UP AND DOWN
Odhran Murdock stars as Down beat Laois in hard fought Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park
Their first piece of significant silverware since the 1994 All-Ireland comes with the reward of a place in next year's Sam Maguire Cup competition
Conor Laverty celebrated a successful Saturday on two fronts as Down got the Tailteann Cup title they so baa-dly wanted.
There was nothing wooly about the Mourne's performance as Man of the Match Odhran Murdock drove them to a hugely significant win.
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There were big displays too from Pat Havern, captain Pierce Laverty and substitute Danny Magill as Down made up for last year's final defeat.
Their first piece of significant silverware since the 1994 All-Ireland comes with the reward of a place in next year's Sam Maguire Cup competition.
It was a near perfect day for part-time sheep farmer Laverty whose son, Setanta, won a rosette at a sheep show.
Ex-Down attacker Laverty has five boys and revealed that the sheep show was the talk of the house all week.
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He reported that Setanta got on well and even made it to Croke Park in time to see his Dad's team secure the landmark win.
It wasn't anything like the demolition they inflicted on Laois last year, when they hit the O'Moore County for 8-16 in a semi-final.
And there were nervous moments late on when Mark Barry struck a brilliant stoppage time goal to leave just two points in it.
But Down were anything but sheep in a heap and held on to secure that golden ticket to next year's All-Ireland SFC.
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Asked if young Setanta made it to Croke Park, Laverty smiled: "Aye, he sure did, and he did very well at the show. He's over the moon.
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"He brought a rosette home with him, he was in the top four, I think. So he's a delighted man and he made it to the match in good time."
Down simply couldn't afford another Croke Park defeat having lost finals there to Westmeath and Meath in the last 12 months alone.
Kilcoo icon Laverty was also part of the Down group that lost the 2010 All-Ireland decider to Cork at GAA HQ.
He said: "Whenever you have a record of losing in finals, no matter what a manager says and no matter what the players are saying among themselves, there's still an external pressure with that.
"History is a big pressure, particularly when you're on that losing train because it's very hard to get off it. It gathers momentum and creates its own pressure.
"So I don't think it was the prettiest performance and it definitely wasn't our best performance of the year but in a final, to get over the line, that's all that matters.
"To have that monkey off the back, particularly after last year, and after the league final this year, I would have taken any kind of win.
"And I told the boys that during the week. We knew it wasn't going to be an open football game, particularly after the scoreline last year.
"We knew that Laois were going to come and to defend with 15 behind the ball, with a deep block. I'm just very, very proud of the lads."
Down won the game in the period between the 46th and 69th minutes when they struck six points without reply.
Substitutes Magill and Caolan Mooney played key roles in that mini-blitz, scoring three points and contributing to another.
Laois can take credit for holding Down to just 0-14 overall, precisely 26 points less than they conceded in last year's semi-final.
But the 2-6 that Laois scored this time was also well down on the 2-12 they hit 12 months ago.
Missed opportunities and poor shooting was the downfall of Justin McNulty's side who seemed to forget how to score.
Laois fans winced as Killian Roche and Brian Byrne both hit the woodwork in the 54th and 58th minutes - blowing a potential 1-1. They had an earlier goal chance that was wasted in the first-half too.
And when Barry eventually hit that late screamer to cut the gap to two, they coughed up another potential 1-1 afterwards.
Barry himself was off target with a relatively easy point attempt and, right at the death, Down had to scramble to clear a ball off their own goal line.
Laois manager McNulty said: "That performance wasn't really good enough to win a final. You don't win finals when you only score 2-6. You won't win many finals at Croke Park scoring eight times."
But the former All-Ireland winning Armagh defender said his Division 4 league champions have the potential to build on the narrow loss.
He said: "Ross Munnelly was talking in the dressing-room afterwards and talking about the potential of the group.
"We're probably on at, as Ross said, about 60 percent of the potential of where this group could be at. We have to see those huge areas for improvement and demand more of ourselves."
Down captain Conor Laverty man-marked Laois skipper Evan O'Carroll and did a great job, holding him to one point.
Down led 0-8 to 1-3 at half-time but should have been further clear, six wides and an attempt that dropped short hurting them.
Seamus Lacey's 11th minute goal kept Laois in it. The wing-back capitalised when goalkeeper John O'Hare got his hands to a high ball and punched it straight to him.
Laois were better after the restart and reeled off three points to take the lead briefly, 1-6 to 0-8.
But they didn't score again until that Barry wonder goal from 20 metres out in the 71st minute and Down turned the screw in the meantime.
It was a gamble not to start Magill, their goal-hero in last year's campaign, but he delivered in spades with a huge impact when he came on.
Down 0-14
Laois 2-6
Down: J O'Hare; P Fegan 0-1, R McEvoy, P Laverty; M Rooney, D Guinness, S Johnston 0-1; O Murdock 0-3, P Havern 0-3, 1f; P McCarthy, J Flynn 0-1, L Kerr 0-1; J Guinness, R Johnston 0-1, J McGovern.
Subs: C Mooney 0-1 for McGovern 39, D Magill 0-2 for Rooney 44, R Magill for J Guinness 57, C McCrickard for R Johnston 69, F McElroy for Kerr 73.
Laois: K Roche 0-1, 1f; J Kelly, S Fingleton, M Timmons; S Lacey 1-0, B Byrne, B Dempsey; D Larkin, C Heffernan 0-1; N Dunne, E Lowry, K Swayne; M Barry 1-2, 0-1f, E O'Carroll 0-1, P Kingston 0-1, 1f.
Subs: R Murphy for Lowry 57, S Fitzpatrick for Kingston 66, K Lillis for Larkin 69, C Burke for Dunne 69, E Buggie for Kelly 71.
Ref: B Griffin (Kerry).