The 16th Man

IF YOU had asked Dan Gordon at the start of the year whether he would be playing in an All-Ireland final he may well have thought it was an attempt to wind him up.

In January not even the most optimistic Down fans would have dreamed that Down would still be playing football in September but for Gordon, a hiatus from football at the start of the year meant All-Ireland finals featuring Down were relics of the past, certainly not a personal possibility in the near future.

The loss of form and fatigue that prompted the break from the game are thankfully a distant memory as the Loughinisland man has become a stalwart at full-back and provided some much needed height in the full back line.
Gordon speaks with humility and admits that there was a certain amount of luck about securing a place at full-back.
“At the start of the year Benny McArdle was in there and he was one of our most consistent players. It was unfortunate for him to get injured and lucky for me that I was able to take his place,” he said.

Gordon was frank in assessing his own early season form.

“I wasn’t playing well in midfield and then I was moved to full forward and I was playing even worse there and Benny (McArdle)ended up failing a late fitness test against Offaly so I didn’t know I was playing full-back until a few hours before the game. It’s worked out ok for me, but it’s definitely unfortunate for Benny, who was playing really well until his injury.”

The Loughinisland man admits that the pressures of playing at full-back are different to the role he was normally accustomed to in midfield.  He said,

“Sometimes playing at full-back you can’t wait for half-time and at half-time you can’t wait for full-time because it’s such a high pressure position. In midfield if you make a mistake it can go unnoticed. If you make a mistake, like I did on the last day against Kildare with a high ball, it’s definitely noticed.”

Dan Gordon is an imposing figure in a Down defence that is not especially tall. With Cork boasting a plethora of players measuring 6’3’’ plus Gordon may be vital in clearing the danger of high balls in and around the square. The Abbey Grammar teacher is ready for a physical battle but is sure there are aspects of Down’s game that Cork will also be worrying about.

“Cork’s physicality blew Tyrone away last year but every team has strengths and every team have weaknesses. We’ll have to find some way around it. We have our own strengths so it all depends on what happens on the day.”
“We know how good Cork are.  People say Cork haven’t clicked and they haven’t played as well as last year but they’ve reached the final without clicking and can always click in the All-Ireland final and that’s almost half-frightening. They will be some opposition,” he added.

With Gordon having a wealth of experience in midfield for Down and now playing full-back comparisons have been drawn between him and an East Down predecessor of his, Conor Deegan who won an All-Ireland medal at full-back in 1991 and at midfield in 1994. Gordon admits he is a figure that he can draw inspiration from.
“I was very young when Conor Deegan won his All-Irelands in ’91 and ’94 but I watched him playing a lot of times and if I achieve half of what he achieved I’ll be delighted,” he said.

Speaking to Dan Gordon it is clear that James McCartan’s mantra of ‘We haven’t won anything yet,’ has been firmly instilled in the players and, like his manager, Gordon says the difference this year may have been an added slice of luck at times.

“James has made subtle changes. He has said himself there’s a fine line between winning and losing, success and failure. I suppose we’ve just been on the right side of that this year.”

Gordon is adamant that things could have been very different had one result not gone the right way. He added,
“We could’ve been beaten in Tullamore a few months ago and if that had happened people would have been saying things are going wrong in Down so as I’ve said before there is a fine line between success and failure and hopefully we can finish on the right side of that fine line on Sunday.”

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