Two wins from two, now Down take on Westmeath in Pairc Esler
National Football League – Division 3, Saturday February 14 (6pm) At Pairc Esler: Down v Westmeath
The break in the league probably came at a good time for Down who have two wins in the bag but had plenty to work on during the two weeks off.
A five-point victory over Clare in Pairc Esler was followed by a trip to Limerick where a last gasp Shane Annett point saw the Mournemen over the line. Despite dominating for large spells in the game, there were quite a few misses for Down on the day, but the result is all that mattered in the end.
“The focus for us all along was to get four points – it doesn’t matter how you get there. We were under par today but that is no excuse, Limerick were the better team,” said Down coach Mickey Donnelly after the game.
“I think we left a lot of scores behind us, we were disappointed with that. We will dust ourselves down and we have two good weeks to prep for it,” he added.
“Absolutely, it is an ambition (to get promoted), but what you saw today, and what we saw last week with a variety of games is that the National League is hard. Games come down to the wire, if you are not at it, or the skills are not on point. We were victims of our own creation to a certain extent for long periods today.”
Daniel Guinness has been the standout player for Down so far in this campaign top-scoring against Limerick with 0-5 including a two-pointer, with the same tally against Clare.
Pat Havern has also been notching up the scores and Odhran Murdock has dominated the skies in midfield. But this third round fixture in Newry this Saturday against Westmeath may prove to be pivotal.
Westmeath, under new management of former Donegal player Mark McHugh, are amongst the favourites to win the league and have also had a perfect start with two wins from two.
They made it past Sligo by a point 2-14 to 1-16 in a home tie in their first round and then beat Clare by five in Ennis.
Sam McCartan is a big threat for Westmeath, having score 0-5 in their last game with forward Luke Loughlin always a handful, as is Ronan Wallace who scored 1-2 against Clare. Westmeath proved they have a never-say-die attitude too, as Shane Corcoran scored a late winner against Sligo and Johnathon Lynam hit two maximums in that game, proving they have threats all over the field.
The Lake County were relegated from Division 2 along with Down last season, finishing last in the table with an abysmal campaign where they only managed one draw with Roscommon from their seven fixtures. Down beat them 1-26 to 0-28 in the penultimate round, which was the last time the sides met.
Things have improved for Westmeath this year however. Under new management and with a rejuvenated panel they won the pre-season O’Byrne Cup and have continued in that vein since. So, Saturday will be a crucial game for both sides as they seek promotion.