By Shaun Casey GETTING to play in front of an excited crowd in Newry helps to bring the best out of the Down players, says the versatile Ryan Magill. The Mourne men are aiming for their second win of the campaign when they invite Meath to Páirc Esler on Saturday evening. Conor Laverty’s side bounced […]
By Shaun Casey THIS time last year, Down were two divisions below Roscommon in the National Football League but now in 2025, the two sides will battle it out on the opening day of the Division Two campaign. The Rossies were relegated from the top tier, along with Monaghan, while the Mourne County gained promotion […]
By Shaun Casey WITHOUT reflecting too much on the year just gone by, it’s worth noting that Down ticked both of their boxes in terms of the big targets for 2024. Get promoted out of Division Three and win the Tailteann Cup. Tick. Tick. Having come so close in 2023, motivation would have been extremely […]
1 Down heading up SINCE Conor Laverty took the reins in the Mourne County, Down have been slowly but surely improving. While they missed out on promotion in 2023, and lost the Tailteann Cup final to Meath, they ticked off both those objectives in a superb 2024 season. They topped the Division Three table but […]
GARVAGHEY, Owenbeg, Convoy – hitherto fairly obscure place-names now synonymous with GAA centre of excellences, and in time, you can add Ballykinlar to the list. It was announced last week that Down GAA will receive over £12.6million in funding to develop a new base from the EU-supported PEACEPLUS Programme. Here’s the nuts and bolts – […]
Niall Gartland takes a look at who’ll be in charge across the province in 2025 Antrim – Andy McEntee MEATH native Andy McEntee is set to manage Antrim for a third year in 2025 and the general feeling is that he’s doing a good job at the Saffrons. If you take this year, they finished […]
By Niall Gartland NEEDS must and Down footballer Daniel Guinness says he is proud of the way the team regrouped after their Ulster Championship defeat to Armagh, plotting a path to Tailteann Cup honours and a place in next year’s All-Ireland SFC series. The Mourne men lost out by only a single point to Armagh […]
By Niall Gartland DOWN boss Conor Laverty recognises that it was crucial they successfully put a halt to their losing streak in finals as he reflected on Saturday’s Tailteann Cup final triumph over Laois. All the positive psychology in the world couldn’t gloss over the fact that they’d endured a miserable record in finals not […]
By Niall Gartland THIRD time’s the charm? Down were stumped by Meath in last year’s Tailteann Cup final, and their Division Three final against Westmeath back in March didn’t exactly go according to plan either, but there’s something to be said for sheer bouncebackability and they find themselves strong favourites to prevail in Sunday’s Tailteann […]
By Shaun Casey IT’S small margins at the highest level and just over two months ago, Down proved their quality against Armagh in the Ulster semi-final, with the Orchard County shading the contest by the minimum of margins. On the same day that Down compete in their second Tailteann Cup final in as many seasons, […]
