Down U16s come from behind with five goals while U14s enjoy Festival of Football

Down's U16 ladies travelled to Monaghan on Saturday for round three of the U16 Ulster Championship.

Heavy wind and rain, made for difficult conditions for both sides, and converting scores was a problem throughout the match.

It was Monaghan that made the brighter start with a goal and a point in the opening spell of the match. A well worked Down goal from Isa was quickly cancelled out with another Monaghan goal and point to give the home side an eight point lead.

Down replied with a point from Annie from a free but Monaghan regained their eight point advantage when they spilt the black spot.

Down stepped up their efforts and three unanswered goals from Clodagh, one of which was a penalty, turned this game on its head. Monaghan fought hard to get back into the game and put the ball over twice more to reduce Down's lead to two, and set up a nervous end of the game for the Mourne ladies.

However Down made the game safe with another goal from Clodagh to give them a good away win by five.

Another great result for this talented U16 side, especially in the conditions.

U14s Festival of Football

Down's U14s got their Festival of football campaign underway on Saturday with a trip to Donegal.

After their first round of fixtures was cancelled a few weeks ago the U14s were looking forward to the challenge of taking on Donegal and Antrim.

A large panel took part in two highly competitive games, with sides not only battling each other, but also the elements.

Down faced Antrim in the first game.

Horrendous wind and rain conditions made this game a real battle. Although under pressure, Down’s defence was excellent on the day. The whole team worked hard as a unit to close down Antrim’s attacks and take control of the game. Cool heads and great finishes for a couple of Down goals made the difference as the Mourne ladies pulled ahead of Antrim and secured a four point win.

Antrim and Donegal drew in the second game – nine points apiece.

Down then faced home side Donegal. With the wind and rain not letting up and two games already played on it, the pitch was now very heavy. However despite these conditions both teams played some outstanding football. Donegal edged ahead of Down and despite a fantastic second half performance from Down where they were well on top, they couldn't get past a very strong Donegal side narrowly losing by two points points 2-5 to 1-6.

It was a great day out and valuable development experience for this young talented panel. Speaking after the game Down U14 manager Stevie McCoey said: "I'm so proud of the girls today. They battled superbly in both games in very wet and cold conditions. We were under pressure in both games at times, but played some outstanding football which is what we expect from this talented group. In terms of effort they gave it their all. These girls still have more gears to go through and we're really looking forward to training on Tuesday and next weeks home games .The girls are all in great spirits"