Down chisel out a victory with character

No end-of-term giddiness at The Marshes. Down finished out the year by marking another upstroke on their improvement graph. Kildare, beaten more comprehensively than the slender margin suggests, headed off for a period of gentle introspection.

As Pete McGrath noted afterwards, this was a game which Down desperately wanted to win. The points from yesterday's affray give them a share of the lead in their division. Defeat would have left them hopelessly astray.

Needing to win and having the wherewithal to do so are the difference between aspiration and success, however, and between injuries, suspensions and sabbaticals, Down weren't much favoured against a Kildare team which came to Newry with a perfect record.

The home side prevailed, though, adding another notable scalp to their belt. With a little luck and some unity in the camp, Down have the potential to be a force again next summer.

Victory was chiselled out of character more than flair, but character has often been in scarce supply during winter in these parts. And in patches, there was flair aplenty.

With only three of Down's last All-Ireland winning team in harness, it was a young team which played with surprising cohesion. McGrath felt afterwards that the absence of Mickey Linden from the full forward spot had led to a little tentativeness in the matter of delivering the ball to the forwards, and certainly many of the build-ups were laboured. But players like Shane Ward and Gavin Murdock (hampered by injury) showed for plenty of ball. If McGrath can get Linden, Gregory McCartan and Ciaran McCabe back in harness for the spring, he will be pretty much sorted from the midfield up.

Defence was solid yesterday, and full back Brian Burns was notably excellent. Kildare's goal in the 23rd minute was not without its comic elements, as a bad clearance fell to Bosco French who fluffed his first contact but rode out the opportunity with determination and poked the ball home eventually.

That score gave Kildare the lead for the first time, but they never quite developed the fluency necessary to capitalise on it. The sides swapped points between then and half-time, leaving Mick O'Dwyer's side with a two-point lead.

Kildare took a very short break and were back on the field a full five minutes before Down re-emerged. O'Dwyer may think in hindsight that there was more talking to have been done.

Down scored the first five points of the second half in a 20minute period of play which earned them the right to the points and hinted at better things to come when the ground firms up in the New Year.

Down's best periods of play in that second period almost yielded goals. Shane McMahon finished a splendid passing move by drawing a good save from Christy Byrne. Patrick Sloan was fouled by full back Quinn at the end of another move and Murdock popped the penalty wide.

But Down dominated down the spine of the field and had sufficient speed and spark from their corner forwards to make sure that their game was varied enough to keep Kildare alert.

Kildare, a little out of sorts themselves, missed the assured presence of Davy Dalton and Glen Ryan. They introduced former Waterford player Gavin Keane for the last 15 minutes. He did little of consequence, but his impressive frame suggested that, if used wisely, he could be an asset.

Absences will have altered the character of both sides sufficiently for either manager to feel warranted in taking whatever message they want out of the game. In the end, both teams kept alive the prospect of securing some useful play-off action next spring.

Both are in that developmental limbo: good enough to earn passage to the play-offs. Unsteady enough to need them desperately.

Down: M McVeigh; L Howlett, B Burns, M McMurray; F Caulfield (0-1), M Magill, S Poland; C Deegan, A Molloy; G McMahon, G Murdock (0-4, three frees), P Sloan (0-1); S Ward (0-2), S McMahon (0-1), G Deegan (0- 3, two frees).

Kildare: C Byrne; B Lacey, R Quinn, B Fahy; J Finn, N Buckley, D Maher; B Murphy, K Brennan; J Whelan, D Kerrigan (0-2), M Lynch (0-1); P Brennan (0-3, two frees), N Donlon, B French (1-2). Subs: P McCormack for Whelan (half-time), G Keane for Donlon (48 mins).

Referee: P Casserly (Westmeath)