Burns: players gave more than we asked of them

Sunday 25th June 2017

Eamonn Burns heaped praised on his players after Down's sensational Ulster SFC semi-final victory over Monaghan.

The Mournemen avenged last year's thumping at the hands of the same opposition to earn a crack at holders Tyrone in the provincial decider.

"They played the way we asked them to play. They did what we asked them to do with an extra 10 or 20 per cent," the delighted Down manager told the BBC.

"We started brightly. We had ourselves in the game at half-time, but a tremendous first 10 minutes in the second half (set us up for the win). We knew Monaghan were going to come back at us and we really dug in, got the barrier set up. We were patient, we tackled hard and didn't give away frees..."

He added: "As I said to the players all week, tonight's an opportunity to get to the Ulster final and we didn't turn it down. We took the opportunity and we're now in the Ulster final."