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Irish Times
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Relentless Down give Galway huge test but experience sees Pádraic Joyce's contenders through
All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final: Down 3-21 Galway 2-26 Another Sunday, another stone-cold thriller. Down gave Galway their bellyful it here, chasing Padraic Joyce's side manfully and relentlessly right to the very last drop. They came up short, mostly because they'll be playing Division 3 football next year while Galway are a top table side and have been for a while. On the evidence of this summer, it won't be too long before Down grab themselves a seat too. Conor Laverty's team are a world removed from where they were when he took over in late 2002. Back then, they hadn't won a game for a year and the traffic at the dressingroom door was flowing out rather than in. A world where they would run a credible All-Ireland contender like Galway to two points must have seemed beyond fanciful back then. 'I wasn't coming here hoping that Down would play well,' Laverty said afterwards. 'I came here with a massive belief that these players could perform at this level and that this is the standard we want to be playing at. But what we did talk to the players about was, do you want to be coming here to Páirc Esler to be playing a preliminary quarter-final in front of 14,000 people? 'Or would you rather be playing ... I came to a league match here against Clare one year and there wasn't 150 people at it. Or Tailteann Cup games where there were only a couple of hundred people there. This is where players want to be. We would have felt that in games this year, it's been experience that has held us back slightly in key moments.' READ MORE Down's Pierce Laverty in action against Galway's John Maher. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho Ultimately, that was probably Galway's thumb on the scale here. When the stadium was bubbling midway through the second half as Down dominated midfield, Joyce was able to bring Peter Cooke in off the bench. Cooke has been a here-again-gone-again presence for Galway down the years but he made his debut in 2016 so he knows the road. He was able to steer Galway home. Cooke caught a world of ball, scored a point and laid on the sealing goal for Tomo Culhane. All of which meant that brave and all as Down had been, the home side were never able to cut the margin below two points. 'We were battle-hardened before today but we're battle-hardened again,' was Joyce's take on it all. And so they were. Though Cooke saw them through the endgame, Galway were in position thanks in the main to a couple of effervescent displays from Matthew Thompson and Shane Walsh. Thompson in particular looks like a nailed-on Young Footballer of the Year, pulling the strings out the pitch year like someone with a decade under his belt rather than just a few months. Walsh popped up with 1-7 in the first half, including three two-pointers and a goal that oozed class. In the space of two minutes just before half-time, he landed a two-pointer from play, laid on a goal for Rob Finnerty, skinned Ceilum Doherty for a one-pointer, then caught the kickout and drove on to draw a foul outside the arc, which he duly converted. Seán Fitzgerald in action for Galway. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho He got injured in the process, landing on his shoulder, and barely had a kick after half-time before being taken off. 'He got a nasty injury,' Joyce said. 'He fell forward and the Down player followed through with the knee on the shoulder so he's in a bit of a bother there with the shoulder.' That burst just before half-time looked like it had put the game out of reach for Down. They went from being just a point behind in the 28th minute to going in at the break on the thick end of a 1-16 to 1-6 scoreline. Even though there was a stiff breeze blowing straight down the ground, it still looked fairly insurmountable for Laverty's side. But Down didn't take a backward step. They had a couple of two-pointers on the board within 69 seconds of the restart. Odhran Murdock was phenomenal, the 22-year-old Down captain running in 1-2 from midfield and pushing his side forward at every opportunity. Caolan Mooney rolled back the years off the bench, whistling through for back-to-back points to make it 1-20 to 1-18 with a quarter-hour to go. Galway were rocking now, their kickout in such peril that Joyce had replacement goalkeeper Connor Gleeson warming up a couple of times. But gradually they got a foothold around the middle again, with Cooke and Cian Darcy settling them. When Cooke put Culhane away in the 65th minute, the Galway sub iced the game. It was tough on Down goalkeeper Ronan Burns who had made a string of brilliant saves but wasn't quite up to this one. Down's day in microcosm. They gave Galway a huge test here. Expect it to stand to both of them. DOWN: R Burns; P McCarthy, P Fegan, C Doherty (0-0-1); R Magill (1-0-0), P Laverty, M Rooney (0-1-0); D Guinness (0-2-0), R McEvoy (0-1-0); D Magill (0-0-2), O Murdock (1-0-2), A Crimmins (0-0-1, 1f); J Guinness (0-0-1), P Havern (0-0-2, 2f), J McGeough (1-0-1). Subs: E Branagan (0-0-1) for McCarthy (21-26 mins, blood); Branagan for McCarthy (h-t); C Mooney (0-0-2) for McGeough (55); O Savage for Doherty (57); C McCrickard for Crimmins (62); F Murdock for Rooney (66). GALWAY: C Flaherty; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, L Silke; D McHugh, S Kelly, C Hernon; P Conroy, J Maher; C Darcy (0-0-1), M Tierney (0-0-2), C McDaid (0-0-2); R Finnerty (0-1-4, 1f), S Walsh (1-3-1, 2tpf), M Thompson (0-1-3). Subs: P Cooke (0-0-1) for Conroy (48 mins); D O'Flaherty (0-0-2) for Hernon (57); J Heaney for McDaid (61-69, temp); T Culhane (1-0-0) for Walsh (62); J Daly for Maher (67). Referee: D O'Mahoney (Tipperary).
Belfast Telegraph
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Galway's brilliance scuppers Down's masterplan and secures All-Ireland last-eight spot
Galway marched into Pairc Esler as heavy favourites in Sunday's preliminary Quarter-Final and, although they did escape with a victory, anyone who thought this was going to be one way traffic doesn't know the work that Down have put into their preparation over the past few years. Conor Laverty and his management team leave no stone unturned, and they cooked up a plan that pushed last year's All-Ireland finalists right to the very brink as the Ulster side went into the game fully committed to executing their strategy, undeterred by the bookies, outside noise or the opposition's haul of All-Stars.
Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Dangerous Down almost ready to mark their territory
THE soon to be dormant, if not extinct, All-Ireland group stages have generally followed the rule of law. Table-toppers generally beat preliminary quarter-final winners - six out of eight times - and the two All-Ireland winners under the system, Dublin and Armagh, have topped their group. In a format not above criticism, the layered reward for where you finish in your group generally holds true. If there is one anomaly, and something that provides hope to a quartet of teams this weekend, it's that in the eight preliminary quarter-finals played, the third-placed team has travelled to the home of their rivals and won on four of seven occasions, while Monaghan also edged out Kildare in neutral Tullamore in 2023 with Newbridge out of action. Last Monday's preliminary quarter-final draw, containing more heavyweights than anticipated, resulted in three lop-sided pairings and one tie that just carries a whiff of, well if not cordite, enough propellant to provide a potentially combustible situation for Galway's All-Ireland hopes. Donegal v Louth, Kerry v Cavan and Dublin v Cork all look like foregone conclusions no matter how it's spun – and maybe the shock will come in amongst those – but Galway travel to Newry to face a Down team that seem best placed to upset the odds. That's true for two reasons. Firstly, Down have made unarguable progress under manager Conor Laverty while Galway, All-Ireland finalists in two of the last three seasons, just haven't settled into this championship since their successful Connacht run – although they will hope that their stirring second-half comeback against Armagh will offer the spark. Sunday in the Marshes will tell us more. Reigning Tailteann Cup champions Down are preparing for their biggest home match since the visit of Mayo in 2019. There have been Ulster clashes since, but nothing to match the level of excitement in the border town this week – or parts of it anyway. Back in 1994, Armagh's pre-season started prior to the All-Ireland final between Down and Dublin meaning that some of their players made the trips to training via a red and black bedecked Newry, seething inside as they passed every good luck flag and piece of bunting. They stayed up for months as Down raised Sam for a fifth time, but 31 years later there hasn't been as much as an Ulster title. Last year's Tailteann Cup was as much about ending a long wait for silverware as the trophy itself. Drive through Newry today and it's the orange and white bunting hanging from lampposts, a hangover from Armagh's All-Ireland triumph 12 months ago. The car flags driving in and out of a city that will always be referred to as 'town' by locals, are Orchard County ones. Except McCoy's Bar on the way to the ground and Páirc Esler itself, Down haven't braved marking their territory – yet. But there is belief, genuine belief, that they are ascending. Results are results but relegation to Division 3 this year was undeserved, subsequent championship displays have reinforced that feeling that they can compete with the best. When Laverty was appointed manager in August 2022, he took on a county in disarray. James McCartan oversaw a winless season beforehand and had been close to stepping down after a serious breach of discipline by players at a training camp in Dublin before being convinced to see the campaign out. 'Players have accepted responsibility and have rectified the situation," Down secretary Sean Óg McAteer told Ulster publication Gaelic Life at the time. Five players, including NFL player Charlie Smyth and current panellist Caolan Mooney, departed the panel before the Tailteann Cup with the latter lashing out at McCartan in an interview with the Smaller Fish podcast. Sources close to the camp suggested that the training block for the Tailteann Cup was the most enjoyable of the year while there was considerable anger that a Mourne legend like McCartan had been treated so poorly. Three seasons on, and of the 20 players who featured in Down's 2022 Tailteann Cup loss to Cavan, McCartan's last game in charge, only Peter Fegan, Ryan Magill, Daniel Guinness, Odhrán Murdock, Pierce Laverty and Patrick McCarthy were on the field against Monaghan last week. McCarthy, Magill and Murdock all won a pair of Ulster U20 crowns under Conor Laverty, Pierce Laverty was a long-time captain and Daniel Guinness has been Down's most consistent player over the last five years. Burren corner-back Fegan comes highly rated. Kilcoo man Laverty has 13 county medals in his pocket – and an All-Ireland too – from playing with the Magpies. He has crafted a Down team that shares so many of their attributes. Physically smaller than many opponents – as Down will be against Galway – they have an extraordinary handle on the basics and operate a running game that is maybe only bettered by Donegal currently. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, after all. He's also managed to rub out one of the black marks that had been hanging over the side – the lack of a marquee forward. On Sunday, barring any unfortunate injury, Pat Havern will move from 0-99 for the season to over the 100-point mark. Shane Walsh may have edged him out in the National League as the two-point king, but Havern is now the current heir to the throne with 21 to Walsh's 18 – although the latter did miss the Connacht championship. Havern, who looked destined to be one of Ulster's top handballers before giving it up at a young age, has previously been accused of not doing it against the top teams. Such notions have been swept away this season, Galway be warned. The men and red and black aren't back just yet, but a visit to the last eight of the All-Ireland for the first time since 2012, and at the expense of one of the favourites for Sam, and that Down bunting will start to be unfurled.
Irish Daily Mirror
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kerry like a 'wounded dog,' and 'so unconvincing' Galway in a dangerous place
Two teams plenty would have been eyeing up as potential All-Ireland winners are Galway and Kerry. Galway was my pick from the start. They're also two teams that so far in the All-Ireland series have failed to ignite in any way at all. The word from Kerry is they're like a wounded dog and some voices within the county are saying it might just be better to put them down rather than prolong the agony. Kerry have an injury crisis and even in the All-Ireland series game against Cork, where they ran out comfortable winners they coughed up so many goal chances. If that's an Armagh, Donegal or Tyrone, they score them. Galway have tailed off rather dramatically since winning their province. They've played Dublin, Derry and Armagh - and in all these games they have been so unconvincing. In no way, shape or form do they look like All-Ireland contenders. Kerry play Cavan and should win but I don't think they'll get it all their own way, while Galway play Down in Newry. Both should get through but if there is any chance of a shock it'll be in Newry. Galway are in a dangerous place as a team - and if anyone can exploit that weakness it's Conor Laverty, Marty Clarke and Mickey Donnelly. They're doing brilliant work in Down at the minute but the gulf might be just too much. Down are building towards a place that Galway are already operating in. Neither Galway nor Kerry can afford to wait for something to happen. Waiting for it is grand in a Munster or Connacht Championship when you've Clare or Leitrim the following week. But with a GAA front pack that is relatively even, and so good, then waiting for it to happen is the worst thing you can do. Neither team can afford to wait. They need to identify the problem(s), deal with them and move on. I don't think it's a case of them not having the work done. Paddy Tally said during the week that he knew Derry's problem as clear as day - it was conditioning. Incidentally, I don't agree with him as it wasn't conditioning that let them down in a few of those Championship games but he's best placed to make that call. It's funny because Donegal exposed a structural problem with Derry in the first game of last year's Championship - and for some bizarre reason just wouldn't fix it. It was a relatively easy fix too but something of the conditioning nature can't be fixed mid season. If you find the opposition is stronger, faster and fitter, then you're not going to find the extra few weeks in a condensed season to fix that. I don't believe Kerry or Galway's problems can't be fixed. They can get whatever they need sorted and push on. Obviously Kerry's injuries are a problem. Some have criticized Jack O'Connor for not trusting panel players and not building a strong enough squad but are the lads coming in actually good enough? You can argue Jack has been around a long time and won plenty. He knows what a Championship player is so maybe we should trust him. If it's a case of the squad simply not being good enough, you do have to wonder why a county like Kerry with their 38 All-Irelands can't build a squad the same way Armagh have. With the way the game is so demanding now and transitional, it's going to be sore on players. So having 20 to 23 lads that can genuinely add to things and play ball is a massive plus. Galway need to sort Damien Comer out and find out one way or another whether he's fit to play in the All-Ireland series - and at least they'll know. It's detrimental to a squad to have that in the back of the head, that maybe when Comer gets back we will move up a level. Goes back to that dangerous word of waiting. They also need to sort the keeper out. I hope I'm wrong here, but I honestly don't see Galway winning on the big stage with Connor Gleeson in goals - and Conor Flaherty isn't the answer either. I feel guilty saying that but I had Galway as my All-Ireland favorites at the start of the year but the more I see of them, the more I think that the keepers just don't have the tools to work it out. Joyce could do worse than have a look around the clubs in Galway. The word in Donegal is that Jim McGuinness has drafted in Danny Rodgers at the tail end of the season to help give cover for the keepers. He identified a fixable problem mid season and sorted it. Joyce can do the same. Throw it all at their effort to win an All-Ireland. For the likes of Kerry and Galway mindset can be important too, when they find themselves in a midseason. Loss of confidence can be terminal at this time of year. It's different for teams that know deep down they're not good enough - but for teams who have the potential to be at the top table and hit a patch like that, it's such a frustrating place to be. I've been there more times than enough with Donegal, where you're ticking along waiting for the spark thinking to yourself that eventually it'll happen and suddenly you find yourself out of the Championship. Just how do you save your season, knowing you have more there? Both teams will have many many conversations - in their wee groups and as a team. Just how do you sort this? You'll see it in so many club teams throughout the year, the fabled crisis meeting will be called. I always loved a crisis meeting myself back in the day. I'll never forget a time with Donegal, going to Murphy and saying I'm not happy here. I said, 'We need to have a meeting,' and he said, 'No, what we need to do is fix it in the training field.' That's something that has always stuck with me. Yes of course there is a time for meetings and talking but sometimes it's easy to talk. The training field is where most of the magic happens, where the bulk of what's going wrong on game day should be fixed. Kerry coughing up goals and being a bit porous, Galway struggling to get out on their own kickouts. They are all things that can be fixed. It can be tempting for teams to fall into the trap of just talking. I believe both teams will get through this weekend okay, Kerry easier than Galway. But unless they get their mindset sorted and fix the problems, they're not going to goany further than the quarter-finals.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Conroy starts for Galway against Down
Last year's Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy returns to start for Galway in their preliminary quarter-final against Down at Pairc replaces Peter Cooke after a strong showing off the bench in the thrilling victory over is also a change in defence as Cian Hernon comes in for Jack Comer is on the bench after missing the Armagh win through injury as Conor Flaherty retains his place between the posts ahead of Connor boss Conor Laverty has made one change to his side after their defeat by Monaghan last Branagan is preferred to Adam Crimmins, who drops to the Ronan Burns; Patrick McCarthy, Peter Fegan Ceilum Doherty; Ryan Magill, Pierce Laverty, Miceal Rooney; Daniel Guinness, Ryan McEvoy; Danny Magill, Odhran Murdock, Eugene Branagan; James Guinness, Pat Havern, John John O'Hare, Ruari McCormick Aaron McClements, Donal Scullion, Eoin McCrickard, Eugene Branagan, Oisin Savage, Caolan Mooney, Finn Murdock, Patrick Brooks, Conor Conor Flaherty; Johnny McGrath, Sean Fitzgerald, Liam Silke; Dylan McHugh, Sean Kelly, Cian Hernon; Paul Conroy, John Maher; Cein Darcy, Matthew Tierney, Cillian McDaid; Rob Finnerty, Shane Walsh, Matthew Connor Gleeson, Jack Glynn, Cathal Sweeney, Sean Mulkerrin, Daniel O'Flaherty, John Daly, Peter Cooke, Kieran Molloy, Tomo Culhane, Johnny Heaney, Damien Comer.
