Westmeath 2-13         Down 1-15 

Paddy Coulter, who had a point ruled wide in the second half
of the Christ Ring game against Westmeath

Down narrowly lost their opening match of the Christy Ring Campaign away to Westmeath on Saturday.   With only a point separating the teams at full time Down were so close to getting the draw they deserved from their second half display.

Down opened the match continuing to play as they finished the Ulster Final.  Westmeath were 2 points up before Gabriel Clarke got Down’s first point after 3 minutes.  For the next 20 minutes Westmeath were in the ascendancy.   

Andy Savage took a while to get going but had a great second half

Down’s half back line weren’t wining the Westmeath poc outs which in turn put pressure on the Down full back line.  The midfield were stretched and the forwards were hampered by a poor quality supply of ball.   After 28 minutes Down were 2-5 to 0-3 adrift and very much second best.    

The game changed before half time when a low driven ball to the corner was picked up by Emmett Trainor, he beat his man, drew another and picked out Paddy Coulter who finished the move with a point.  A similar move saw Brendan McGourty find Eoin Clarke for another Down point.   Kieran Courtney followed up with 2 frees before half time.  Though Down were 2-6 to 0-7 behind on the score board they now looked like a team capable of winning. 

The Westmeath keeper saved 3 shots on goal in the first 5 minutes as Down piled on the pressure after the restart.  A fortunate goal from a Kieran Courtney free was followed up by a Courtney 65 and a clear Paddy Coulter point that was ruled wide by the umpires.  Brendan McGourty added a point from a sideline cut on the 21 and Down now trailed by 3 points. 

The managers sprung Simon Wilson and Ciaran Coulter from the bench to aid the attack and Ruari  McGratten to bolster the defence.  But apart from Courtney and an excellent 15 minute spell from Johnston the forwards failed to thrive on high dropping balls. However, with 8 minutes remaining Down had levelled the scores.   Westmeath scored a further 4 points in the next 5 minutes and though Down pegged it back to a single point with a minute remaining they ran out of time for an equaliser. 

Dropping back to help his defence is Down's Gabriel Clarke

With their second half display Down looked more like a team capable of winning this tournament than they did a few weeks ago. Down may look at the disallowed Paddy Coulter point for costing them a draw but it was really the first 20 minutes that  cost them this match. Though fight and pride were more evident there is still much improvement required to get to an All Ireland final.

Their next match is a home game against Meath this Saturday.

Down Scorers

Ciaran Courtney 1-6 (all frees), Brendan Mc Gourty 0-3 (2 sidelines), Gareth Johnston 0-2, Gabriel Clarke 0-1, Andy Savage 0-1, Paddy Coulter 0-1, Eoin Clarke 0-1.