John Fegan (l) and Aidan Carr (forefront on right)
Congratulations to Ross and the boys who got the defence of the McKenna Cup off to a good start in Pairc Esler on Sunday afternoon (4th January). Down showed the effects of the collective training ban in the first half and were outplayed, particularly in the middle of the field by St Mary’s and were lucky to be only trailing by a single point (0-7 to 0-8) at half time. They got their act together in the second half and when Cathal Magee goaled from a penalty early on it was all one-way traffic. Cathal scored another goal from play and John Fegan (Clonduff) did likewise (John also scored 3 points from frees). The final score was Down 3-16 St Mary’s 0-10.
Ross took the opportunity to ‘blood’ a number of new boys mixed with a sprinkling of seasoned players. This was also the first game under the new experimental rules – if a player is yellow-carded he must leave the field of play but can be replaced by another player (two black cards count as one yellow, players red-carded cannot be replaced)). Two of the Down players were yellow-carded via the two black rule.
(Above photos courtesy of Louis McNally)
