengthy Championship run in 2024, the Mourne County are a great shout.

The Tailteann Cup finalists will start the season in Division 3 so aren't guaranteed to even be in the hunt for Sam but their Ulster Championship draw has been kind.

Beat Antrim and then Fermanagh or Armagh and they'll be through to the Ulster final and will have a golden ticket to the All-Ireland series, regardless of how the league goes.

A slight spark is all it has ever taken to set the county ablaze and they appear to have received that with Laverty taking over.

Suddenly, from not winning a single competitive game in 2022 under James McCartan, they were Tailteann Cup finalists last summer having earlier knocked Donegal out of the provincial championship. Better still, they are an enjoyable team to watch, full of speed and creativity.

"We've a lot of firepower," said full-back Pierce Laverty who is expected to captain the team again in the upcoming Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup. "We've quite a bit of pace in the team in the likes of Liam Kerr, Shealan Johnston, Ryan Johnston, Ceilum Doherty and Danny Magill, even Eugene Branagan. I suppose it's just about using it right. Lav likes to give us the freedom to attack and to go forward. You play to your strengths and our strength is moving the ball forward fast and we have the boys to do that."

Their progress in 2024 will be interesting because they have the players to go far. Defender Laverty himself, Magill, Odhran Murdock and Kerr all made it onto the Tailteann Cup Team of the Year.

Magill is the son of 1994 All-Ireland winner Miceál and lit up this season's Tailteann Cup competition with a remarkable 4-5 from wing-back. Murdock, a rangy midfielder with talent to burn, is being trailed by AFL scouts, while Kerr memorably hit Laois for 3-2 in the Tailteann Cup semi-final at Croke Park. Throw in terrific talents like Rory Mason and free-taker Pat Havern and you realise just why Down fans are so excited about what is to come.

Speed wobbles are inevitable along the way for a new-look team and they coughed up 4-10 to Armagh in last April's Ulster semi-final. Against Meath in the group stage of the Tailteann Cup, they squandered their chance to win with 17 wides. Many expected them to make amends in the decider but the concession of a freak early goal and another double figures wides tally cost them.

"When Lav first took over, he had to get an idea of the team he has and the depth he has on the panel and who he can call on on the big days and all that," said team skipper Laverty.

"We had a couple of good U-20s teams come through the last couple of years, won two Ulster titles in three seasons, so it's been great to get a few of those blooded in. Some of them are starting to come into their own, the likes of Odhran and Danny, they're taking that winning mentality from the U-20 panel into the senior panel. It's been great to get that injection of youth and with the wee bit of experience already there it can only improve the entire panel."

How Laverty's namesake, boss Conor, has the time to lead the team's development and build a new side is anyone's guess.

"I think he has five wee boys and he does be running after sheep," said the defender of his Kilcoo-based boss. "He's big into his farming. I think it's football first and then maybe farming. He has a family, a couple of coffee docks and things like that. He's a busy man and I don't know how he finds time to manage us too. Inter-county management is a job in itself."