Carr believes Focus is the Key to Down victory

Fionnuala Carr believes that that the Down team must focus for a full 60 minutes to ensure that they emerge victorious in the All-Ireland Premier Junior Final on Sunday against Meath. Throughout 2012 Down have played in fits and spurts which has led to an inconsistent campaign. Fionnuala believes the squad will address this when they get to Croke Park at the weekend.

‘Training has been going well and since we have got through to the final there has been a renewed effort. Our panel is back to full strength and there’s competition for places. Throughout the year we had been playing for only 30 minutes at a time. On occasions we left ourselves with too much to crawl back in the second half. Against Meath in the league we didn’t perform and got beat by a point so we know we can do better’.

Down Captain Fionnuala Carr

Down reached this stage last year when a late comeback was not enough to beat Waterford at Croke Park. ‘Down have probably underachieving for 10 years. When we play to our ability we are more than capable of competing at a higher level. We need to start believing in ourselves and the performance should take care of itself’.

In the NWP Recycling Ulster Championship Down were edged out by Derry in Extra-Time and the Oak Leaf girls have gone from strength to strength and Down captain Fionnuala believes this is something they can take heart from. ‘We should have beat Derry in the Ulster Championship and we performed strongly that day. When we come up against Antrim and Derry we are not that far away and they have went on to a higher level and this something we believe we can do’.

Down have a well-balanced side with a good blend of youth and experience and this can work to Down’s advantage believes Carr. ‘We have some young players who don’t fear losing and aren’t concerned with pressure and we have more experienced players like myself and Ciara McGovern who can help maintain the focus in the squad. Our defence has been great all year with Karen Tinnelly, Emma McCormick and Catherine Rocks playing really well and we have conceded very little from play. We need to push on in games and the best form of defence is attack so the forwards need to do their bit. We have been making chances in all our games and we just need to take them. If we play the game and not the occasion, concentrate then playing at Croke Park will not factor into the equation’.

Best wishes to Down and Derry for the weekend as they search for an Ulster Double

Down v Meath 12pm

Derry v Galway 2pm

Cork v Wexford 4pm