By John Campbell, Belfast Telegraph
Friday, 25 July 2008
Not for the first time this year Dan Gordon
found himself being hailed as the man of
the match when Down romped to a runaway
5-19 to 2-10 win over Offaly in the first
round of the All Ireland football qualifiers
last weekend.
Indeed, a couple of Down players, including
old hand Benny Coulter, ran him close for
the accolade.
But Gordon and indeed the Mourne side as
a whole will face a much more arduous task
tomorrow when they confront Laois in Portlaoise
(7.00pm) in the second round.
"They had a good win over Longford
last weekend and with home advantage they
will feel they can do even better against
us. We are still missing Liam Doyle and
that's a blow to us but the boys showed
against Offaly that they have a good appetite
for the fray and that's the important thing,"
says Abbey Newry CBS teacher Gordon.
The return of Martin Cole has strengthened
the Down rearguard while Ronan Murtagh,
Aidan Carr and Ambrose Rogers are key players
in a side who still feel they did not do
themselves full justice in the Ulster semi-final
against Armagh.
Manager Ross Carr, indeed, was encouraged
by the fact that the players were hurting
so much after that game.
“This showed the passion and commitment
they had. They dearly wanted to win but
we are now targeting progress through the
qualifiers,” points out Carr.
Laois manager Liam Kerins, the former Limerick
boss, appeared to be more relieved than
happy after his side overcame Longford -
a result that saw Luke Dempsey step down
as the losers’ boss.
"We played well in spasms against
Longford but we will neet to produce a more
concentrated effort against this Down side.
They are fit and sharp and have shown they
can take scores. They have an expansive
style of play and they work well for each
other," says Kerins.
Tom Kelly is still the lynch-pin of the
Laois defence while Padraig Clancy is a
quality midfielder with Ross Munelly and
Colm Parkinson still very much key figures
in their attack.
Laois have underperformed over the past
couple of years but see tomorrow's game
as a chance to regain a stronger measure
of trust from their fans.
"While facing Down is not easy, it
could have been worse. The gauntlet has
been thrown down to us," admits manager
Kerins.
