2 days Ago By [email protected] (Paddy Tierney)
Down coach Mickey Donnelly said he was vexed when he learned the extent of Hugh Pat McGeary’s injury with the former Tyrone star ruled out for the remainder of the season. The Pomeroy native now plays his club football for Rostrevor where he now lives and made his debut for Down in their Division Two opener against Roscommon at Dr Hyde Park in January. However, he lasted less than 30 minutes and will have to wait until 2025 before wearing the red and black of his adopted county after suffering an Achilles injury.
“I’m gutted for him,” said Donnelly. "His first competitive start for Down, he had played one game. “I had known Hugh Pat and I had Kieran at Minors and I knew the stock that he was coming from.
“Just to lose him so quickly, it was an awful knife in the heart for the group and obviously worse for Hugh Pat himself. He has natural leadership skills, he has an All-Ireland medal. He had been around of a group of players that had been successful.
Losing that was an awful void in the group. “On a human level, he works as a dentist and he’s off his feet now for a long time - it’s bloody hard so you feel for him as well. “We’d a meeting the day before the Monaghan game and he was in the front row listening to what we had to say.
We may have lost Hugh Pat the footballer for the next period of time, but we haven’t lost the person.” With attackers Liam Kerr and Shealan Johnston also unavailable for 2025 after going travelling, Conor Laverty has had the opportunity to run his eye over a host of fresh faces. One player who eye the eye towards the end of Down’s League campaign was Carryduff’s John McGeough while Donnelly also hailed the impact of goalkeeper Ronan Burns.
“He (McGeough) comes from the posh side of the parish - he comes from Carryduff! He’s a great fella again,” said Donnelly. “He has shown resilience. He was there whenever Conor started in ’23 and couldn’t get up to the speed of it, couldn’t get up to the pitch of it physically.
“He went away and really worked on it himself. So we're delighted with him. “Ronan Burns has been a huge addition.
It's a difficult position, but it's an even more difficult and damning position in the new game. “We're delighted that Ronan's a part of the panel now and I would say that he has a massive bright future ahead of him at 19 years of age he's playing well above his years -Ronan has been a real find for us too.” Despite being relegated from Division Two, the Mournemen are at least assured of their place in the Sam Maguire following their Tailteann Cup success last season.
Fermanagh, in contrast, will need to reach the Ulster Final in order to avoid another year in the second-tier competition after finishing fourth in Division Three. Donnelly feels the experience of playing in Croke Park will stand to Down this season as they look ahead to Saturday’s Ulster SFC quarter-final meeting with the Erne County. When asked what last year meant to Down, Donnelly replied: “The simplistic answer is it got you a ticket to the Sam Maguire Cup.
I can tell you when you are sitting here after getting relegated to Division Three you’re damn glad of it! “It also gives them an experience of playing on big days and I think people can be flippant about it, and maybe a wee bit blasé like. Playing before Armagh and Kerry last year was a big deal. Even the double-headers, the semi-finals, two years in a row in the Tailteann Cup they're a decent big days.
“That gives lads an experience of Croke Park, the surroundings, the playing surface, even the preparation for a big day. “We all have experiences in life, good and bad, but they're all experiences that you must learn from and I suppose we're lucky that we've them banked if you like, but we’ve also had some stinging defeats over the last couple of years. “The Armagh defeat last year was, we maybe came away with a wee bit of honour and we died on our sword to a certain extent, but it still was a kick in the teeth, but it has also given us a wee bit of self-belief as well.
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