Down coach hails squad depth as Mournemen power past Longford challenge 

Mickey Donnelly felt the impact of the Down substitutes was a telling factor as they overturned a four-point deficit to defeat Longford by eight in Saturday’s Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final in Newry.

Darren Gallagher fired over a stunning sideline kick on the restart to nudge the visitors four ahead with Joe Hagan scoring 1-3 from play in an eventful first half.

Longford missed three goal chances with Niall Kane making two great saves while Odhran Murdock had a penalty saved as Down were 1-8 to 0-8 adrift at the break.

Read more: Recap as Down seal Tailteann Cup quarter-final berth with comeback win over Longford

However, Down dominated the second half with 10 different scores throughout the game with 1-5 coming from their substitutes as Danny Magill plundered an excellent individual goal.

“We lacked a wee bit of energy, I don’t know if that was nervousness,” stated Down coach Mickey Donnelly.

“People looking in from outside probably think we hadn’t a lot to gain from today, maybe that’s why there was that wee bit of flatness.

“Our boys were deadly nervous before the match, they just felt an awful lot of pressure, when you see the Division Four teams winning, teams coming away from home winning. We had an awful lot to lose, so it’s great to get over the finish line.

“That was huge to get that kind of return (1-5) and every one of them gave us that bit of impact in different ways. Ross (Carr) was really combative in the middle of the field, Danny (Magill) was elusive and able to break lines, and Rory Mason brought that wee bit of class. Rory’s a really good kicker.

He added: “We used 40 men in the National League and that wasn’t by accident, there were a lot of reasons for that – maybe lads didn’t put their hand up and say that’s my jersey, I’m going to hold onto that.

“We’ve tried to be as fluid as we possibly can. If you’re not good enough today, you’ll not be in next week. That’s the way it has to be. It can appear a wee bit manic because it’s so fluid, but that’s just where we are.

“I feel we have an awful lot of players of a similar level and boys can be on it some days, the next day it can be an opportunity for somebody else.

“We try to keep everybody happy as much as we can. Conor’s managed it brilliantly in terms of our maybe novel enough approach to club football – we have tried to really placate clubs in terms of giving lads an opportunity.”

Donnelly added that there was a bit of frustration in the Down camp that they found themselves in the preliminary quarter-finals in the first place.

The Mournemen needed only a draw against Meath to top Group Two, but were edged out by the Royals after hitting 17 wides in last weekend’s 1-11 to 1-9 loss in Parnell Park.

In explaining Down’s below-par showing in the first half and hesitation in front of the posts, Donnelly remarked: “It’s like if you go to a nightclub and you keep asking women out and they keep saying no, the next night you go out you’re a wee bit more reluctant to ask!

“You’re trying to work the ball into the scoring zone, you’re taking that extra care and how that manifests itself, we went hunting goals that weren’t really there, when it would have been good enough to box the ball over the bar a couple of times or dink it over from the edge of the D.

“We certainly did that in the second half and that was very pleasing.”

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