Down manager reveals how RTÉ blunder helped them to shock win over Donegal

A day of shocks!

The Mournemen won out 3-21 to 1-21 in Letterkenny, revealing themselves as a real dark horse for All-Ireland glory.

After the game, manager Conor Laverty spoke about belief, and showed journalists a key piece of motivation he was able to use.

As his screensaver, he had a screenshot of an RTÉ graphic, which showed Donegal facing the winner of Tyrone v Armagh; ignoring Down and their ambitions.

After the game, Laverty said: “You just have to back yourself and know that you’re on a journey and where you want to go. I showed the lads last night the screensaver on my phone.

“It was RTÉ’s championship draw. I’ve saved that on my phone for three weeks and I’ve looked at it every day. There’s been tough nights during video [sessions], the lads have done an awful lot of work and going to training in the middle of lambing — it’s been a tough few weeks,” the Kilcoo sheep farmer added.

“I showed them that last night and I had said to them on Thursday night that ‘I don’t think you are just fully with me in the belief yet, but before Sunday morning, you are going to believe in the way that this management team believes in you’.

“I said at half-time, ‘Do you fully believe me now? Do you fully believe what this management team believes?’ And you could see it bouncing in their eyes.”