Search

02 Apr 2026

Seven things we have learned from Kerry win as attention now turns to Down

Donegal's emphatic takedown of Kerry means they have served real notice ahead of championship but they cannot risk taking their eye off the task at hand and underestimating what Down might offer

Seven things we have learned from Kerry win as attention now turns to Down

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness and Down's Conor Laverty will lock horns later this month

7 Donegal now need to get up for Down

With all the hype after Sunday’s emphatic win over Kerry, many will view Donegal’s Ulster opener with Down in Letterkenny as a mere formality. The Mourne men had been in impressive form in Division 3 but their laboured final win over Wexford has many now marking them down as fodder for rampaging Donegal in O’Donnell Park. But Conor Laverty’s side put it up to Donegal last season in Ulster, as did Monaghan, so it’s a provincial battle that continues to veer from conventional wisdom when it comes to all those unique rivalries. “I don’t think that performance would do against Donegal now,” said the Kilcoo man on his side’s 0-21 to 0-18 extra-time win over Wexford. “I don’t think it would take a rocket scientist to come up with that answer. “Going to Letterkenny, I don’t think there’d be anybody in the country that’ll be expecting a Down win. “So whenever you’re in that position, you can go there, really play with freedom and have a real go at it.”

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.