Christy
Ring - Down lost
their opening match
against Westmeath
by a single point
Andy Savage
took a while to
get going but had
a great second half
Dropping
back to help his
defence is Down's
Gabriel Clarke
Photos by Patrick
Murphy
Westmeath, who
drew with Meath
seven days ago,
moved into second
place in the table
thanks to a 2-13
to 1-15 defeat of
Down at Cusack Park.
In what was a repeat
of the 2005 Ring
Cup final, Westmeath
motored into a 2-07
to 0-07 half-time
lead with corner-forward
Derek McNicholas
and full-forward
Dan Carty both finding
the Mourne net.
Down mounted a
comeback on the
back of a Kieran
Courtney goal, but
the Lakesiders,
who face Mayo and
Kerry in the coming
weeks, pulled through
by the smallest
of margins.