Donnelly: 'Down making most          of moment' as last 16 secured

Down 0-25 Louth 0-24

DOWN’S Mickey Donnelly said that his side want to make their time in the Sam Maguire competition count as they are only one game away from an All-Ireland quarter-final.

Monaghan stand in Mourne men’s way following Down’s magnificent narrow win over Louth in a bouncing Pairc Esler on Saturday.

“Like at the end of the day, we're still going down Division Three,” said Donnelly.

“ We are just making the most of the moment that we'll have now. So, ultimately, it's just been maximising the time of the competition and trying to focus on the next day.

“And I suppose that being out of the league, maybe give us real laser focus to get through everything ahead of us because we knew there was no guarantee we're going to play Sam Maguire football next year, so we literally are throwing everything at it.

“But listen, we know what Monaghan are about. I know how good a side they are. It's probably just going to come down to that now in a couple of weeks.

“If you were coming out of Ardee 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 of people but the magnitude of the game is huge and we're delighted to be there, but Monaghan again is another huge challenge, they dealt with Louth very comfortably last week. Again, a lot of fires to put out, a lot of quality players, all the stars like Conor McCarthy. That's the teams we want to put ourselves against and we're looking forward to it.”

Adam Crimmins’ last gasp block on Tommy Durnin earned Down that thrilling win in front of 10,240 fans in Newry.

That’s because with one minute on the clock Down had seen their nine-point lead whittled down to only a point. Conor Laverty’s men then lost possession and Louth had the ball when the hooter sounded, it was now or never and Tommy Durnin pulled the trigger to equalise but 21-year-old Adam Crimmins made magnificent full stretch block and substitute Finn Murdock blasted ball out of play for a famous win.

Down posed massive questions to Louth at the break with a nine-point lead (0-16 to 0-07). The Mourne men suffered a blow when talisman James Guinness pulled up injured during the week but you wouldn’t have thought it as Down put the Wee County to the sword.

Down love their Saturday night football and it has taken three years to get to this fixture in the All-Ireland Series and they grasped the opportunity with both hands with commanding first half.

Odhran Murdock set the tone when he won the throw-in with one hand before striding forward and striking over a two-pointer with only 14 seconds on the clock. Ryan Magill and Ryan McEvoy tagged on scores before Sam McElroy (free) ended Louth’s drought on eight minutes.

The Leinster Champions were slow in their attack in the early stages and were stood up by a well-drilled Down defence and the men and red and black displayed some of that famous swagger as the raced into a 0-10 to 0-01 lead with only 15 minutes on the clock.

Celium Doherty’s effort clipped the inside of the post before Danny Magill landed a two-pointer and his Burren club-mate Murdock (free) did likewise. Conor Laverty’s side could have nabbed a goal but keeper Niall McDonnell denied Ryan McEvoy with a fantastic save.

It was 22 minutes before Pat Havern opened his account, then Louth responded through Conal McKeever, McElroy (free), corner forward Ryan Burns and Conor Grimes but just as it seemed Down could be wobbling Havern delivered with a fine strike and then a booming 60-meters two-pointer, which had many of the 10, 240 supporters in Newry on their feet.

Danny Magill drilled over two points to take Down’s tally to an impressive 16-points but Ryan Burns and Ciaran Downey had the last say to narrow the gap for the Wee County.

Murdock’s coverted free put Down ten-points clear but it was never going to be smooth path to the finish line even though the Mourne men where still nine points in front with 15 minutes to go.

They had managed the game brilliantly, with maturity and points from Ceilum Doherty, Danny Magill, Crimmins and Havern gave Down a 0-22 lead to 0-13 lead with 52 minutes played.

Ciaran Downey’s shot crashed off the post and that was a warning from Louth as they turned the screw and the game on it’s head by outscoring Down 0-11 to 0-03.

“Momentum has even become a bigger facet of the game because kickouts are huge,” Donnelly said.

“Louth came on a massive press, pushed the keeper her out pushed next to the defender up the field. We couldn't get our hands on the ball at all. I think allied with the whole scoring system, momentum's huge as well and we just couldn't break that momentum.

“Sometimes players go into their shell and all of a sudden the balls that were sticking are knocking off lads hands or they're coming off a knee and all of a sudden you're bearing down your goal again.”

Sam Mulroy and Craig Lennon grabbed two-pointers within a minute of each other before Tommy Durnams sweet left foot effort made it a three-point game with ten minutes still to play.

Down were on the back foot and Louth on top, but Shay Millar grabbed a vital point as Down displayed some fight.

However, Mulroy posted another two-pointer and Downey tagged on a point, it was now a one-point game with five minutes on the clock. Havern and Downey traded points in frantic finale and with seconds away from the hooter, the shouts from the Down crowd were telling the players to hold on to the ball.

But Eugene Branagan’s kick caught Millar unaware and the ball trickled out for a goal kick, giving Louth one last chance to either win or draw the game. The fear amongst the Down support was real, but they need not have worried with Crimmins’ magnificent full stretch block and Rostrevor’s Finn Murdock blasted the ball out of play.

The Down coach praised the Mourne fans and admitted that having two weeks to prepare for Louth gave his side a huge advantage.

“We had a fortnight leading into the game, which was huge. We were sitting watching Louth in the hotel last Saturday as a collective, watching the game together. It was probably last Sunday, last Monday, before Louth actually got a chance to really look at us, but we had a fortnight,” Donnelly said.

“It's huge because the amount of preparation's been done now. It's phenomenal in terms of video preparation and, you know, 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. And that's just fortune in the draw. We've got a fortnight's break. We've got a fortnight now to look at Monaghan so it's brilliant.

So, it's fantastic to see people behind us. Jim McGuinness speaks an awful lot about doing it for the people of Donegal. We have a group of players that are very conscious of representing their country in the best possible way they can and their clubs and their families, but I think they did that today.

“Down people came out tonight and by God, we needed everyone to get over the line of the night.”

DOWN: Ronan Burke, Patrick McCarthy, Peter Fegan, Ceilum Doherty (0-02), Ryan Magill (0-01), Pierce Laverty, Miceal Rooney, Adam Crimmins (0-02), Ryan McEvoy, Danny Magill (0-06 ,1tp), Odhran Murdock (0-05 1tp, 1tpf), Finn McElroy, James Guinness, Pat Havern (0-06, 1tp), John McGeough (0-01)

Subs: Caolan Mooney (0-01) for J Guinness (46’), Shay Millar (0-01) for Ryan McEvoy (48’), Eugene Branagan for F McElroy (50’), Finn Murdock for Rooney (63’),

LOUTH: Niall McDonnell, Daire Nally, Dermot Campbell, Donal McKenny, Conal McKeever (0-01) , Peter Lynch, Craig Lennon (0-03, 1tp), Tommy Durnin (0-02, 1tp), Ciaran Byrne, Bevan Duffy, Ciaran Downey (0-04), Conor Grimes, Ciaran Keenan, Sam Mulroy (0-12, 2tp, 2tpf), Ryan Burns (0-02)

Subs: Dara McDonnell for B Duffy (h-time), Anthony Williams for P Lynch (41’), Paul Mathews for Grimes (61’), Kieran McArdle for C Byrne (61’), Dylan McKeown for C Keenan (68’).

Referee: David Gough (Meath) replaced by Noel Mooney (Cavan) 21’.