Wall ‘very, very happy’ as The Downs advance to semi-finals

After what had been a surprisingly comfortable win against a fancied St Mary’s, Ardee outfit in last Sunday’s Leinster club quarter-final (see pages 62/63), The Downs’ senior football manager Lar Wall was, understandably, very pleased with his troops’ display.

The eight-point win was especially noteworthy given the winners’ four-week lay-off since dethroning St Loman’s, Mullingar, and the fact that four players had been away in the days before the game as part of the Tailteann Cup-winning Lake County squad.

Wall concurred, stating: “To be honest, we weren’t sure coming in how we were prepared, it was such an unusual build-up. The Mexico thing last week was a big worry but, thankfully, the lads came through and put in enormous shifts, the four of them.

“They came in on Friday morning so we had them Friday evening, but it was all about trying to put energy back into them and adjusting the body clock.”

The Laois man continued: “We controlled the game for most of it. However, we took control early on and we showed our class. I said a few weeks back that I thought there was a lot more in this team in a football sense than you saw in the county semi-final and final, and I think you saw some of that today.

“Kevin’s (O’Sullivan) goal in the fourth minute set us up nicely. It was a great tonic. We’re good at opening up teams like that. It’s in our locker. Overall, we’re very, very happy.

“To be fair to Ardee, they were under pressure coming in with injuries week after week. And when that starts going against you, it is really hard and that is what you saw there,” he sportingly added.

While he conceded that some aspects of The Downs’ display slightly disappointed him, Wall wanted to hone in on the positive.

“We did our job today. We asked for unbelievable work rate and honesty, without the ball as much as with it, and we got that,” he explained. “I was nervous coming into it with the four-week lay-off but I thought we defended excellently again.

“I don’t like playing sweepers, but maybe we’ll have to in the semi-final. I like opponents to be able to cope as best they can with their direct opponent. The backs were magnificent today against quality forwards, as they were in the county final.

“We could have done a bit more up front, we dropped a few balls short, but I don’t want to nit-pick. We have excellent forwards who stand up on different days. There is always a lot of emphasis on Luke (Loughlin) and Niall (Mitchell), they invariably get special attention, but other lads always chip in.

“The hallmark of our season is how many lads have scored. Conor Coughlan chipped in with a few points today. I try to keep him back defending, but he won’t do what he is told,” he added with a smile.

The Downs will now face Meath champions Ratoath in the first leg of a mouth-watering penultimate round double-header in Croke Park next Saturday week. Wall knows Ratoath well after his Kells team were beaten by them deep in injury-time in the Meath final of 2021.

Earning the chance to play in Croke Park was a big carrot last Sunday. In this regard, Wall opined: “We did mention it after the county final. Croke Park is always there, especially when the draw came out, but we wouldn’t have mentioned it in the last four weeks really.

“We knew the prize today, and it was the same for St Mary’s and the other six teams in the quarters. So it was all about the performance and the elements of the performance, that’s what we focused on.

“Playing in Croke Park is every player’s dream. We’ll enjoy the build-up and prepare well as we always do,” he concluded.