County players directed towards ground (8)
I believe the answer is:
downcast
'directed towards ground' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'county players' is the wordplay.
'county' becomes 'down' (county of Northern Ireland).
'players' becomes 'cast' (group of actors).
'down'+'cast'='DOWNCAST'
(Other definitions for downcast that I've seen before include "Crestfallen" , "Depressed - looking at the floor?" , "directed towards ground" , "Melancholic" , "disheartened" .)