Laverty bemoans Walsh goal amid McCarthy injury

Conor Laverty and a member of his Down management team made their feelings known to Derek O’Mahoney about the incident at half-time. 

Down manager Conor Laverty remonstrates with referee Derek O'Mahoney at half-time. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Conor Laverty bemoaned Derek O’Mahoney’s decision to allow Shane Walsh’s goal as his player Patrick McCarthy went down with a head injury.

The first-half score was allowed to stand even though Down’s McCarthy had to go off with a bloody nose in the lead-up to it. As per rule, play should have stopped for McCarthy to receive treatment.

Laverty and a member of his management team made their feelings known to O’Mahoney about the incident at half-time. 

“Probably would have been a wee bit disappointed that the play wasn't stopped, for their goal, and particularly whenever our player had to come off with a facial blood injury,” Laverty said.

“It was just a loose arm, nothing in it, accidental, but whenever there's a player with a serious injury… even when you've seen games last night, the amount of times the games stopped just for head injuries and things, I don't think the referees need to be playing on.

“There was no problem at all, Galway had the ball and they were going to retain the ball. Actually, the player down there [McCarthy], his player was involved in the move and that led to the goal. I'm not the kind of person to cry because I think there's a decision in games they to and fro, you get the rub of the green.” 

Laverty cut a disappointed figure as he fully believed Down would qualify for the last eight despite Galway being heavily fancied. 

“I wasn't coming here hoping that Down were going to play well. I came here with a massive belief that these players could perform at this level and that this is the standard that we want to be play at.

“But what we did talk to the players about was do you want to be coming here today to Páirc Esler playing in front of what was there, I'm not sure what 14,000 people? What would you rather be playing?

“I came to a league match here against Clare one year and there wasn't 150 people at it. Out playing against teams in a Tailteann Cup, there were only a couple of hundred people at them, and that's not against the Tailteann Cup because it was a stepping stone. And in circumstances next year, you could end up being back in it.” 

Finishing his third year in charge, Laverty is looking at Down as a project. 

“Listen, there’s nights you go home and you know you'd be thinking, ‘Jesus,’ after some of the league defeats this year and then getting relegated and that, and that really hurt, you know.

“I would have a vision of where I want Down to go and where I expect on the climb to dine at the top table, and that's where I want. We don't talk about winning Sam Maguires, we talk about we want to get to the top bracket of teams and I think in the top six teams in Ireland, anybody, particularly this minute in time without the great Dublin team being there, the top six teams, probably even maybe top eight at the moment, could all feel that they could win Maguire.”