SITTING in the press room beneath the Cusack stand, Conor Laverty cut a dejected figure. The Kilcoo man, normally a bundle of energy, enthusiasm and vibrancy was the opposite. Slumped into the seat he found it difficult to start speaking at all as the pain of defeat was still so raw. Reflecting on the match, Laverty commented, “Probably different stages of the game were controlled by each team. I thought we started very well; we went 0-4 to 0-1 up then we conceded probably a sucker-punch of a goal and probably gave Meath a lifeline back into the game and I thought they took it really well. “They probably pushed on from there. The black card that came before the break I felt was harsh enough but our response then was very good and we went two points up at the start of the second half. “Then we probably fell back into our shell a wee bit and sat a wee bit too deep and invited Meath on to us and I just thought on the day they performed better than we did. We didn’t get to the level of performance that we would have hoped for.” Laverty did, in the round, take the positives from the year and, in particular, with the commitment levels he got from his panel. He is also confident that, where in other years Down had shown rays of hope they were unable to build on it. Conor feels that, given the age profile of the panel, retirements are unlikely and that should help create the stability required to continue to move the project forward. He stated, “I don’t think there are too many older players at that stage where they are going to be leaving. We have 42 of a panel and on Thursday night there was 38 of them training, which was great to see. “Out of those four lads that weren’t training was Mark Walsh who broke his ankle and two cruciates, so we only had one soft tissue injury on Thursday night. So, a full deck to pick from in that scenario, I think that is a good sign that the lads were very committed all year, there was nobody that dropped off the panel or walked away when they weren’t getting game-time and I think it is very important. “I think that is what this competition was brilliant for, everybody got game-time and got experience and for us, as management, we have seen the lads now at a decent level to assess where they are at and I suppose we have a better understanding of the core bunch of players we see moving forward.” While accepting the bitter anguish that accompanies a final defeat, Laverty continued to keep one eye on the road ahead and was pleased with what Down were able to get from the Tailteann Cup despite not winning it. “It is gutting in that dressing room in there as no-one likes losing finals and probably the hardest thing to take is if you didn’t perform. If you are beaten and you have played to the best of your ability then you can accept it that bit better. “I suppose this is a foundation year and we would have liked to get out of Division Three and just with results we didn’t achieve that and I suppose that is where we will be looking next year. “We have seen this competition as a good stepping stone to get into the Sam Maguire because inevitably that is where everybody wants to be playing. We don’t want to be a curtain-raiser for other teams but the boys will go back to their clubs for a number of months and we will reassess and evaluate how our season has gone and regroup and get back later on in the year.” While suggesting it was too early for any in-depth reflections and analysis on the game saying that, so soon after the final whistle you are living off “moments” and “flashbacks” there was some positivity that came through from the former star forward. Conor said, “This is a very young team, they are only starting this journey with us as a management team and this competition has been brilliant that a lot of boys have got a lot of game time, they have got two games in Croke Park and that will stick to them experience wise.” With that in mind, after a bit of a rest for the club championships, when Down regroup in the Autumn/Winter there will be a direct focus to building bigger and stronger for the 2024 season.