Poland doesn't want to lose final record
September 13, 2010
Down attacker Mark Poland
A plasterer by trade Mark Poland will be hoping to plaster his name all over the Down scoring chart, as the Mourne County aim for a first All-Ireland Senior football title since 1994 on September 19th.
Not that Down's scoring power rests on him alone or indeed solely on any of the other Mourne County attackers - a formidable bunch with the six forwards who started against Kildare amassing a Championship total of 5-80 (95 points) between them to date, out of Down's overall tally of 8-103 (127 points).
Poland has bagged 1-18 of that, and he believes that the Mourne County's success isn't 'fly-by-night' and Down's progression to the decider has been a result of a couple of years of hard work and that the appointment of James McCartan as manager at the end of last year's campaign may have been the catalyst needed to drive things forward in 2010.
"James coming in gives a fresh approach, but a lot of players have been there for a long number of years and maybe from their point of view it's what they deserve," he said.
"I would say that at the start of this year there was a group of players who have got together and put in a massive amount of work and we are getting our just rewards.
"People will say that the talent was always there and it was just that we needed to be getting a bit of luck along the way along with the hard work. That's the way things went this year and hopefully it can continue."
One of the buzz words surrounding Gaelic football is that it can be all about building 'momentum'. Down have certainly played with a great swagger and abandon this year and have picked up plenty of momentum along the way.
The Ulster semi-final loss to Tyrone was the only game of the Championship where Down failed to score a goal, but Poland and his colleagues have been building steadily since then via the Qualifier route to land a final place on the biggest day in the Gaelic Football calendar.
"I wouldn't say that we went out to lose to Tyrone. We took everything game by game. The Tyrone game it was bitterly disappointing, because we had an Ulster title in our sights and that was taken away from us.
"The qualifiers were then the only route to go. We spoke about how Down's record in the qualifiers the previous few years wasn't great. We took it game by game, starting off against Longford in Newry and then since then we have made a lot of progress. We scraped through against Offaly, put on a good show against Sligo and then got to Croke Park.
"We have played maybe two of the top teams in Ireland since then and thankfully we have got the right result in those games. We didn't go out to lose Ulster and I know it's hard for Tyrone being reigning Ulster champions and then getting beaten in the quarter-finals, but an Ulster title was what we wanted before we were beaten."
Despite a huge relief and sense of emotion following the quarter-final win over Kerry, Poland believes that the victory over Offaly in the qualifiers may have been the watershed momentum for Down this year - a two point win in Round 3 on July 17th at O'Connor Park.
"Before that game some of the lads had spoken about the fact that Down went down there a couple of years beforehand and came away with an easy win - they racked up a big score.
"We knew going down there that day that it was going to be a tough battle and to be honest after the first 15 minutes we were lucky to still be in the game. Offaly created an awful lot of goal chances but only took one.
"It was a day where we had just to get over the storm as such and then we started playing our own football in the second half and maybe we could have won by a lot more that day.
"We missed a lot of chances, but to come out of Offaly that day with a win was big for the panel of players and it was the fact that we were just one game away from a quarter-final as well."
Cork stand in Down's way of a first All-Ireland final since 1994, a team with plenty of youth and experience just like their Mourne counterparts.
Poland feels that Down's inexperience of contesting All-Ireland deciders in the recent past, in contrast to Cork's qualification for a third final in four years won't hamper his side.
"Both teams have maybe underachieved in Croke Park this past while but Cork will be massive favourites going into the final and there is nothing they or we can do about that.
"At the end of the day they have lost two finals in the last few years and things haven't gone their way. I'm sure they will be looking to rectify that, but at the same time we aren't going to make up the numbers.
"We will be going there to win, but as I say we will be massive underdogs."
It all starts and finishes with the club, and for Mark Poland and his county colleagues Ambrose Rogers and Mark Doran that club is Longstone GAC.
In a parish of less than 1,000 people, the GAA is at it's core.
The clubhouse and facilities at Longstone Park provide a real focal point for the local community, where it also houses the local playgroup and youth club as well as all the usual GAA activities.
For such a small area major successes have come their way including the Kilmacud Crokes Sevens title with Mark as captain back in 2007, while four years previously a Down Intermediate Championship title was annexed, and since then Longstone have been ever present in the local Senior Football Championship.
"Anyone that knows Longstone knows that most things up around here, it all revolves around GAA," he said.
"If there wasn't GAA in Longstone there wouldn't be a lot more in it. When I run out on Croke Park in the final representing my club it will fill me with a lot of pride and hopefully I can do my family and the people of Longstone proud. I'm sure Ambrose and Mark will be the same."
Poland recalls the All-Ireland Sevens title win as something special for the area.
"We won't get to it this year, but we have been there in the past five or six years and have build relationships up with people in the club," he said.
"It was great winning it that time and the year we did win it we reached the Senior final in Down against Mayobridge but they defeated us that day."
For a reasonably small club, Longstone have provided a steady stream to various Down teams over the years.
Mark's brother Conor was a part of the Down side which lost last year's Under 21 All-Ireland final to Cork, while their Dad John also claimed an Ulster under 21 medal.
Current Down captain Ambrose Rogers is of course a member of the club, with his late father Ambrose Senior a firm part of the successful Down Senior sides of the nineties.
Mark says that Ambrose Snr was a great father figure to all in Longstone.
"Ambrose would have been like a father figure to the three of us that will run out in the final in Croke Park," he said.
"I know he will be looking down on Ambrose that day and it would be great to see Ambrose (Jnr) out on the field. I'm sure his whole family will be there.
"To see him lift the trophy on the 19th would mean the world. I know it would mean the world to his Dad and his family and that so we just have to go out and approach it as we would approach any game and hopefully we can go out and do the business and we will see him lift it." Tweet
