Burns ponders Down future

EAMONN BURNS says he will ‘contemplate’ his future as Down manager in the coming weeks after the county’s worst year on record ended in humiliation. Saturday’s defeat by Longford in Newry was an 11th inter-county defeat in 11 matches this year. ‘It’s been a difficult year,’ said Burns. ‘We’re in transition. We’re not going to make a knee-jerk reaction, we’ll contemplate it over the next week or two.’ Longford scored goals in each half of extra-time in Pairc Esler and apart from the third quarter, dominated the opposition. ‘It’s a fantastic result for us,’ said Longford boss Denis Connerton. ‘We knew Down had a bad season and thought there’d be a bit of fight in them, but we were quietly confident coming up.’ LONGFORD: P Collum; C Farrelly, B Gilleran (P McGee 47), D Brady; D McElligot, M Quinn (D Givney 89), D Masterson; M Brady, D Gallagher (L Connerton 55); D Reynolds (B Farrell 67), J McGivney (M Hughes 80), B McKeon (S Hannon 60); R Smyth (R Connor 86), B Kavanagh, B O’Farrell. Scorers: B Kavanagh 0-6 (5f), R Smyth (1f) M Quinn 0-4, S Hannon 1-1, J McGivney, D Masterson 0-3, M Hughes 1-0, B McKeon 0-2, D Reynolds 0-1. DOWN: M Reid; C McGovern, G McGovern, D O’Hagan; D McKibbin (G Collins 43), A Carr (B McArdle 89), D O’Hanlon; P Turley, K McKernan (M McKay 53, H Brown 79); R Mallon, M Poland, J Murphy (D Turley 55); C Maginn (K McKernan 84), D O’Hare, B O’Hagan (S Dornan 63). Scorers: D O’Hare 2-9 (0-8f), C Maginn 1-1, R Mallon 0-4, B O’Hagan, S Dornan, M Poland 0-1. Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry). ORLA BANNON