IT was great to get the win over Offaly on Saturday evening and we now look forward to beaten Connacht finalists Sligo in the last 12 of the All-Ireland.
Offaly were not beaten at home this season up to that point and they started brilliantly hitting a goal and a few points in the opening few minutes.
It took us a while to settle but after a poor first half performance we only went on three points down.
Our second half performance was much better and I felt we should have scored a few more goals but they important aspect is that we are through to the next round.
The Offaly manager said to us after the game that their performance on Saturday was the best they played all year so we should take some positives from that.
Sligo is an extremely tough game for us, they beat Mayo and Galway on their way to the provincial final and on Sunday they seemed be extremely nervous and did not carry the favourites tag too well.
They will be hurting from their defeat over Roscommon so it is imperative that we get a good start this weekend. If we can get a few early scores then we can knock their confidence even more.
The Down fans were brilliant again on Saturday and we must have outnumbered Offaly by three to one.
I am sure you will be out in force again at the weekend and we hope to do you proud. We are conscious that you are paying a lot of money in a time were work is at a low ebb. I feel sorry for you having to pay the big prices into games these days.
When you take into account ticket prices, food and diesel money then it all adds up to an expensive day.
I don’t understand why the hierarchy in Croke Park cannot lower their prices, every weekend there seems to be a rise in tickets prices.
The only answer I can give the public is that the people who make these prices never usually have to pay into the games; maybe this is why they are so high.
Armagh never performed to their potential on Saturday but I feel Paddy has taken them forward this year and they should definitely be a stronger outfit next season.
Dublin seemed to beat Armagh at their own game by breaking up attacks in their own defence and using to ball constructively to create scoring opportunities.
The Dubs are starting to play a bit better and they will still be force to be reckoned with during the latter stages of the Championship.
Everyone would love to see Louth win at the weekend but I feel that Dublin will be too strong for them.