Down Ladies stun Cavan with a brilliant win

A superb performance from Down Ladies in Pairc Esler saw Colm Donnelly's side open their Intermediate Championship campaign with an annihilation of Ulster Champions Cavan. Down had a point to prove having lost out on promotion to Division 2 in the league earlier this year and then being knocked out of the Ulster Championship at the hands of Monaghan.

"Hard work pays off," said the delighted manager at the end of Down's group 1 opener and he was certainly right as his side were by far the superior team on the day and by far the hungrier too against the county who were promoted to Division 1. Five goals - a hat-trick from Burren's Eimear Fitzpatrick and one each from Niamh King and Niamh McClory - is just one indicator of Down's dominance. They were excellent from front to back and never let up from start to finish. Down had a seven-point advantage at the break but were even better in the second half, holding their opponents to just two points as they romped home scoring 3-6 more.

"We've been training really hard all year and you know we're disappointed that we didn't get promoted in the league,” said Donnelly.

"But we can play football. We just need a wee bit of luck and we had to raise our performance today because Cavan are probably one of the favourites for All-Ireland and we had to be at our best to probably just compete with them. But I think maybe Cavan underestimated the challenge to be honest. "I thought they might come back to bite us towards the end, but in fairness, I asked the girls for a performance for 60 minutes today and I got it.

And to perform for 60 minutes, they showed they can play football and compete with anybody in any division to be quite honest." Although Down were the better side from the start it wasn't reflected on the scoreboard in the early stages.

Cavan won the throw-in and after pressing forward Cara McCaffrey kicked the first point effort of the game wide, The Mourne ladies responded with captain Laoise Duffy setting up Niamh King for a maximum but her shot flew just wide of the post.

Eva Hicks did register the first sore of the game for Down in the third minutes but McCaffrey levelled in the eighth minute and with that the Breffni side hit three more following another goal chance for Down that saw Duffy denied by the post.

Aishling Sheridan was then fouled for a free at the other end that Ella Sheridan converted and a low shot from McCaffrey flew over the bar off the crossbar with Micaela Fitzpatrick tagging on a point for an 0-1 to 0-4 Cavan advantage.

Down were soon back on level terms however, with points from McClory, Duffy with a beauty and Fitzpatrick from a free with 20 minutes on the clock.

But the last 10 minutes of the half belonged to Down, as they began to turn the screw, starting with their first goal two minutes later.

Meghan Doherty delivered a terrific long ball in for King who was in acres of space in front of goal and she showed no hesitation in drilling into the net. A brace of points followed from the same player and on 29 minutes McClory scored Down's second goal from close range. That gave them a 2-6 to 0-4 lead and with a brace of points from Niamh Keenaghan either side of a Fitzpatrick free, Down went into the changing room at the break with a seven point advantage.

Cavan hit a couple of wides after the restart as they played into the wind while heavy showers began to make ball handling tricky. The home side were reduced to 14 players when Erin Sands was yellow carded on 37 minutes but that only served to make them hungrier. They almost netted a third goal a minute later via Doherty but Fitzpatrick pointed from the rebound and the same player was back in for goal a minute later and scored with Hicks tagging on a point to stretch Down's lead to 12 – 3-9 to 0-6.

Cavan responded with a couple of points and some good defending was required in front of goal to deny them a maximum, but another point from Hicks saw Down lead by 11 points upon Sands' return and Fitzpatrick made it 4-11 to 0-8 with another point and a low shot along the floor into an empty goal on 50 minutes. King shot off post rebounded to Fitzpatrick who again fired into the empty net for her hat-trick and Down's fifth goal. Duffy and Cara Donnelly made it 5-13 to 0-8 and that was how it finished.

"It was an unbelievable performance from everyone," agreed Donnelly. "Our defenders were brilliant. They fought for every ball. Cavan got nothing easy going forward.

"I didn't think we were ahead enough at half-time. I thought Cavan would come back strong and the wind was changing. But listen, we knuckled down. We worked hard for each other. We played very simple football. Very effective and you know, we got our rewards today."

This result and performance bodes well now for the last group game away to Roscommon next Sunday?

"If we hadn't got a result today, we were under pressure going down the road next week. But listen, we were going next week to win against Roscommon to get a home quarter-final and that's really it.

"People don't see what work we put in. They don't see the commitment of the girls. We give up our weekends. We give up Tuesdays, Fridays, gyms on Wednesdays for this. They don't see it. They don't see it and it shows here now it pays off."

MATCH STATS Down: Maeve Deery; Neva Loudon, Erin Sands, Aimee Greene; Niamh Edgar, Orlagh Blaney, Niamh McClory (1-1); Meghan Doherty, Katie Howlett; Aoife Laverty, Laoise Duffy (0-2), Niamh McGrath; Niamh King (1-2), Eimear Fitzpatrick (3-4,2f), Eva Hicks (0-3) Subs: Cara Donnelly (0-1m 1f), for Laverty (49), Cristin Brown for Hicks (54), Maebh Napier for Greene (58), Vivienne McCormack for Fitzpatrick (58), Shanna Fettes for King (59)

Cavan: Evelyn Baugh; Zara Fay, Shauna Lynch, Aibhe Kennedy; Lucy Crowe, Cara McCaffrey (0-1), Sinead Greene; Micaela Fitzpatrick (0-1), Katie Mai Reilly; Katie McIntyre, Ella Sheridan (0-2,1f), Catherine Dolan; Niamh Keenaghan, (0-3) Aishling Sheridan, Niamh McCorry Subs: Keri McCormack (0-1) for Reilly (28), Deirbhla Lynch for Fay (h-t), Muireann Cusack for McCaffrey (34), Ciara Boylan for E Sheridan

Referee: Philip Conway (Armagh)