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Laverty led Down to victory in the 2024 Tailteann Cup [Getty Images]
Conor Laverty hopes Down can end a rollercoaster season with silverware as they prepare to face Wicklow in Saturday's Tailteann Cup final (15:30 BST).
The Mourne County sent shockwaves through the championship when they stunned Donegal in the Ulster quarter-finals, but joy turned to bitter disappointment with a crushing 28-point loss to Armagh in the last four.
But having narrowly missed out on a place in the All-Ireland series, Laverty's side have navigated their way to a third Tailteann Cup decider in four seasons.
"The main prize with the Tailteann is the ticket into Sam Maguire football next year and that's something this team would love to get," said Laverty, who led Down to Tailteann Cup success in 2024.
"After the Donegal result, we went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, but that's the way of the competition and the rules that were set out at the start of the year.
"As a group, we set ourselves standards and it'll be no different on Saturday afternoon."
While Down shocked Donegal, Oisin McConville's Wicklow narrowly missed out on a similarly seismic provincial scalp over Dublin in the Leinster quarter-finals.
However, the Garden County came through dramatic knockout games against Antrim and Offaly to reach their first Tailteann Cup final - and Laverty is wary of the threat they pose.
"We've watched a lot of Wicklow over the past number of weeks. Their performance against Dublin in the Leinster Championship, they probably should have won that game, so we know the quality they possess," he said.
"Some of the players they have are of the highest quality so we understand it's going to be a difficult battle and we have to prepare to put in a performance over the full 70 minutes."
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