Down hurler Gabriel Clarke is confident that players will put their club rivalries to one side and row in behind new manager Gerard Monan. Such is the rivalry between the three Ards Peninsula clubs - Portaferry, Ballycran and Ballygalget - that Down have generally opted for 'outside' managers in the recent past. But that trend has been broken with the appointment of Ballygalget man Monan, who led his club to an Ulster club title in 2005 and to within a point of Cork's Newtownshandrum in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final. Fellow Ballygalget clubman Clarke said in the Irish News: "I've had a chat with guys from other clubs and it was something I thought would have come out but, to be honest, there's none of the lads from any of the other clubs that I've spoken to who have felt that way. "He's a Down man and he likes success and that's what we all want. Whenever word got round that his name was in the hat, we were delighted. I worked with him for five years with the club and we had some reasonable success. "I suppose he's only as good as the players he's got. But I do think there's a good squad of players there who'll all be prepared to play under him and there's certainly been good vibes since the news came out." Tweet

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