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Downs
short passing game makes little headway against Donegal - 27/07/03 2003
All-Ireland Qualifer
Down
2-10 v Donegal 3-15 
@ 4.15 p.m. Clones, Sat 26th July 2003  The
question everyone was asking before throw in was how would Down recover after
their 15-point annihilation by Tyrone in the Ulster final replay. Missing key
men in the shape of Greg McCartan and Dan Gordon, Paddy O’Rourke’s men were expected
not to have the resources or character to overcome Brian McEniff’s improving Donegal
team.
Down pessimists were to be proved correct early on
as Donegal dominated the middle sector of the park in front of the 10,000 crowd
in Clones and the short passing game of the Mourne men made little headway against
the impressive Donegal defence. John Gildea was the star of the show for Donegal
as his ability to win possession provided his attack with possession by the bucket
load, while the tactic of isolating Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney was something
Down just couldn’t come to terms with on the day. Despite opening the scoring
through Ronan Murtagh, the Mourne County were four points behind after six-minutes.
Brendan Devenney who was to give Martin Cole a torrid afternoon
opened the account for Brian McEniff’s side and a minute later he won possession
after a mix up in the Down defence and set up Michael Hegarty for a goal. It was
1-2 to 0-1 forty-seconds later as the corner forward converted a free. Michael
Walsh responded with a neat point but three consecutive scores from Sweeney and
Devenney (2) opened up a six-point gap between the sides. The main source of concern
for Paddy O’Rourke’s side was the form of Devenney. But all of a sudden Down sprung
to life and between the 24th and 26th minutes they added 1-2 to their total to
cut the deficit to just a solitary point. A long ball into the Donegal defence
caused consternation and Shane Ward picked up the break to fire past Tony Blake.
Down won the kick out and Ronan Sexton curled over a point before substitute Daniel
Hughes pointed with his first touch of the ball. It was now 1-4 to 1-5 and the
Down crowd were on their feet. However, the final 11-minutes
belonged to Donegal as they outscored their opponents by 1-4 to 0-1. Four consecutive
scores from Sweeney (3) and Stephen McDermott stretched the lead to 1-9 to 1-4
before Liam Doyle responded with a free, but disaster then struck for Down and
their ‘keeper. A point attempt from Christy Toye in the fourth minute of stoppage
time deceived Mickey McVeigh and he let in slip through his hands and over his
head into the net. However, luck had been with him minutes earlier when he watched
helplessly as a shot from Devenney crashed off the crossbar and away to safety.
The goal was a fatal blow as Donegal now lead by seven-points after playing with
the slight breeze and Down were left with a mountain to climb in the second half.
Although the Mourne men looked lively on the resumption with nice points from
Grant and Coulter - when a goal looked a possibility - Donegal were able to respond
with scores of their own from Toye and Brian Roper. John Gildea was being picked
out from kick outs by Tony Blake and the ease with which he was winning possession
reflected poorly on Down’s organisation. They were made to pay a high penalty
for their slackness when the midfielder fed his partner in the middle of the park.
Stephen McDermott took the pass and soloed his way through the Down defence before
firing home his side’s third goal from 10 yards. The gap
between the sides was now ten-points, 3-11 to 1-7, and the Donegal men looked
home and hosed with 25-minutes left on the clock. The sides swapped scores before
Down hit back with a goal. Ronan Sexton worked his way through and his shot beat
Blake with Brendan Coulter putting the ‘keeper under intense pressure. It was
now 2-9 to 3-12 with 18-minutes left on the clock and the Mourne County fans urged
their charges to go for another goal. The class of Donegal meant that they were
able to slow the pace down and the game become a stop start affair with along
stoppage after Devenney went down injured. He was taken off as a precaution after
which Sweeney struck another sweet point. Brendan Grant
scored his second point of the day to make it 2-10 to 3-13 and although there
were only two scores between the sides, Down never looked incisive enough to get
the vital scores. One of the biggest cheers of the day greeted a point from the
hard working Gildea and Hegarty put the icing on the cake with the last score
of the day. Clock watch: 74
mins: Michael Hegarty wraps up Donegal's comprehensive victory with a stoppage-time
point. Donegal 3-15 Down 2-10
73 mins: John Gildea scores a point for Donegal.
Donegal 3-14 Down 2-10
68 mins: Brendan Grant gets his third point for Down
but they are still six points behind. Donegal 3-13 Down 2-10
56 mins: Adrian
Sweeney from Dungloe points with a super score for Donegal. Donegal 3-13 Down
2-9
52 mins: Benny Coulter flicks the ball in after Ronan Sexton had played
it over for Down's second goal. Donegal 3-12 Down 2-9
48 mins: Adrian Sweeney
points for Donegal who seem destined for the quarter-finals. Donegal 3-12 Down
1-9
47 mins: Brendan Grant scores his second point from play for the Mournemen.
Donegal 3-11 Down 1-9
45 mins: Down pull back a point with a free. Donegal
3-11 Down 1-8
44 mins: Stephen McDermott waltzes through some weak Down tackles
to score a brilliant individual goal. Donegal 3-11 Down 1-7
42 mins: Brian
Roper rounds off a fine Donegal move by tapping the ball over. Donegal 2-11 Down
1-7
41 mins: Brendan Coulter has a great chance with only the keeper to beat
but ends up putting the ball over for a point. Donegal 2-10 Down 1-7
39 mins:
Christy Toye knocks the ball over the bar for another Donegal point. Donegal 2-10
Down 1-6
38 mins: The first point of the second half is scored by Down's Brendan
Grant from about 35 metres out. Donegal 2-9 Down 1-6
35+4
mins: Christy Toye scores Donegal's second goal as Down keeper Michael McVeigh
misjudges a catch. Donegal 2-9 Down 1-5
35 mins: Liam Doyle lands a fine free
to give Down some hope. Donegal 1-9 Down 1-5
31 mins: Adrian Sweeney lands
a superb score from well out to underline Donegal's superiorty. Donegal 1-9 Down
1-4
30 mins: Stephen McDermott scores another point as Donegal begin to pull
away again. Donegal 1-8 Down 1-4
29 mins: A defensive error by Down's gifts
the ball to Sweeney who punishes the Mournement with another point. Donegal 1-7
Down 1-4
28 mins: Donegal's Adrian Sweeney scores with a free from 35 yards
out. Donegal 1-6 Down 1-4
25 mins: Substitute Danny Hughes, just on for the
injured Ronan Murtagh, scores a point with his first touch. Donegal 1-5 Down 1-4
24 mins: Ronan Sexton scores his first point of the 2003 Championship to reduce
the deficit to two points. Donegal 1-5 Down 1-3
23 mins: Shane Ward gets the
vital touch as Down's hopes a revived by a goal. Donegal 1-5 Down 1-2
22 mins:
Brendan Devenney lands a straightforward free to put Brian McEniff's men into
a six-point lead. Donegal 1-5 Down 0-2
16 mins: St. Eunan's clubman Devenney
lofts over his third point as Donegal continue to enjoy the better of the early
action. Donegal 1-4 Down 0-2
11 mins: Adrian Sweeney's skilfully adds another
point for Donegal. Donegal 1-3 Down 0-1
9 mins: Michael Walsh lands a point
to relieve the early pressure on Down. Donegal 1-2 Down 0-2
7 mins: A free
gives Brendan Devenney the opportunity to open a four-point lead for Donegal.
Donegal 1-2 Down 0-1
6 mins: Michael Hegarty scores a good goal for Donegal,
punishing slack marking in the Down defence. Donegal 1-1 Down 0-1
4 mins:
Donegal produce an instant reply as Brendan Devenney points from play. Donegal
0-1 Down 0-1
3 mins: The first score of the game comes from Ronan Murtagh,
ending a fine Down attack. Donegal 0-0 Down 0-1 Referee
- Gerry Kinneavy (Roscommon) Donegal - T Blake; N McCready,
R Sweeney, M Crossan; S Carr, B Monaghan, K Cassidy; J Gildea 0-1, S McDermott
1-1; C Toye 1-1, M Hegarty 1-1, J McGuinness; B Roper 0-1, A Sweeney 0-6 (1f),
B Devenney 0-4 (2f).
Subs: J Haran for McGuinness, P McGonagle for Roper,
J McCafferty for Devenney. Down - M McVeigh; J Clarke,
B Burns, B Grant 0-3; M Cole, L Doyle 0-2 (2f), J Lavery; Sean Ward, A Molloy;
M Walsh 0-1, B Coulter 1-1, R Sexton 0-1; Shane Ward 1-0, A O'Prey, R Murtagh
0-1.
Subs: D Hughes 0-1 for Murtagh, A Scullion for Sean Ward, S Mulholland
for Clarke, M Higgins for O'Prey, J McCartan for Walsh. Wides
Donegal 5
Down 8 Bookings
Donegal - N McCready
Down - J McCartan, R Sexton Attendance 10,192
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