Down take full advantage as Sligo fail to exorcise Connacht final demons

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIER ROUND FOUR Down 3-20 Sligo 0-10:ONE TOPIC dominated the agenda in the aftermath of Down's emphatic dismissal of Sligo, the seemingly impossible barrier that a six-day turnaround presents to the losers of provincial finals.

All four provincial losers bowed out of the championship this weekend. Sligo’s exit was particularly limp as Down capitalised on a team unable to exorcise their Connacht final demons.

Sligo manager Kevin Walsh admitted it was all but impossible to reinvigorate his side within a week of a Connacht final that Sligo had been hotly tipped to win. “It was going to be a huge task to try and lift things after last week. There was a 13-day rule in place there a few years ago. There’s something there. Munster’s final was two or three weeks ago. We didn’t have that,” he said.

His counterpart, James McCartan, was sympathetic to Sligo’s predicament. He said: “It’s very unfair. The system of a six-day turnaround; I was on the receiving end of that in my last year as a player. I know what it’s like trying to raise a dressingroom. It’s not easy and I do think that it’s something that would need to be looked at. It seems to penalise the team who loses the provincial final.”

Down delighted in taking full advantage of a particularly vulnerable Sligo outfit. The tone was set within 15 seconds of the throw-in. John Clarke was the benefactor of nice build-up play involving his younger brother, Martin, and Kalum King. From there Down players breezed past Sligo as if they weren’t there.

King lorded midfield early on and Down began with an impressive half-forward line of Danny Hughes, Martin Clarke and Benny Coulter. Together with their peers in the full-forward line they began to add scores at will.

Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen and David Kelly pointed in the first half for Sligo but the attacks were all too sporadic.

In contrast Down were relentless and when they scored their first goal on 29 minutes the game already looked to be over as a contest. Benny Coulter wriggled past his man and fisted across the square where John Clarke palmed home from close range.

With Down leading 1-10 to 0-6 the game offered little as a spectacle other than one team bullying another. Things only deteriorated for Sligo in the second half. Down bettered their first-half scoring tally while Sligo could only offer a four-point return in a dismal second-half display.

On 39 minutes Down not only made the game safe they added swagger to their performance.

Ambrose Rodgers netted after his initial shot rebounded into his hands. Down brought on a number of substitutes with Ronan Murtagh posting a second-half return of 1-5 to give him more than a sporting chance of starting the quarter-final at the weekend.

After minimal injury time Sligo headed for the shelter of the dressingroom.

In the aftermath manager Kevin Walsh refused to speculate on his future with Sligo or elsewhere.

“I’m not going to make any comment. I’ll have to meet the county board and selectors. That’s along the line. We have to lift ourselves after this and we’ll probably talk about it over the next few weeks,” said Walsh.

Raising spirits is not something McCartan will have to worry about. He insists though that Down have much work to do. He said: “We’re not world beaters overnight but maybe the question being asked of us in the last couple of games we responded to. It’s a learning curve.”

DOWN: B McVeigh, D McCartan, D Gordon, D Rafferty, D Rooney, K McKernan (0-1), C Garvey (0-1), A Rodgers (1-1), K King, D Hughes (0-3), M Poland (0-2), P McComiskey (0-1), B Coulter, J Clarke (1-1), M Clarke (0-4). Subs: R Murtagh (1-5)for B Coulter, D O'Hagan for D Rafferty, P Fitzpatrick (0-1)for K King, R Sexton for P McComiskey, J Brown for M Clarke.

SLIGO: P Greene, C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan, K Cawley, B Kennedy, J Davey, E Mullan, S Downey, A Costello, M Brehony (0-1), E O'Hara, S Coen (0-2), A Marren (0-3), D Kelly (0-2). Subs: P McGovern for J Davey, S Gilmartin for S Downey, K Sweeney for A Costello, C McGee (0-2)for M Brehony, F Quinn for E O'Hara.