Ulster Championship: Conor Laverty's 'steely' Down subdue struggling Donegal

Minutes before the throw-in, Conor Laverty was out with with his Down players on the Pairc Esler pitch issuing final instructions.

Nobody else was doing any talking as the Kilcoo man rallied his troops. It was abundantly clear who was in charge.

Conceding an immediate goal as Donegal's Jason McGee pounced after a defensive mix-up would not have been part of Laverty's pre-match planning.

However, the Kilcoo man said that his team's reaction to that early setback showed the "steel" that has been fused into a previously woefully under-performing Mourne squad during his eight months in charge.

"I told the lads at half-time that I was delighted with the response after the goal," Laverty told BBC Sport Northern Ireland after his team's 2-13 to 1-11 victory.

"Whenever you are coming in as a Division Three team against a Division One team and the Division One team hits the net early, it can really turn into a very difficult game.

"But I thought the response from them, and that's what's different about this Down team, showed that they have real steel in them."

'This win for true Down men like Wee James'

Bear in mind that Down did not win a single competitive game last year in a campaign which had eight defeats and a solitary draw.

Asked what has sparked the Mourne revival this year, Laverty spoke of the value of good, old-fashioned hard work.

"There has been great talent in Down over this past number of years but we felt that they weren't maximising that and putting their shoulder to the wheel enough.

"There's a real togetherness in this group. Whenever you train hard together and you go to a lot of dark places, whenever games come against you in game scenarios, then you can always go back to that reserve."

Laverty also paid tribute to last year's manager James McCartan, whom he described as being among the "good men who have given time up for Down football" in recent years for little reward.

"The likes of wee James last year when maybe nobody else wanted the job and it's [today] for men like that who are true Down men."

Laverty said he was delighted that the Down players got the chance to experience victory in front of a big home crowd at Pairc Esler

After all the trauma of 2022, Laverty was happy to see Down players sampling a joyful Pairc Esler occasion again.

"I'm glad the players are getting to experience this," said Laverty, as young fans in the 9,139 attendance congratulated their Down heroes on the pitch afterwards.

"The Down support has been amazing all year. They have come up in big numbers to support this and as players, we really respect them giving up their hard earned money to come here.

"We put a lot of emphasis today on not letting those people down today and doing them proud."

Amid all that joy, Laverty quickly went back into management speak when asked about the prospect of playing Armagh in the second Ulster semi-final at Clones next weekend.

"Listen Armagh are going to be massive favourites going into it. They are among the top five or six teams in Ireland and we know the task we've going to be up against."

But the smile was scarcely leaving his face.

Aidan O'Rourke was appointed interim Donegal boss four weeks ago after Paddy Carr's dramatic resignation

Amid the Down joy, Donegal's interim boss Aidan O'Rourke bravely fronted up for the TV cameras after the latest instalment of the team's annus horriblis.

Two months ago, he couldn't have envisaged having to a post-match interview on this particular day.

However, as Donegal folk and indeed many others know after the headlines that have surrounded the county's GAA fortunes this year, a lot has happened since then.

"Frustration probably is the big emotion," said the 2002 Armagh All-Ireland winner.

"We brought a lot of effort to the game. No shortage of lads pushing hard and all the rest of it but ultimately we weren't good enough.

"We didn't take our chances. We turned too much ball over and gave Down too much ball to play with.

"We took the foot off the gas a wee bit after the goal and let Down get a foothold.

"We were getting little patterns of control. I think we had 34 shots in the match but we weren't making it count and ultimately Down took their chances and good luck to them."

'Difficult to think about All-Ireland series at this stage'

Just as he had maintained at the team's pre-championship call last Tuesday evening, O'Rourke insisted that the squad had prepared well for the Newry contest despite all the negative publicity that had been generated by Paddy Carr's dramatic departure four weeks ago.

"I don't really know if that's a factor at all. It's a game in isolation and we treated it in that way. We prepared really well for it.

"But ultimately it doesn't matter how hard you work if you don't show what you're capable of doing."

As he spoke, O'Rourke admitted thinking about Donegal's impending Super 16s challenge at that particular juncture wasn't the easiest prospect.

"It's very difficult to think about the All-Ireland series at this stage. It will take a few days.

"Defeat at this level is very tough particularly when you put so much into preparation and we would have felt they were in a good place coming in so we have to refocus and have a hard look at what's working and what's not.

"But there are a lot of teams in the same position, the league champions [Mayo] included. We'll use the time and we'll be ready then hopefully for the All-Ireland series."

What else could he say?