Mourne County are just one game away from last eight

AIB All-Ireland SFC Group 3 Round 3. Sunday June 15 (2pm) at The Box-It Athletic Grounds: Down v Monaghan

Down coach Mickey Donnelly couldn’t be happier with where his side are ahead of the final group game against Monaghan, with two wins from two and a great attitude from the players.

Down's Patrick McCarthy escapes a tackle from Louth's Ryan Burns during their recent meeting at Pairc Esler. Pic: Brendan Monaghan

placeholder image — Down's Patrick McCarthy escapes a tackle from Louth's Ryan Burns during their recent meeting at Pairc Esler. Pic: Brendan Monaghan

It’s hard to believe that Down are just one game away from a place in the last eight.

“If you were coming out of Drogheda a couple of months ago and someone said that we would be one game away from an All-Ireland quarter-final you would have taken the arm off people, but Monaghan again is another huge challenge,” he said after Down’s victory over Louth in Pairc Esler.

Down's Danny Magill has been in top form this season. Pic: John Merry

“Again, there are a lot of fires to put out, a lot of quality players, All Stars like Conor McCarthy, but that's the teams we want to put ourselves against and we're looking forward to it.”

And with a young squad who, for the most part, have no experience playing for Sam Maguire, Donnelly recalls the magnitude of Down’s history in Croke Park.

“Adam Crimmins [the young Mayobridge player who was the hero of the hour against Louth] wasn’t born the last time Down won the All-Ireland, but I suppose a lot of the boys would remember the 2010 All-Ireland final against Cork,” he said.

“Lav [Conor Laverty] came on in the final, Marty [Clarke, coach] was an All-Star in 2010, James Colgan, who's one of our medical teams, was part of the squad as well. It's about making players cognisant and aware of their history.

“It might sound like a cliché. You'll never get to where you want to go to if you have no reflection of where you've come from and we try to make them aware of that as much as we possibly can.”

Down will certainly not be getting ahead of themselves but having had a fortnight between their last two fixtures is something that Donnelly has found really beneficial in terms of preparation.

“It's huge because of the amount of preparation that’s being done now. It's phenomenal in terms of video preparation and match-ups and looking at individual players. There's a hell of a lot of work that goes into it.

“To cram that into seven or eight days is crazy, but we probably reap the benefit out of having [those two weeks]. And that's just fortune in the draw.”