The Downs chairman: ‘We are fully intent on winning the game’

Currently chairman of the club, Aiden McGuire has given enormous service to The Downs as a player and administrator, and when he spoke to the assembled media last Friday night he was very upbeat about the upcoming Leinster final.

At the outset, he stated: “As everybody knows by now, it is 50 years since we played in a Leinster final. It’s history for these lads and, hopefully, they can go a step further than the last time.

“Certainly, I think they have the wherewithal to do it – they are young, they are mobile, they are very calm for young fellows, very determined and focused on what they want to do.

“They are a mature bunch beyond their years, and they are all playing for one another and fighting for one another.”

He conceded that it had been frustrating to see the Flanagan Cup bereft of black and amber ribbons since 2005.

“We were in three semi-finals prior to this year and some people were afraid that if we didn’t get over the line soon, this team might fizzle out,” he said. “I think the addition of Lar (Wall) this year gave us an extra impetus to get to the Westmeath final.

“After winning in 2003 and 2005, we thought we might win a few more, but we didn’t. We’d like to think now that this team might win a few more, but who knows what we’ll do?

“There are four or five clubs every year in the county who can emerge and at least get to a final. St Loman’s have not gone away, and full credit to them for getting to eight finals in a row, for maintaining that level of competitiveness and drive. It was a fantastic achievement,” he sportingly added. He was under no illusions about the enormity of the task facing The Downs next Sunday. “Kilmacud Crokes are a marquee team. I think the club has around 5,000 members which is ten times what we have. That said, we are going to Croke Park fully intent on winning the game. We will not be happy just to appear in a Leinster final,” he opined.

“This run has been a great fillip to the club, especially the young generation. Everybody is flying high and buzzing. Most of the lads who won the championship recently barely remember the last win in 2005.

“There weren’t too many left in The Downs for the semi-final, and there won’t be many left here on the day of the final either,” McGuire concluded.