Carryduff v RGU Downpatrick (Saturday, 5pm, Darragh Cross)
FOLLOWING a memorable 2020 campaign which saw them reach their first Down SFC final, Carryduff begin their 2021 Championship with a tough test against RGU Downpatrick at Darragh Cross on Saturday evening.

The sides were due to clash in the Qualifying round last year after Carryduff lost their opening game to Clonduff 4-11 to 1-9 while Downpatrick suffered a four-point loss to Rostrevor.

The original game was postponed due to a bereavement in the Carryduff club and then cancelled after the emergence of what was termed a Covid “cluster” at the Downpatrick club.

The Down county board ordered Carryduff to play Longstone in the next round and Downpatrick were eliminated from the competition.

Carryduff manager DJ Morgan says the controversy and Downpatrick’s subsequent promotion to Division One means his side will need to produce their best if they are to avoid defeat.

“It is being approached differently now. We used to be the Division Two team coming in to play the Division One sides,” said Morgan.

“We know what it is like on that side – It is very easy to get motivated at training to take a big scalp.

“They were only really in Division Two for one full season as they couldn’t get promoted last year.

“They were good enough to bounce straight back up. Downpatrick are a good team, there’s no doubt about that.”

While Downpatrick had to defeat Darragh Cross in relegation semi-final to preserve their Senior status, they’ll be full of confidence ahead of their 2021 Championship opener and have been boosted by Caolan Mooney’s transfer from Rostrevor at the start of the season.

Down star Caolan Mooney moved to Downpatrick from Rostrevor at the beginning of the season
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Down star Caolan Mooney moved to Downpatrick from Rostrevor at the beginning of the season

The Down star won’t be expected to plough a lone furrow on Saturday though as his adopted team are laced with former and current Down players and Morgan is all to aware of the threat Downpatrick pose this weekend.

“Downpatrick have plenty of good players and they’ve got Caolan Mooney this year.

“They have a few lads back from Australia too. Peter Turley, Gerard Colins, Tim Prenter – they’ve plenty of quality throughout the team. They are quite a pacey team as well.

“When you go through their team, they’ve plenty of guys who have played county football at various grades – Tom Smyth was on the Down U20 team this year as well.”

While Downpatrick will provide a stern examination for Carryduff, last year’s beaten county finalists are still favourites to progress.

After losing out to Clonduff in their Championship opener last season, Morgan’s men regrouped to defeat Longstone, Bryansford and Ballyholland (after extra-time) to progress to their final county decider against the mighty Kilcoo.

Mickey Moran’s side were full value for their 0-16 to 0-9 win at Newry’s Páirc Esler last September, but Carryduff competed to the last while they were also without the services of key attacker James Guinness who was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Morgan also has a few major injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game with John McGeough (knee) and Ronan Beatty (broken thumb) likely to miss out.

Despite the concerns, Morgan says noting can match the excitement of Championship football and is hoping the experience of last season will stand to his players.

“You are hoping that the success we had last year and the enjoyment it brought to everyone within the club will spur us on again this year,” added the Carryduff boss.

“You can’t beat Championship days. We are playing at 5pm on Saturday and I’ll be awake from early morning and that’s all that will be in my head. Everything is geared towards the game.

“It is awful trying to put the day in! I might cut the grass or something. You just want it to be a few minutes before throw-in with everyone lined out and ready to go.”

Carryduff finished fifth in Division One and should be buoyed by their Championship heroics last term. That experience should see them narrowly over the line, but anything less than their very best could see them having to go through the back-door once again.  
 
Bredagh v Castlewellan (Saturday, 1.30pm, Downpatrick)
Bredagh also get their Championship campaign underway on Saturday when they take on Castlewellan at Downpatrick in what is a repeat of the 2020 meeting between the sides.

On that occasion, Bredagh claimed a 1-14 to 0-12 win at Darragh Cross before back-to-back losses to Rostrevor and Loughinisland ended their Championship campaign.

Castlewellan, then managed by Frank Dawson, bowed out following their defeat to Burren with the former Antrim boss opting to link up with Bredagh for the 2021 campaign alongside Brendan Mason and Martin Durkan.

Former Antrim manager Frank Dawson is now part of the Bredagh management team alongside Brendan Mason and Martin Durkan
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Former Antrim manager Frank Dawson is now part of the Bredagh management team alongside Brendan Mason and Martin Durkan

As fate would have it, the round one draw pitted Bredagh against Castlewellan and Durkan hopes the addition of Dawson to the management team will give the South Belfast men the edge this weekend.

“Frank came in at the start of the year in a coaching capacity. Anyone who knows Frank, knows he’ll be very involved,” said Durkan.

“It has been a big help for us – we simply needed an extra pair of hands as we’ve a massive squad of players. Frank and Brendan (Mason) had worked together with the Down U21s and Castlewellan hadn’t confirmed his position and we chatted to him and everything fell into place.

“Frank has brought new ideas to the table and it has been a big help for us.

“We played Castlewellan in the first round last year when Frank was managing them and it is typical that we’ve drawn them again.

“It is a tough draw – Castlewellan are going well and have been promoted back to Division One.
 
“It couldn’t have been a worse draw as well. We could have drawn Kilcoo or Warrenpoint. I don’t think there is much between the teams.

“We were beating them by five or six points in the first league game and they came back and beat us by a point (3-16 to 5-9) – I think that win propelled them and they ended up getting promoted.”

While Castlewellan and Division Two champions Downpatrick were promoted, Bredagh finished in seventh position and never threatened to challenge for the promotion berths.
Durkan feels their season has been undermined by a series of injuries and believes the team will show their true potential in the Championship arena.

“We’ve had a number of injuries right from the very start of the season,” said Durkan.

“We have a big squad, but when you take four or five of your best players out, you can struggle. We had a consistent run of injuries from the start of the year.

“We lost Cormac Hughes, Tommy McElroy and Cormac O’Rawe for the first few games.

“Donal Hughes picked up a thigh injury in the first league game against Castlewellan and missed a few games after that. John McKenna, our captain, picked up a calf injury and missed the middle part of the campaign. At one stage, we were without John and Cormac Hughes – our first-choice midfield pairing.

“I don’t think we’ve played the same team twice this season and that has been our biggest problem.

“Thankfully, we’ve the majority of those players back now, but we got Conor Francis back from Australia and he picked up a groin injury against Darragh Cross and I don’t think he’ll be fit. It is the same for Matthew Hamilton, Paddy McLaughlin and Michael Woods – the game will just come too soon for them.”

“We hope we can get through on Saturday and we’d have those guys back for the next round. There is that safety net there, so there is no point in risking those players.”

Recent clashes between these sides have tended to be close affairs and only a point separated them in the first round of the league.

Castlewellan edged it on that occasion and Bredagh will need a big improvement on their league form if they are to turn the tables on Saturday afternoon.

It will also be a busy few days for Bredagh’s dual players as their third round Down SHC fixture against Portaferry has been set for Tuesday night in Cherryvale (7.30pm).

The game was originally scheduled for Sunday, but has been moved to midweek. 

Bredagh lost their opening SHC game 2-15 to 0-18 against Ballygalget at Carryduff before last Sunday’s 2-17 to 0-17 defeat at Ballycran.

Portaferry are two from two having defeated both Ballycran and Ballygalget and are fancied to maintain their unbeaten run against Bredagh on Tuesday night.