Down 2-10 Fermanagh 1-8:WE WILL probably never know what plan Peter Canavan had in store for Down.
Unfortunately, the outcome of a poor Ulster championship game was effectively decided in the ninth minute when Daryl Keenan was given a straight red card, thus ending Fermanagh’s hopes of pulling off the first shock of the summer at Brewster Park yesterday.
Keenan was sent off for a punch on Down’s Conor Laverty.
Referee Syl Doyle consulted with an umpire before flashing the straight red to the Tempo man, a decision which cost Canavan’s side any chance they might have had of making a nonsense of the league tables by beating a Division One team.
Down were workmanlike, but not brilliant. Nevertheless, it was still too good for Fermanagh who started without their enigmatic top scorer Séamus Quigley.
The game was turgid in the extreme. Way too much lateral passing, laborious build-up play and packed defences.
As a contest it lacked the one thing you can normally bet on in Ulster – intensity. The fact that it was also devoid of any expression or creative play was just another disappointing footnote to a forgettable game.
It may not have been any better if it had stayed 15 against 15, but the early red for Keenan after nine minutes was the key moment which scuppered Canavan’s hopes of a first win as an intercounty manager.
Fermanagh reacted to the dismissal by playing with one man up front. They needed a physical presence in attack and the absence of Quigley hurt them.
Canavan scotched rumours he had dropped his star forward for a breach of discipline (the story goes he missed a few training sessions recently), but regardless of the reasons, he was a big loss.
By the time he came on in the 52nd minute, the game was more or less over. He did register two frees but they barely raised a whimper among the Fermanagh fans, who were resigned to their fate long before.
Damien Kelly’s 46th minute goal did give them brief hope.
They really needed to kick on after Kelly’s strike, which brought them back to within three points, but instead it was Down who responded with an unanswered 1-2, the goal coming from man-of-the-match Conor Laverty.
It was all quite comfortable for Down, who always looked the more purposeful side.
For a county with such a small pool of players, Fermanagh just could not afford to be without quality players like McCabe, McCluskey and Quigley.
Marty McGrath was a late inclusion in the starting team and that should have been an inspirational move, but he was disappointing and was replaced early in the second half.
Barry Owens made a couple of telling interceptions for Fermanagh at the back, otherwise they could have been ripped apart a few more times.
As it was, Down led by 1-6 to 0-3 at half-time, after Donal O’Hare’s 21st-minute goal.
O’Hare was a late inclusion in the team at full-forward and he justified that decision by hitting 1-1 in the first-half.
Conor Laverty, Down’s box of tricks, was involved in the build-up and he tussled with the goalkeeper. The ball ran loose and O’Hare pounced on it and drilled it high into the roof of the net to put Down 1-2 to 0-1 ahead.
With an early goal and an extra man, it already looked like a fairly convincing lead.
Down had 11 different players on the scoresheet – including their entire full-back line which summed up the chaos.
Numbers on the back of jerseys meant absolutely nothing in this game.
A point by Dan McCartan in the second-half was typical of the fluidity on offer.
A supposed corner-forward Conor Maginn made a vital interception in his own full back line and the counterattack was launched. The move ended a few seconds later with McCartan, supposedly a full back, slotting over a point.
Fermanagh did get the last two scores of the first half, Damien Kelly providing them with a first point from play in the 35th minute.
But six points down, there didn’t seem any way back.
They did at least win the second-half by 1-5 to 1-4, Kelly’s goal coming after some quick thinking by sub Eamonn Maguire who took a quick free and passed out to the unmarked wing-back.
Kelly had a good tussle all afternoon with Danny Hughes, who, like Mark Poland, did not prosper in these conditions with so little space to operate in.
Laverty’s goal in the 57th minute stretched Down’s lead out to eight points at one stage before Fermanagh tagged on three consolation scores.
James McCartan was relieved to have picked up only the second Ulster championship win of his three-year reign, but he will know they’ll need to be much better than this to end their 18-year Ulster title drought.
DOWN: 1 B McVeigh; 3 B McArdle (0-1), 7 C Garvey, 2 D McCartan (0-1); 6 K McKernan (0-1), 4 D O’Hagan (0-1), 5 A Brannigan; 8 A Rogers (0-1), 9 K King (0-1); 10 D Hughes, 15 C Maginn (0-1), 12 A Carr (0-1, one free); 13 C Laverty (1-0), 24 D O’Hare (1-1), 11 M Poland. Subs: K Duffin (0-1) for Carr (47 mins), E McCartan for Poland (60 mins), A McConville for Laverty (67 mins), D Rooney for Rogers (69 mins), D Turley for Brannigan (70mins). Yellow card: C Garvey (58 mins).
FERMANAGH: 1 R Gallagher; 6 B Cox, 3 B Owens, 2 N Bogue; 7 B Mulrone, 4 N McGovern, 5 D Kelly (1-1); 9 E Donnelly, 20 M McGrath; 10 D Keenan, 11 B Og Maguire, 8 S Lyons; 13 T Corrigan (0-1), 25 D Kille (0-3, two frees), 22. T McElroy. Subs: E Maguire for B Og Maguire (ht), C Quigley for Cox (ht), R Jones for McGrath (40 mins), S Quigley (0-2, two frees) for McElroy (52 mins), P Ward (0-1) for Kille (67 mins). Yellow cards: D Kelly (36 mins), M McGrath (36), D Kille (41), S Lyons (65). Red card: D Keenan (9)
Referee: Syl Doyle (Wexford).
‘HE SAYS HE WAS SENT OFF IN THE WRONG, HE DIDN’T STRIKE’
AS A player, Peter Canavan found himself on the wrong side of the law on a few occasions.
As a manager, his championship baptism was laced with a little controversy yesterday after a straight red card for Daryl Keenan after nine minutes effectively ended Fermanagh's hopes of an Ulster championship upset.
But Canavan came out fighting in defence of Keenan, who was dismissed by referee Syl Doyle for allegedly punching Down's Conor Laverty.
"I am bitterly disappointed with that aspect of the game because I don't think Daryl was even booked during the whole National League," said Canavan.
"He is a very honest footballer and a very clean footballer and he says he was sent off in the wrong, that he didn't strike.
"It is hard enough to beat a team of Down's quality with 15 men, let alone 14.
"I asked them to go out and win the second half and they were able to do that, they kept battling away so you have to admire their spirit.''
Fermanagh did not start Séamus Quigley, but Canavan denied reports he was dropped for failing to show up for training last week.
"Séamie hurt his hamstring last Sunday in a training weekend and that's why he didn't start," insisted the Erne manager.
"I would have liked him fully fit and there from the start, no more so than McCabe and McCluskey.
"Shane (McCabe) was ill the last few days, he picked up a bug. We hoped to get him for 10, 15 minutes today but he wasn't well and he was honest enough to admit that.''
James McCartan was relieved to get a first win under his belt but was far from impressed with Down's performance.
"It (Keenan's red) was a key moment surely, but anyone who wins an Ulster championship match is happy no matter how ugly it is and it was probably ugly there at times.
"I'm not blaming Fermanagh for that – we defend in numbers too. They're a team you have to break down and we did that. We're delighted to get a win.''
