Down manager Conor Laverty expects a response from his side after they shot themselves out of a Quarter-Final place in the Tailteann Cup by kicking 17 wides as they lost to Meath by 1-11 to 1-9.
Meath bagged two points in additional time to secure top spot in the group, which means they’ll have an extra week to prepare and they’ll play their Quarter-Final tie at home in Navan.
Played in Parnell Park on Saturday, Down keeper Niall Kane denied Cathal Hickey a goal, with a magnificent save deep into six minutes of additional time.
It kept the sides level, which was enough for Down to top the group, although Meath substitute Daithi McGowan steered over the resultant 45’ and then Donal Lenihan’s converted free on 78 minutes made sure of victory for the rivals.
Down will be content knowing that they had the measure of Meath and won’t fear any team they face at the weekend, but manager Conor Laverty was not pleased with how his side performed.
“Listen, our performance today wasn’t good enough. There was a significant breeze in that game, still in all we didn’t take our chances when they were presented to us,” Laverty said.
“As a management team, we have to take responsibility for that, that was our job to get the players to the pitch and it just wasn’t there today and we have to get to the standard where we can perform week in week out.
“We are just taking a performance at a time and today we felt that it was an under-par performance. Yes, there’ll be some positives to take from it but we have a lot of things to work on but there were certain areas of our game that we just wouldn’t be happy with.”
Meath’s 21st minute goal came from the spot when Jack O’Connor converted his penalty after he clashed legs with the impressive Odhran Murdock.
Down had led 0-03 to 0-01 before the penalty was awarded with Jordan Morris on target for the Royals, while Pat Havern and a brace from the lively Kerr got Down off the mark.
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Meath stretched their lead with points from Championship debutant James McEntee and Morris’ second as Down were held scoreless for 16 frustrating minutes as they kicked wide and hit the post before Havern stopped the rot.
Havern’s free made it a one-point game before the late trade in points in the closing stages of the first half with Meath going edging it at the break (0-06 to 1-04)
Down were content to be in touch with Meath and on 43 minutes took the lead when Murdock danced through the defence before picking his spot to slip his shot into the net for a stunning goal to give Down a 1-07 to 1-05 lead heading into the final quarter.
However, on the hour the sides were level after a monster free from substitute Daithi McGowan set up a frantic finish. Morris and Havern traded points and the tie was level for the fifth time in the game, when Meath tipped the balance in additional time.
Meath boss Colm O’Rourke praised the never-say-die Royal trait of his side.
“I thought there was a bit of traditional Meath grit from the past came into play in the last 10 minutes which is wonderful to see,” O’Rourke said.
“I think this will do a lot for this team. We want to win the Tailteann Cup, we’ve made that very clear.”
Scorers, Meath: Jordan Morris 1-3 (1-0 pen), James McEntee 0-2, Jack Flynn 0-2 (0-1f), Jack O'Connor 0-1, Mathew Costello 0-1 (0-1m), Daithi McGowan 0-1 (0-1 45), Donal Lenihan 0-1 (0-1f).
Down: Pat Havern 0-5 (0-5f), Odhran Murdock 1-0, Liam Kerr 0-2 (0-1f), Daniel Guinness 0-1, Niall Kane 0-1 (0-1 45).
By Mon 5th Jun
