Upper Bann:It would have been the final ignominy for the Ulster Unionists in what was already a humiliating election - a Sinn Féin upstart snatching their former leader's old seat in the unionist heartland constituency of Upper Bann.
When the count was adjourned on Thursday night, there was every possibility that Sinn Féin's Dessie Ward, buoyed by his poll-topping party colleague John O'Dowd, would, by yesterday, become the new David Trimble.
In the end, the UUP's George Savage scraped through on the 12th count.
Sitting MP and DUP stalwart David Simpson was scathing about his unionist rival's performance. In his final speech, Simpson spoke of his horror at seeing the UUP "grasping for a seat from Sinn Féin/IRA".
Graciousness was in short supply at the Upper Bann count. The prospect of three nationalist seats in a six-seat constituency in which nearly 55 per cent declare themselves to be from the Protestant community was difficult for some to countenance.
Sinn Féin's O'Dowd had already trumped all the unionist candidates, getting elected on the first count along with Simpson.
On Thursday night, Simpson was clearly livid with the UUP. "They made a complete sham of the whole election. I hope they're proud of the fact that they might assist Sinn Féin/IRA in taking a unionist seat. I hope they can live with themselves," he said.
The SDLP's Dolores Kelly held her seat but said she was concerned about voter apathy and Sinn Féin's encroachment into traditional SDLP territory.
Kelly took 950 transfers from John O'Dowd. "The question for me is whether those were SDLP voters who bought into voting for Sinn Féin," she said.