Down 'on a journey' will have no fear of Tribsemen

The way his side played showed just how much Down went out to win that All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final group fixture to top the table and go straight through to the last eight.

That didn't happen despite a terrific performance in a high-scoring, high-quality game and the draw for the preliminary quarter-finals made on Monday morning couldn't have been tougher for the Mourne County.

They are pitted against last year’s beaten finalists Galway who beat the current All-Ireland Champions Armagh in Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday.

Laverty has consistently said however, that he yearns to see Pairc Esler packed to the gills, with Down taking on the best teams in the country. That day has come as the Tribesmen travel to Newry this Sunday, June 22 for a 1.45pm throw-in.

And while some might say, 'be careful what you wish for,' this Down side have come on in leaps and bounds since Laverty was appointed manager and will fear nobody.

While Galway made it past Armagh by the skin of their teeth with a late free to claim a 2-22 to 0-27 win, they still got over the line despite missing two penalties and came back from an eight point half-time deficit with Shane Walsh their stand-out player.

Galway will be buzzing, having got the result they needed in an epic game on Saturday to stay in the hunt for Sam at the expense of Derry but while Down will be disappointed after losing to Monaghan, their performance was excellent and home advantage is something you can't buy with the supporters the extra man.

“Newry was fantastic two weeks ago [against Louth]. I think the Down support came out today big time and whenever the lads were coming in after the first phase of the warm-up, the support was brilliant for them,” said Laverty.

“So, I think that was great, and it's good to see the supporters going. I think this team's on a journey, maybe not just this year, but I think over this next couple and it's a journey that we want to give Down.

“Down supporters are very fanatical GAA people, probably over these past few years they haven't had anything to follow and we really want to bring them in that journey with us and I hope that Newry is bouncing again in six or seven days,” said Laverty.

“You saw a lot in that game of things that Down have done really well over the last two and a half to almost three years at this stage.”

Both sides have a short turnaround before Sunday's match but Laverty doesn’t necessarily see this as a bad thing with his men fit as fiddles and clearly enjoying their football.

“Everybody says about the six or seven day turnaround but most teams will probably be playing in in-house matches next weekend,” he feels.

"I know if you were training, you'd probably be training two nights and have an in-house match or a bit of football with your club at the weekend.

"You know, as players, I think the more games you play the better.

"It could work both ways for some of the teams in the Preliminary quarter-finals. People could say that it could hurt them playing three week in a row, but it could work for some teams that they could pick up momentum. In football at the minute, I think momentum is a massive thing.

"I was involved in a team in 2010 who got momentum through the qualifiers and got on a bit of a run, so that's what we'll be looking towards. We'll be looking towards using it and to take our learnings from the day and use it to build momentum going into the game.”