Seventeen years since Down were drawn at home

Tuesday 31st May 2016

Down haven't been drawn at home in an Ulster championship opener for 17 years.

The Mourne County have been drawn away from home in the first round every year since 1999 and it will be business as usual for Eamonn Burns' charges this weekend when they travel to Clones for a quarter-final meeting with holders Monaghan.

For the provincial draw in Ulster, there is no home-and-away arrangement - the first team out of the pot gets home advantage. Down's terrible luck means that their 22,000 capacity Pairc Esler venue generally remains unused during the provincial competition.

The Newry venue does host the occasional replay and Qualifier; the last Ulster championship match they played there was a replay against Tyrone two years ago.