Leinster Shield: Warwickshire
0-13 South Down 2-17
South Down ended their Leinster
Shield campaign with a convincing win over a
strong Warwickshire side in Birmingham. The
Mourne men dominated every sector of the field
and their superior fitness and skills allowed
them to draw away from the opposition as the
match progressed.
Down led at half time by 1-10
to 0-8. Liam Morgan looked impressive as he
scored four points from play and Eoin McGuinness
rattled home one of his trade-mark goals. John
Murphy knocked over a 70-yard free and John
O’Kane scored from three short range frees.
O’Kane scored another from play following
a pass from the hard-working Pádraig
Matthews and mid-fielder Danny Doran also got
on the scoreboard.
At half-time Alan Higgins was
forced to retire injured. He was replaced by
team captain Daniel McCusker who is now based
in London and arrived late for the match. Karl
Maxwell’s goal early in the second half
set the Mourne men on their way. Doran injured
his foot and was replaced by the already-injured
James McGrath, who took his place at full-forward
and managed a fine point from play.
The home side were having to
work hard for their scored while Down’s
play was typified by a John Murphy point. He
caught the ball from Gary McMullan’s puck-out
and put it straight over the bar from mid-field.
Morgan, Matthews, O’Kane and Doran all
added points to allow the visitors to win comfortably
in the end, particularly since the Down defence
was well able to control some lively Warwickshire
forwards.
The bad news was that the team’s
injury worries continue. Higgins (elbow), Doran
(heel) and Murphy (knee) all suffered injuries
during the game and will be working to gain
full fitness for the opening round of the Nicky
Rackard Cup on June 29.
Team: Gary McMullan, Michael
Murphy, Brian McAleenan, Gary Courtney, Ruairi
Matthews, Alan Higgins, Michael Duggan, Daniel
Doran (0-2), John Murphy (0-2, 0-1 free), John
O’Kane (0-5, 0-3 frees), Pádraig
Matthews (0-1) , Karl Maxwell (1-1), Ronan Mulligan,
Eoin McGuinness (1-0), Liam Morgan (0-5).
Subs: Daniel McCusker for Higgins (inj., half
time); James McGrath (0-1) for Doran (inj.,
40 mins); Aidan Brown for Mulligan (57 mins)
