LAST season Down totalled 43 points in their first two games in Division Three. This year, despite being up a level in Division Two, the Mournemen have registered 45 (2-39) including 10 two-pointers and that is impressive consistency.
Top-scorer Pat Havern has provided almost half of Down’s total (19 points) and the Saval clubman says he and his team-mates are enjoying Gaelic Football’s new regulations.
“The rules suit us,” he said.
“We’re fit, physical, strong, fast...”
That’s the sort of confidence Down need from the leader of their attack. Havern scored 11 points in the opening weekend loss to Roscommon and added another eight as the Mournemen came from 10 behind to win by one in a thriller against Cork at Pairc Esler last Sunday.
Like any forward, he’ll have difficult days in front of the posts but the ball is going where he intends it to at present and he hopes to maintain that consistency as this season unfolds.
“It feels a bit weird now putting the ball over the bar and getting two points for it,” he says.
“And then, when you score a one-pointer, you nearly feel like it’s not good enough and you find yourself out round the 40m Arc so you can take the (two-point) shot. It brings a wee bit more excitement to the game.”
Down trailed the Rebels by two last Sunday when they were awarded a 13-metre free after one of the Cork players was penalised for dissent. Havern turned down the tap-over and chose to take the ball outside the 40m Arc and his bravery was rewarded as the ball flew over the bar to level the game.
“I’ve been kicking well in training so I knew I would take it out for the two-pointer if I got the chance,” he said.
“Why not? The reward justifies the risk, so I went for it.”
There are still five games to play, but a loss on Sunday would have meant pressure would begin to mount on Down going into their third round clash with Meath.
“Getting a win means we’re looking up instead of down so it was good to get it, especially against Cork because they’re a strong team,” said Havern.
“It shows the improvement in the team and the strength that we have. It’s good to get a win and get two points on the board.”
Havern says Down – like all players, supporters and officials – are still coming to terms with the new regulations to some extent. Cork stole a march on the home side in Newry on Sunday and dominated the game for the first half-hour until Down finally got a foothold in midfield near half-time.
“In terms of the new rules, you can get caught out sometimes,” said Havern.
“It can be hard to get going. They can score a point and then they’re pressing the kickout and it’s hard to get out…
“It took us until the last five minutes of the first half to get going. We had a couple of shots for a goal and we didn’t take the chances but we knew at half-time that we would have a bit of breeze behind us and, the way we were firing in the last five minutes of the first half, we knew we were going to come back into the game so we weren’t too worried.
“Look at the game against Roscommon. We went in at half-time five points up and they came back to win by seven. There are two-pointers now and that is the way the game is - you’re never out and you need to keep going to the end.
“We got the work done, we’re fit enough and we can go all the way.”
Primarily a forward, Havern enjoys the space he gets now and the opportunity to kick long for two-pointers but he also operates around midfield where the long kickouts make every ball a battle.
“Having to take all the kickouts long means it’s going to breaking ball all the time,” he said.
“Getting a short kickout away is a skill in its own right for goalkeepers. It’s going to come to the stage where anybody can do nets and there’s some very skilful goalkeepers about. I’d like to see the new kickout rule scrapped to be honest.”
