CROKE Park’s ability to ignite and douse dreams in equal measure, sending emotions shooting towards opposite ends of the spectrum, was at its brilliant, brutal best last weekend.
While Dublin and Kerry players surged towards each other at the end of epic All-Ireland semi-final encounters, still electrified by such glorious moments no matter how much success is enjoyed, there was no escaping the darkness down the other end.
The boyish smile so readily associated with Brendan Rogers was replaced by a vacant look as he trudged from the field on Sunday, the Slaughtneil colossus physically and emotionally spent after carrying the fight for Derry.
It was over an hour after the game before Conor McManus emerged the previous evening, his Herculean efforts not enough to stop the boys in blue pulling away at the death.
Eyes raw and reddened, it was too soon to try and find the words that might articulate his heartache, yet somehow he summoned the strength to speak.
It is of little consolation so soon after the event but, for the handful of regrets they took back up the road, those ‘what if?’ moments played over and over, Derry and Monaghan know they got so much right. That they played to their maximum for the majority, only to come up short.
To have been so near in such esteemed, experienced company will, eventually, bring some kind of solace when those groups of players gather up again at the end of the year.
- 'We don't want to be a curtain-raiser for other teams': Laverty left frustrated as Down come up short
- Croke connection: Danny Magill following in father Miceal's Down footsteps
It was a different kind of a feeling for Down as Conor Laverty’s first season in charge came to an end. Having played their best football in the previous two games, toppling Tailteann Cup favourites Cavan then annihilating Laois, the Mournemen arrived in Croke Park full of confidence, only for it to fall apart in frustrating, if not entirely unfamiliar fashion.
A flukey Meath goal might have sucked the wind from their sails, but there was still three-quarters of the game left to play. After that, though, they simply didn’t perform and were eventually overrun by a Royals outfit packing too much power.
And so Down’s season ends on a disappointing note – no promotion from Division Three, no Tailteann Cup triumph, no All-Ireland Championship next year as things stand. Those are the bare facts.
At times like these, however, the post-mortem is often hyperbolic and lacking in perspective.
Down only have wee men. That running game will only get you so far. Would victory on Saturday have satisfied the critics? It’s hard to know.
Down’s lack of height relative to the more successful counties in recent years is nothing new. There is no Brendan Rogers or Conor Glass out there playing club football being willfully overlooked, the physical tools at Derry’s disposal on their hop, skip and a jump journey from Division Four to All-Ireland contenders simply not there in the Mourne County.
Which leads directly to the running game, and the rush in some quarters to attach it to some kind of fetish for turning Down into the county equivalent of Kilcoo.
It would be hard to argue another style that better suits the current group of players. When it works, as it did against Laois, it looks great. When it doesn’t, when those offloads are a millisecond out and balls are being spilled all over, it looks terrible.
Refinement is required going into year two, so is a viable plan B. That is how a team grows and develops. Progress may not always be borne out in instant results, but short-termism seldom serves well.
It should not be overlooked that, around this time last year, the Down set-up was at a particularly low ebb, the level of apathy and disinterest plumbing new depths. James McCartan did what he could to steer the ship in the right direction after his late appointment, but it was already idling, water gushing from holes everywhere.
The mood music both inside and outside the panel has changed significantly since.
Having spent so many years watching with envy as counties of all colours populated the Applegreen service stops on the way to big days in Dublin, it was warming to see so much red and black in the Burger King queue on Saturday.
And yet the Down supporter was conflicted. While starry-eyed youngsters lapped up the moment as new heroes were made, for some of those old enough to remember the glory days of the early ’90s, and maybe even the ’60s, there was a kind of moral indignation about celebrating how far the county has slipped. Playing in the Tailteann Cup was, to their mind, an insult.
That sense of entitlement plays some part in Down finding themselves where they are after decades of decline. This campaign, though, has offered hope, even if expectation of some kind of Derry-esque rise remains fanciful.
Part of that is the manner in which club rivalries have been put to one side, the culture reflecting a united ambition that has been sorely missing.
“We beat Cavan, and that Friday we were to play Kilcoo,” said Burren’s Danny Magill a few weeks back.
“We were in the showers after, ‘Bobo’ [Niall Kane] and Ceilum Doherty, we all turned round and said ‘jeez, we’re delighted we have to play against each other here’. The camaraderie, I’ve never been involved with a group so tight, I really haven’t.
“Once this ends, it’ll be put to one side, and we go back to carrying the heads off each other. But there’s a mutual respect there.”
The key for Laverty now is retaining the talent among his ranks, and adding to it.
Barry O’Hagan was a big loss to the forward division after suffering a cruciate injury early in the year, Carryduff’s Owen McCabe has the potential to solve a problem at midfield upon his return from injury. Caolan Mooney is on the road to recovery and will be ready for the start of 2024, the livewire Oisin Savage and others from the Ulster-winning U20 side will be bedded in.
Down reached the All-Ireland final in 2010, setting a much higher bar than the current group, yet within two years eight of that starting team had departed the scene. That lack of continuity has had a damaging effect.
Amid the devastation of Saturday’s defeat, Laverty was asked about the importance of ensuring recent history doesn’t repeat itself. His response was telling.
“We've 42 of a panel and on Thursday night there was 38 of them training,” he said.
“Out of the four lads who weren't training, Mark Walsh broke his ankle and we had two cruciates so we had only one soft tissue issue on Thursday night. So we had a full deck to pick from in that scenario.
“That's a good sign that the lads were very committed all year. There was nobody that dropped off the panel or walked away.”
The months ahead will be the acid test. If the revolving door can be slammed shut, there is no reason forward momentum cannot be maintained, regardless of the odd bump on the road.
