Down's 'inexperience' made the difference on Sunday feels manager Conor Laverty
Down may have exited the Ulster Championship at the hands of Donegal on Sunday but they can be proud of a good performance given the quality of the opposition.
“I understood the task of coming here today,” said a disappointed but proud Down manager Conor Laverty after the match.
“We had massive plans put into the game, we had a game-plan and I thought the lads stuck to it very well, but it came down to inexperience and Donegal having that wee bit more experience.”
Patton the best
Laverty regards Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton as the best in the country and felt that he was hugely instrumental in the semi-final outcome in Clones.
“His kick-outs are a weapon and particularly with the rules now, you can’t drop off kick-outs and give teams possession because if Donegal get the ball in hands and 80 percent of the time they are getting a shot away. So, you have to be brave with the new rules but also with that bravery comes the danger of being caught out over the top. We had identified that, we had worked on it but I still felt we could have dealt with it a wee bit better.
“There are so many different facets to deal with on Shaun Patton’s kick-outs, it is crazy. We dialled into it in so much detail, the hours that this group spent together this week is crazy.
"I know the result didn’t go our way but I was very proud of them because coming into this game a lot of people’s whole concentration was on where Donegal and Armagh were going to play the Ulster Final, in Croke Park or not. We would have loved to have wrecked that script but Donegal were the better team and deserved to win the game but I felt it would have been more interesting if we had of made better decisions in certain moments.”
Ronan Burns an inspiration
At the other end of the field was Ronan Burns who has been incredible for Down in nets all season, not least on Sunday with two magnificent saves.
“Ronan Burns was only 20-years-old today [Sunday],” said Laverty as he sang his praises.
"He has been the highlight of this season for us. After the first game in Roscommon, we made a decision that we are going to back him in to do nets for Down. We watched him in a couple of club games and he came in the first night in training, the rules were different then, but he did a reverse hand-pass in a small-sided game – because he played out the field a wee bit when he was younger. I know that he had a wee bit of soccer background and wouldn’t have a great deal of time and asked him where is heart would be and he is committed fully to us now.
“Actually Shaun Patton remarked to me after the game about him. I think that lad could play for Down for the next ten or 12 years and it has been an area where Down has had a lot of changes and not a lot of continuity over the past ten years. I feel he has that capability. He is the best shot-stopper I have ever seen and I have seen good goalkeepers.
“In training there is a row among the lads with who’s team is he in when playing the small-sided games because you are not conceding goals when he is in there. I thought he was brilliant and his kick-outs where exceptional, I thought he was very brave with them.”
Super 16s
With their Ulster Championship over for this year, Down can take a breath and then look forward to the All-Ireland competition and taking their place in the Super 16s.
“We are going to have one of the provincial winners in Newry, so we will have one of the top four teams in the country, coming to Newry, isn’t that great?” beamed Laverty who has been aiming for that since he took charge.
"Wouldn’t be great to see the likes of Kerry, Galway or whoever it should be, for the young people of Down to come and see the best players in Ireland and for us as a group to pit ourselves against that. We saw what Westmeath did in the group stages last year but we don’t want just to be that, we want to challenge ourselves and to push on from these experiences.”
“I am not saying that Down are pushing into that bracket of teams in Ulster, I’m a realist, but I think of the three or four teams in Ulster, I think we are closing the gap on them and we are making steady progress and we are closing the gap. I thought we did that against Armagh last year and I don’t feel we were outclassed today, I don’t think people are walking away saying that Donegal are at a different level than Down. So that is the experience and the learnings that this team needs and what we want.”