Down boosted by the return of Caolan Mooney with Offaly coming to town next

Caolan Mooney takes on Antrim's Patrick McBride at Corrigan Park on Sunday.

Allianz Football League Division 3 Round 4. Saturday February 24 (6pm). At Pairc Esler: Down v Offaly

With three wins from three under their belt and the most points scored across all of the divisions, Down’s Allianz League campaign is going exactly according to plan.

They beat Antrim on Sunday in Corrigan Park with nine points to spare and next up is a home tie against Offaly who will still be hurting after losing to Clare last week in the worst possible way.

The Faithful County desperately needed a win after defeats to Westmeath and Antrim, but Peter Cunningham blazed a penalty over rather than under the bar at the death, gifting Clare a one-point victory.

More good news for Down is a squad that’s getting stronger with each game, including injury returnees Danny Magill and Caolan Mooney - who played his first full game since a knee injury last year.

“It's good to see Caolan back,” Ryan Magill told the Newry Reporter after Sunday’s game.

“He had a tough time with his knee injury but he's been a star for our county for the last 10 years and it's always good to have him back. He finished the full game and had plenty of legs at the end so that was good to see."

Fitness levels have been a key factor in the Mourne men’s success so far and that showed on Sunday.

“Antrim put it up to us and we maybe just had the legs on them at the end. We kicked three or four points and had a few huge turnovers around the middle. But we really back ourselves when it comes to the end of the game that we're fit enough to go on and win it,” said the Burren clubman who was fresh from captaining Ulster University to the Sigerson Cup triumph in Tralee.

“I came on for 20 minutes there. You train during the week but you don't know if you're in the squad until Friday night. It's a 26-man panel and another 15 after that. The lads that put the work in during the week are pushing us on and the subs that are coming on are pushing the starting 15 on."

And it’s nice to be back to Newry too.

“We had a great crowd behind us last year and against Limerick. Now we have three out of three and the county has a bit of belief behind us so hopefully we'll get a big crowd in again.”