Tailteann Cup final; Down v Laois, Croke Park, Saturday, 3pm – Live on RTÉ 2
Muhammad Ali came up short the first time he fought Joe Frazier. A unanimous decision went Frazier’s way, forcing Ali to return to the drawing board and to redouble his efforts. Which he did, beating Frazier the next time they met and at the same venue.
Conor Laverty gathered the Down players together last weekend and reminded them of that story. He presented several more examples of athletes and teams bouncing back from stinging defeats with famous wins over their nemeses.
The point of it all? To make sure none of his Down players return to Croke Park this weekend thinking they will have it as easy as they did against Laois last year.
Down put 8-16 on the board against Laois in the 2023 semi-final, a result that, ironically, may have helped Laois more than Down in the long term. Down lost the subsequent final with a poor display against Meath, while Laois, like Ali, have redoubled their efforts under new manager Justin McNulty and fancy their chances of dishing out some payback.
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They have already secured promotion from Division Three, leaving them in what McNulty has termed “bonus” territory. In truth, they started off poorly in the championship, winning just one of their four games, a one-point defeat of Wicklow. And if it wasn’t for veteran defender Mark Timmons and his golden goal New York may very well have knocked Laois out of the Tailteann Cup at the preliminary quarter-final stage.
But beating Kildare, many people’s tournament favourites, after that, and their solid semi-final performance against Antrim has got them angling now to land that knock-out blow on Down’s chin.
The other significant thing that Down did last weekend was to break up their panel into two teams and to set them loose on each other. The message was clear – you are playing for your final place. “We asked them to put their best foot forward and to leave that day knowing that in your stomach you had given yourself the best chance to play in Croke Park,” said manager Laverty.
Perhaps as a result the team he has picked to face Laois shows four changes from the side that overcame Sligo after extra time three weeks ago.
Liam Kerr’s recall is no great surprise. He was a Tailteann Cup All Star last year, hit 3-2 in the rout of Laois and was terrific as an impact sub against Sligo with three important points. Jonny Flynn, partnering up at midfield with Odhrán Murdock, has also been recalled, though three of the four switches are in attack with Kerr, James Guinness and Conor McCrickard all getting the nod.
Which is surprising considering just how frustrated Laverty was with the 2-15 they conceded against Sligo.
“No matter who I’ve spoken to, they’ve all said to me, ‘Jesus, that was a great game of football to watch, against Sligo’,” said Laverty. “I’m like, ‘right, but I don’t want to be giving away a lot of those opportunities’!”
All of the above, of course, comes with a warning. The Down team that was named for the semi-final, and which actually started against Sligo, showed four late changes, so it may not be until closer to throw-in that Laverty’s full master plan is revealed.
Laois, meanwhile, have made a solitary switch, Eoin Buggie, the first substitute used in their semi-final defeat of Antrim, replacing Ben Dempsey in defence.
Are they ready to step up in 2025 and compete in the All-Ireland SFC after two years in Division Four? Even allowing for Killian Roche’s excellence in goals, Brian Byrne’s contribution and the enduring threat of Evan O’Carroll, they would need to show something really impressive against Down to convince us.
“I’m excited about the potential of the group in the short, medium and long-term, there’s lots of potential there, but that potential has to be delivered upon,” said McNulty.
