The 16th Man

Down forward Benny Coulter had no hesitation in admitting he committed an infringement for his 13th-minute goal which provided to be a vital score as the Mourne County side booked their place in next month’s All-Ireland SFC final.

Coulter conceded that he was in the square when he fisted the ball to the net for Down’s goal in their 1-16 to 1-14 semi-final win over Kildare at Croke Park yesterday.

Video replays clearly indicated that the Mayobridge clubman was in the restricted area while Martin Clarke’s scoring pass was in flight.

Kildare goalkeeper Shane McCormack remonstrated with the umpires, but his calls for a free-out fell on deaf ears and after referee Pat McEnaney consulted with the umpires, the green flag was raised.

“To be honest I think I was (in the square),” Coulter said of his controversial goal.

“I watched it on the big screen after and I think I was standing in it.

“These things go with you and sometimes they don’t. Thankfully today they went with us.”

The Down veteran also revealed that his team-mates were fully aware that Kildare had to go for goal in a dramatic finale during which Rob Kelly’s injury-time free came crashing back off the crossbar.

“I was just thinking at the finish that we can’t lose it now,” added Coulter.

“When they had the 14-yard kick, Pat (McEnaney) said there was 10 seconds left. We knew they had to go for goal because their players were over around him.

“I thought they had to score direct but then Pat left it go for a second or two thereafter.

“We worked so hard this year that we weren’t going to throw it away in the last ten seconds. Big Kalum (King) got a touch on it (Kelly’s shot).

“We definitely weren’t letting that ball go into the net and we were going to get anything on it. They definitely weren’t getting through.”

Down manager James McCartan was a relived figure at the full-time whistle. His side held on for the win despite letting a seven-point lead, with 13 minutes remaining, drift to just two points deep into injury-time.

“To be honest my head is still spinning,” he remarked after the final whistle.

“It’s just relief. With seven or eight minutes to go, we were six points up. I certainly knew the game wasn’t won but you hoped to close it out from there.

“But typical of a Kieran McGeeney and Aidan O’Rourke team, they kept coming and coming.

“I think Hugh Lynch stuck over a couple of wonder scores with the outside of the boot. Then the goal came. Look, we were probably hanging on at the end, to see the ball hit the crossbar, it could have gone anywhere. We were just relieved to see it stay out.

“I felt we played poorly for the first quarter. We needed Benny’s goal to kickstart us. We won the second quarter and I felt we won the third quarter.

“We were in the process of starting well in the final quarter, but then in the last eight minutes it was all one-way traffic.

“But I still felt like Down teams I played on, we were still a scoring threat. We maybe did sit back a bit but when the ball went up we did create chances.

“We kept the scoreboard ticking and at the other end, the odd point here and there against the run of play pushed us over the line.”