South Down struggle in Meagher Cup tie

Leitrim 1-13

South Down 1-12

SOUTH Down left themselves with a mountain to climb after a very poor first half showing where their seemingly experimental line-up failed to gel and their forward play lacked any plan or cohesion.

They found themselves under pressure at the back and even though the defence played manfully they conceded 11 points, most of them from placed balls following some rather rash tackling.

Paul O’Neill and James McGrath were the only bright lights up front with Paul getting three points from frees and James getting the only point from play.

The introduction of Paul Sheehan shortly after half time and a few other overdue substitutions produced the fight-back that almost snatched a most unlikely victory.

Colm O’Neill was brought on to bolster a struggling half back line. Paul O’Neill was moved to midfield and the greater freedom he found there saw him become more prominent in the game and the move of James McGrath out to the half forward line saw him at the centre of most of Down’s best opportunities.

Down finally saw the wisdom of directing their puck-outs down the right wing and when Paul Sheehan gained possession he and Paul O’Neill struck up a fine partnership which saw O’Neill fire over three points from play and two more from frees with Sheehan soloing through for a fine score himself.

Suddenly South Down were just one point in arrears and the fight-back was on. An exchange of points between Leitrim’s centre half forward and South Down’s Eoin Donnelly and Brian Morgan set the scene for a grandstand finish.

With excitement mounting for the first time in the game Aidan Brown handpassed the ball to the inrushing Liam Deegan who crashed the sliotar to the roof of the net and Down led by two points with just two minutes remaining.

Victory looked on but then in injury time Eoin Donnelly lost possession in a promising Down attack and the ball went straight down the field for Leitrim to grab their match-saving goal.

Down continued to press for the equaliser but it wasn’t to be and Leitrim emerged as narrow victors in a game that they had dominated for so long.

Now South Down must regroup for a must win game next weekend if they are to advance further in the competition and after that thrilling second half come-back they now know they have the ability to take their hopes one step further

Best for South Down were Gary McMullan, Paul Kelly, John Murphy, James McGrath, Paul O’Neill and Paul Sheehan with Paul McCusker and Kevin Fegan battling hard to stem the tide in defence.

Team: Gary McMullan; Willie McCartan, Paul Kelly, Liam Deegan(1-0); Paul McCusker, John Murphy, Kevin Fegan; John Brown, Miceal McCartan; Padraig Pearse McCartan, Paul O’Neill (0-8), Eoin Donnelly (0-1), Noel Burns, James McGrath (0-1), Aidan Brown. Subs: Paul Sheehan (0-1), Brian Morgan (0-1), Colm O’Neill, Ian Galway, Niall Savage, Paddy Burns, Damien Kearns.