O'Rourke plays down Mourne return

by Setanta Staff , 17 March 2010

Armagh boss Paddy O'Rourke, a former All-Ireland winning captain and manager of his native Down, is playing down the significance of the weekend return to the Mourne county with his new charges.


In returning to Newry for the Division 2 league clash, O'Rourke will pit his wits against Down boss James McCartan, a playing colleague of his his when he raised the Sam Maguire back in 1991.

Despite the obvious angle and the fact that all eyes will be on him on Saturday, or perhaps because of it, O'Rourke is keen to downplay the event.

"It is just another game and I'll be treating it as that," he said.

"It's only sport. Some people maybe think it's more than that, but it's not.

"James will approach it in the same way. You will have two teams wanting to win the game. It should be an entertaining game and there will probably be a lot of football played in it. It should be a great night.

"It's great preparation for the likes of James, with Down going to Donegal in the championship and us having to go up to Celtic Park.

"These sort of matches are what you need," he concluded.

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