Downings make light of the numbers for big win over Naomh Columba

By the end, it had almost been forgotten that Downings played with almost the full hour a man in arrears.

Downings 1-15
Naomh Columba 0-9

For ten minutes in the second half, they were down to 13 - and, yet, they were comfortable winners, the nine-point deficit bearing a fair reflection on a big afternoon for Downings.

When Paddy McElwee saw red in the third minute for an off-the-ball strike on Paul O'Hare - brought to the attention of referee Siobhan Coyle by her linesman Don Lagan - Downings must have thought their day was cursed.

Johnny McGroddy and Cormac McGettigan put the hosts 0-4 to 0-1 ahead.

Philip Doherty and Ryan Gillespie, with two, swung over impressive points to bring Naomh Columba level.

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One might’ve presumed the restoration of parity would’ve been the spur Naomh Columba needed.

By half-time, they were seven points behind, 1-8 to 0-4.

Keelan McGroddy kick-started a Downings purple patch that yielded 1-7 either side of the break.

In the closing seven minutes of the first half, Downings hit a deadly 1-4.

Keelan McGroddy arched over two excellent points inside of a minute before Shane Boyce arrowed over from 35 metres.

A Johnny McGroddy free widened the Downings margin to four, a deficit that Glen may have been able to manage.

The killer moment arrived with the last kick of the opening half. Johnny McGroddy’s angled ball was caught by Connor, who showed the Naomh Columba rearguard a clean pair of heels before coolly dispatching the ball beyond Shane O’Gara.

Before O’Gara could take the kick-out, the half-time whistle shrilled and Downings were buckled firmly into the driver’s seat.

Defeat by Buncrana last weekend gave this an added meaning for Downings while Naomh Columba were a little more advanced following wins over Naomh Brid and St Mary’s, Convoy.

The absence of Fionn Gallagher forced Paddy J McGinley, the Glen manager, into a reshuffle with Paddy Byrne vacating the goalkeeper’s shirt to take up a centre-field sentry and O’Gara taking up residence in goal.

Within five minutes of the re-start, Downings were ten ahead as Johnny McGroddy - whose last-gasp goal saw them snatch the All-County Football League Division 2 title from Buncrana’s grasp - scored three times.

Martin McBride - who put in a superb shift, in the main man-marking Aaron Doherty - was black-carded in the eighth minute of the second half and the door, maybe, was ajar.

Doherty operated from a deep-laying role and it was notable that Naomh Columba, now with a two-man advantage, didn’t commit to attack.

During McBride’s spell in the sin-bin, Gillespie clipped over, but the road back seemed as long as the stretch of tarmac between Páirc na Dúnaibh and Glencolmcille.

Naomh Columba’s Christopher Byrne was given a black card in the 51st minute, but it was all rather academic with Downings finishing strong again.

Sub Danny McBride, Connor and Johnny McGroddy had their lead out to double scores by the conclusion.

This win began a busy six days for Downings. The side managed by Kevin Gallagher and Anthony Boyle host Red Hughs on Wednesday evening in a backlogged fixture before going to Naomh Brid on Saturday.

Scorers for Downings: Johnny McGroddy 0-7, 6f; Lorcan Connor 1-1; Keelan McGroddy 0-3; Shane Boyce, Cormac McGettigan, Ross Cullen, Danny McBride 0-1 each

Scorers for Naomh Columba: Ryan Gillespie 0-4, 1f; Philip Doherty 0-3; Aaron Doherty 0-2, 2f

Downings: Aaron McClafferty; Ross Cullen, Ben McNutt, Max Davis; Keelan McGroddy, Kevin Doherty, Patric McGinty; Oisin Boyce, Shane Boyce; Martin McBride, Johnny McGroddy, Cormac McGettigan; Paddy McElwee, Lorcan Connor, Ronan Gallagher. Subs: Danny McBride for McBride (54), Conor Boyce for McGinty (57), James Lee McBride for S.Boyce (60).

Naomh Columba: Shane O’Gara; Pauric Ward, Philip Doherty, Stephen Jones; Eric Carr, Philip McNern, Pauric Hegarty; Declan McGuire, Paddy Byrne; Paul O'Hare, Aaron Doherty, Kevin McNern; Ryan Gillespie, Lanty Molloy, Ryan McNern.  Subs: Christopher Byrne for P.Byrne (h-t), Barry Carr for Jones (49).

Referee: Siobhan Coyle (Gaeil Fhánada),