Down travelled to Portlaoise for the second time this year to take on Laois in rd4 of the McDonagh Cup. Having lost to their hosts in rd1 of the league by 7pts and playing most of the second half with a man short, Ronan Sheehan was confident that they could improve on their previous meeting and push the O’Moore men to a tight contest, but unfortunately having Tim Prenter, John McManus, Barry Trainor, Chris Egan & Darragh Mallon unavailable through injury it was always going to be a tall ask.
Starting off well it looked like a weaken red/black were up for a battle leading by two points after the 1st fifteen minutes, but an injury to Laois’ Mark Dowling which resulted in a ten minute delay until he was replaced was time enough for Laois to reset and take control of the game. Leading by 15 pts at the half Down made a few positional changes but their hosts proved that a few seasons playing at a higher league standard in Div.1 than Down had experienced was enough as they pushed further ahead to ensure they led the group and virtually ensured qualification to a McDonagh cup final in a few weeks’ time.
Given the much smaller pool of players Down have actually exceeded anyone’s expectations as, although they have not reached their desired goal, they have ensured a six successive season in the Joe McDonagh Cup with a game left to play.
By Mon 20th May
