High drama as defending champions eliminated

On an evening of high drama in Rochfortbridge on Sunday, The Downs saw their faint hopes of revival dashed by a tenacious Tyrrellspass side, who scored a late goal to eke out a one-point victory in Section A of the Westmeath senior football championship.

There was devastation in The Downs camp afterwards and manager Lar Wall said his players were gutted at failing to stay in contention until the final round. The Downs, who contested a Leinster club final last year, will now operate from Section B of the senior championship in 2024.

“We’re out of the championship a week after the All-Ireland final. Larry McCarthy (GAA president) gave James McCarthy the cup last week and said ‘now it’s the turn of the club season’. But the club season is over for us a week later. If we had a few more weeks, and a few more players back, it could be different,” rued Wall.

“But we have only ourselves to blame. We were in control of winning the game and let it slip. Simple.”

The Downs led by 0-7 to 0-1 at one stage in the first half, but Tyrrellspass never gave up and even though they trailed by two points near the finish, a Tommy Ryan goal saw them salvage a narrow victory. In at times an intense battle, Tyrrellspass were reduced to 14 men when Dean McNicholas picked up a straight red card following that Ryan goal, with players from both sides tussling in separate incidents.

The Downs also finished with 14 men after Ciaran Nolan was dismissed on a black card.

“We’re devastated. Just that last minute goal. We were in control of that game from an early stage and we just didn’t put enough of a gap between us and them. We were caught by that late goal and that has been the theme of our year, really,” said The Downs manager. “We probably missed a few chances, but ultimately when there is a two- or three-point gap in the closing stages, there’s always the possibility of a goal going in. I thought we’d do enough to sneak a draw at the end, but it just wasn’t to be.

“We haven’t been firing on all cylinders. That often happens in the second year; players can struggle to get confidence and momentum. We were missing a few players also. We never took our foot off the peddle.

“You’re looking at the need the team has that you’re playing. Tyrrellspass – they have huge motivation for turning us over. They were one step away from a semi-final last year. In other games, St Loman’s, they’re absolutely hungry. It’s a complete reversal of last year. The margins are so tight, when it comes to that hunger it’s all that counts. Motivation can tip the scales.

“I knew when it was getting close, the lead was down to two or three points. Then the goal: how did it sneak in past three players? I have seen it happen to me before: you can’t legislate for it. They were hungry. They were missing a few players too, but they had that real desire. It’s like us last year, we got a last minute point against the run of play to win here. We were just hoping that we would get a glimmer of life, get a result and see where it would take us.”

Ray Sheridan, Tyrrellspass manager, said his side showed character when they were six points adrift. “The Downs have been great champions, but we had to win today and that drove us on. The goal was a massive score: Tommy Ryan has been playing great football all year.

“We beat Killucan, which is a good result, but lost to Caulry and St Loman’s. We were missing a few players, including Ger Egan, Jamie Corcoran and Stephen Quinn. But if we can get to the knock-out stages we might have a few of those back.

“We’re not qualified yet. We’re looking for a result in the last game against Kinnegad. We were just hoping the result would go well for us today and any time you beat The Downs, it’s hard earned. They have been great champions. They are down a key man in Niall Mitchell, while we are down Ger Egan. So it was just a battle. It came down to heart. They went till the very end, as did we, and we just came out on top.

“We have three weeks now to the Kinnegad game in the last round and it all depends on what happens here. If Killucan beat St Loman’s in the last game, we need something against Kinnegad.”

Sheridan is hoping former Westmeath star Ger Egan will get a chance to feature in the knock-out stages of the championship.

“Ger is a machine of a man. I’d say we’ll see him later in the championship if we can stay involved.”

Elsewhere, Killucan denied Coralstown/Kinnegad in another surprise result and they will now target victory against St Loman’s, Mullingar, who are already through to the semi-final, in the last round. Former kingpins Garrycastle suffered another defeat against Tang and have been relegated to intermediate football for next season, a huge setback for a club that won eight senior titles and a Leinster club title in 2011.