MOURNE ON A MISSION

Laverty out to shake off that Down also-rans tag

CONOR LAVERTY was cranky. His body language made that clear.

Sure, the main goal in the League was promotion from Division Three.

His Down team had achieved that, and in freewheeling fashion.

They went into the final against Westmeath having scored 14 goals in their previous six matches.

In that decider, though, they didn’t manage a goal chance, let alone a goal.

On September 18, 1994, Down won Sam Maguire for the fifth time.

But this was their sixth final in different competitions in Croke Park, and they’d lost all six.

Taking in finals outside of Croker, there have been 12 finals since ’94 and with a 100 per cent return. The wrong 100 per cent. Played 12, lost 12.

So when the losing record in finals on Jones’s Road was brought up by a reporter after the Division Three loss, Laverty barked a three word question in response.

“Who are you?’’ Then he took a breath, and defended Down’s record.

“If you were here last year you would have seen us perform pretty well in the Tailteann Cup semi-final.

“I think Down teams have done quite well in the past number of years in Croke Park,’’ he said.

“If you remember a couple of years ago a Down club team won in Croke Park and became All-Ireland club champions. So, I don’t believe that at all.”

More than anything, it was a reminder that the past is a stone in Down’s shoe. An irritant that keeps nagging at them when they try and hit their stride.

Fate

Cavan might argue otherwise but Down were the Ulster county that showed the rest that a northern accent doesn’t mean you have to accept your fate as also-rans.

Go back 30 years to 1991 and Down’s capture of Sam Maguire was a huge landmark.

It was the first time Sam had gone to an Ulster county in 23 years.

But it would be followed up by Donegal and Derry winning their first All-Irelands, Down winning again in 1994, and Tyrone coming agonisingly close in ’95.

If there was to be an Ulster county to make a breakthrough, though, it really had to be Down.

That was due to the aura they had from being a major force in the 1960s — winning three AllIrelands.

Conor Deegan was their fullback for the ’91 and ’94 wins and he feels it helped them to have those role models.

“It’s a huge point. When we were growing up, all we heard about was the great Down team,’’ he said.

“That’s how they were always referred to — ‘the great Down team’. It wasn’t intimidating, it was inspiring.

“You turned up in Croke Park and expected to win. I ran out for an All-Ireland final when I was 20 and figured this was where I should be.”

But so many Down players and teams in the past 30 years have lacked that kind of conviction.

It’s something that Greg McCartan struggles to get his head around.

He had an All-Ireland medal from 1991 as a sub but didn’t make his Championship debut until three years later.

By the end of that summer, he had a second All-Ireland, and had been one of the main reasons why Down became champions.

McCartan was 23 years old. He thought it was all ahead of him.

He’d never win another medal with Down.

He’s heading into his mid-50s and Down’s long drought baffles him.