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O’Rourke
prepares for Orchard clash - 30/10/2002
Taken from Irish News - By Paddy Heaney
NEW Down boss Paddy O’Rourke has started
to prepare for a joust with the All-Ireland title holders
Armagh in the first round of next year’s Ulster Championship.
Down will meet the winners of the preliminary
round bout between Armagh and Monaghan, but O’Rourke is
in no doubt about who will emerge from that encounter.
“After watching the draw, I would expect to
be meeting Armagh,” he said. “We would see that as an exceptionally
tough draw. I’m not saying there are easy teams in the championship,
but there was a lot easier games to be got than Armagh.
“It will be a wonderful occasion and we’ll just have to
approach it in a positive frame of mind.”
If Armagh beat Monaghan and progress into
a clash against Down, it will be hard to bet against Joe
Kernan’s team. The fortunes of Armagh and their Mourne neighbours
couldn’t be in greater contrast. Armagh are riding high
on the back of their All-Ireland success whereas Down are
at incredibly low ebb.
This season they were annihilated by Donegal.
Worse was to follow in the qualifiers when Pete McGrath’s
side hit rock bottom with a defeat against lowly Longford.
O’Rourke has a major job on his hands, though he remains
confident about the potential within his county. “We’re
getting a panel of players together. We’ll be bringing them
together as a group of November 5. After that we’ll start
doing a wee bit of work with them. “Every player in the
county is going to get a chance. We’re looking at different
players at the minute. “We’d feel that there is the talent
in Down and it is up to that talent to stick its head above
the water and show us what they are worth. “I’d be convinced
that there is not that much wrong with Down football. I
would always believe that there is talent in Down. “When
people all start pulling in the one direction, things can
happen and we can start to go forward. But that can be a
long slow process.
You have to be prepared to put your head down
and work and make it happen.”
The eternally optimistic Dominic Corrigan
was quick to draw positives from Fermanagh’s pairing against
Donegal. “We’ve avoided the preliminary round and we have
a home draw. Brewster Park will be fit to accommodate it,
so from that point of view we would be happy enough.”
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