'Fantastic today but we have to kick on'

UNDER THE hood of the stand, Down’s James McCartan called for order – and not for the first time in his managerial life. The “escape to victory” nature of this match will intensify the focus on the Mourne men ahead of their definitive date with Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final. McCartan, as ever, tried to put the win in perspective.

“Look, it is one day. We got a victory there today but we could have easily gone up the road having lost. Winning here doesn’t make us world-beaters and losing doesn’t make us a desperate bad team either. The boys showed a bit of character. It was an open game and it might have been attractive but that performance won’t scare Tyrone. Fantastic today but we have to kick on.”

That was the general mood of the departing victors. Young midfielder Kalum King, who responded to the early setback of a yellow card with a commanding display, said he hoped this was the real start for Down and paid tribute to his team captain.

“I hope this is the start of it but we are a small team and we will see where it goes. The momentum seems to be coming and going the whole time. Benny (Coulter) anywhere has an affect. His experience and his explosiveness; he is a great player for anyone to model themselves on.”

Coulter accepted a fine-looking vase from the BBC for his brilliant attacking performance. Later, he admitted this was a crucial game for Down. “When you get a wee bit older you begin to see there is not long left and you do want to win some kind of thing with your county,” he said.

McCartan smiled when it was put to him that Coulter’s roving outfield had had a major bearing on the game.

“Well, he did fairly well on the inside too. We just tried to shuffle the deck a bit and try not to make things predictable. But there were so many changes going on in extra time it was hard to keep track of them. But yeah, Benny certainly got his hands on a lot of ball.”

This defeat leaves the picture in Donegal looking blurred. One of the bright sparks of a muddled performance came from Mark McHugh in extra-time. The young Kilcar man has now lost an All-Ireland under-21 final and an Ulster senior championship match in a matter of weeks.

“The experienced boys are the ones who are heartbroken,” he said. “Time is running short a wee bit and an Ulster title was their main goal and they are not going to get it now this year. We will take a break, get back to training and see where it takes us.”

Coach John Joe Doherty considered another disappointing day but refused to despair.

“I said to the boys in there, it is not a new phenomenon in Donegal – away back in my time, we got plenty of beatings and there is no point trying to lay the blame on a new crop of players.”