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Rampant Down demolish Sligo

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Down 3-20. Sligo 0-10.

DOWN are through to the last eight in their quest for the Sam Maguire after taking Connaught finalists Sligo apart at Breffni Park on Saturday.
It was a truly astounding performance from the first whistle until referee Mick Deegan called time after 72 minutes.
The game was over as a contest five minutes into the second half when Ambrose Rogers raced through, seeing his first shot saved before knocking in the rebound.
Although Down led 1-10 to 0-6 at the interval and were well in control, Down's previous inconsistent performances in previous games meant that fans could not know what to expect in the second half.
However, fans hadn't long to wait for an answer as that lead was stretched to 2-12 to 0-6 in the first five minutes of the second half. After that it was all a formality with James McCartan able to give five of his subs a run out.
The star man on the night may well have been Ronan Murtagh, hitting 1-5 and putting in a strong claim for a starting place in the quarter final.
This was a real team effort from Down but there were individual performances which deserve a mention. Martin Clarke was again the chief playmaker with his expertly placed passes creating many scores for his teammates and his tremendous ability to get hids hand or foot to the ball which he didn't seem to have any chance of winning.
Danny Hughes, just back from injury, gave his marker a torrid time and his three points from play were expertly taken. Kevin McKernan, who came in for James Colgan, also had a stormer, often moving up to join attacks and also get his name on the scoresheet.
Conor Garvey was another who stepped up considerably on recent performances with some great interceptions and superb blocking. He also linked up well going forward, getting his name on the scoresheet.
Dan Gordon, after a nervous start against Offaly, never put a foot wrong, his high-fielding cutting out Sligo's attempts to hit the long passes to their corner forwards. One of his great catches and deliveries led to Down's first goal.
Down took the lead within the first minute, when Martin Clarke set up brother John, who shot over.
Inside two minutes Paul McComiskey found Danny Hughes, who split the hosts' defence after Dan Gordon had broken up a Sligo attack to set up a great goal chance.
Benny Coulter lost his marker, passing to Ambrose Rogers. It looked as if he would go for goal himself, but instead he passed to the unmarked Paul McComiskey, whose goal effort was smothered by keeper Phillip Greene. It went out for a 45 which was converted by Martin Clarke.
Sligo opened their account with a free from Adrian Marren. Scores were then exchanged in the next two minutes, making the score 0-5 to 0-3 after 17 minutes.
Two frees from Martin Clarke in the next ten minutes brought the score to 0-7 to 0-3 and he scored again on 29 minutes to increase Down's lead.
Then a Sligo attack was broken up by Dan Gordon, the ball going to Benny Coulter. Despite being tightly marked he got clear and advanced on goal before fisting across to John Clarke, who finished into the net.
Sligo added three points in the closing minutes of the half, with Down scoring two to leave the half-time score at 1-10 - 0-6 to Down.
Two further points early in the second half from McComiskey and Rogers gave Down a nine point lead.
Another goal from Down soon followed from Ambrose Rogers, putting Down well in the lead. Ronan Murtagh then came on for the injured Benny Coulter and was quick to make his mark, with two points in consecutive minutes. He scored again a few minutes later after taking a pass from Damian Rafferty to make the score 2-15 to 0-8 with 20 minutes left.
Eight minutes later Ronan Murtagh got on the scoresheet once more before Sligo scored two points to try and claw back some of the massive deficit they were facing.
Near the end a charge forward from Jason Brown saw his shot hit the crossbar for Ronan Murtagh to convert the rebound into the net, giving him impressive figures of 1-5 for his day's work.
Sligo scored a consolation point before Danny Hughes and Danny Fitzpatrick completed the scoring.
So Down are now headed for the quarter final where they will be trying to de-throne reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry.
Teams and scorers:
Down - Brendan McVeigh, Declan Rooney, an Gordon, Damian Rafferty, Daniel McCArtan, Kevin McKernan (0-1), Conor Garvey (0-1), Ambrose Rogers (1-1), Kalum King, Daniel Hughes (0-3), Mark Poland (0-2), Paul McComiskey (0-1), Brendan Coulter, John Clarke (1-1), Martin Clarke (0-4). Subs - Ronan Murtagh (1-5), Darren O'Hagan, Peter Fitzpatrick (0-1), Jason Brown and Ronan Sexton.
Sligo - Philip Greene, Charlie Harrison, Noel McGuire, Ross Donovan, Keelan Crawley, Brian Kennedy, Johnny Davey, Eugene Mullen, Sean Davey, Alan Costello, Mark Brepeny (0-1), Eamon O'Hara, Stephen Cohen (0-3), Adrian Marren (0-3), David Kelly (0-2). Subs - Paul McGovern, Stephen Gilmarten, Kenneth Sweeney, Colm McKee (0-1), Francis Quinn.
Referee Mick Deegan (Laois)

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