The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2014 season. This season marked the 20th anniversary of Down's last All-Ireland SFC win in 1994, which is also the year they last won the Ulster SFC.
Kits McKenna Cup and National League Kits
Competitions
Dr McKenna Cup
The draw for the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup took place on 12 November 2013.
The final McKenna Cup tie for UUJ vs Cavan was cancelled due to UUJ withdrawing from the competition.
Fixtures Date Round Home Score Away Ground 5 Jan Group Down 1-15 v 0-07 UUJ Páirc Esler, Newry 12 Jan Group Cavan 1-09 v 0-05 Down O'Raghallaigh Park, Kingscourt 15 Jan Group Down 0-10 v 1-12 Antrim Páirc Esler, Newry
Table
TeamPldWDLFADiffPtsCavan3 3 0 0 4-21 0-17 16 6Antrim3 2 0 1 2-41 5-30 2 4Down3 1 0 2 1-30 2-28 -1 2 UUJ3 0 0 3 2-15 2-32 -17 0
15/01/14 Cavan vs UUJ – UUJ concede fixture due to inability to field team.
Results
National Football League Division 2
Fixtures Date Round Home Score Away Ground 1 Feb Group Down Monaghan Páirc Esler, Newry 2 Feb Group Down 1-11 v 0-14 Monaghan Páirc Esler, Newry 7 Feb Group Armagh 2-05 v 2-07 Down Athletic Grounds, Armagh 1 Mar Group Down 4-16 v 0-09 Louth Páirc Esler, Newry 9 Mar Group Galway 1-12 v 0-08 Down St Jarlath's Park, Tuam 16 Mar Group Down 1-09 v 0-10 Donegal Páirc Esler, Newry 29 Mar Group Meath 1-14 v 1-11 Down Páirc Tailteann, Navan 6 Apr Group Laois 1-16 v 2-10 Down O'Moore Park, Portlaoise
01/02/14 Down vs Monaghan – Postponed due to waterlogged pitchbbc.co.uk | Football League: Down clash with Monaghan postponed to Sunday
Table
Results
Ulster Senior Football Championship
Fixtures The draw for the 2014 Ulster Senior Football Championship took place on 3 October 2013.
Date Round Team 1 Score Team 2 Ground 18 May 2014 Preliminary Round Tyrone 2-11 v 3-08 Down Healy Park, Omagh, 24 May 2014 Preliminary Round Replay Down 0-12 v 3-11 Tyrone Pairc Esler, Newry,
Bracket
Results
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
2014 saw the introduction of a new qualifiers set up with the fixtures being split into two sections A and B.
Down entered the All-Ireland series in Round 1B of the qualifiers. The draw for Round 1B took place on Monday 9 June and paired Down with Leitrim in Pairc Esler on Sunday 29 June at 2pm. Down were favourites to win and they hammered Leitrim 4–18 to 0–09 on the day to progress to Round 2B. The draw for Round 2B took place at 8:30am on Monday 30 June live on Morning Ireland, with Down being paired with Leinster side Kildare.
Down exited the 2014 All-Ireland series with a poor performance against Kildare, scoring only 3 points in the first half, only one of which was from open play. In the second half Down staged a comeback but eventually lost when Kildare hit 1-06 without reply.
Fixtures Date Round Team 1 Score Team 2 Ground 29 June 2014 Round 1B Down 4-18 v 0-09 Leitrim Pairc Esler, Newry 13 July 2014 Round 2B Down 0-11 v 1-18 Kildare Pairc Esler, Newry
Results
Notable events On Saturday 26 July, James McCartan Jnr stepped down as Down manager after five full seasons in charge. On Wednesday 8 August, former All Star goalkeeper Brendan McVeigh announced his retirement from inter-county football. On Saturday 19 September, Kilcoo manager Jim McCorry was named as the new Down boss on a three-year deal.
References