Down ... 1-10 Sligo ... 1-11Cometh the hour, cometh the man. When the hour came (or more precisely the 70 minutes), Sligo were staring at their third defeat in a row, with the talismanic Paul Durcan sent to the line, and an eager young Down team deservedly leading 1-10 to 1-9 as the game went into the signalled two minutes overtime.
It was time for something special, and that something special was provided, as so often before, by brilliant midfielder Eamonn O'Hara.
First, he ignited his team-mates with a magnificent soaring catch from his goalkeeper's kick-out, to launch a move that ended with Mark Brehony hitting the equaliser. And in the very next passage of play it was O'Hara, dodging and weaving through the centre of the defence, who set up the game's winning score for the same player.
It was a victory joyfully acclaimed by the Sligomen. For though they had played impressive football going forward at times, with Paul Taylor and Brehony catching the eye, they had been repeatedly pulled back by a lively and dogged young Down team.
Down had early difficulty in fathoming Sligo's explosive counter-attacking play, with defenders Brendan Philipps and David Durcan prominent in the moves that saw the visitors go in front early on, the goal coolly converted at the end of a defence-ripping move by Seán Davey. But Down deservedly overtook them again on 27 minutes. Liam Doyle made great progress down the left before squaring the ball for Benny Coulter to shoot the goal.
Brilliant individual play from Taylor helped Sligo recover from the dismissal of Durcan to lead by a point with 10 minutes to go, before Down regained control in the final period.
But in the end the game was decided by the intervention of O'Hara. Also prominent in a spirited Sligo side were Brendan Phillips and Michael Langan.
Down can be pleased with the promise shown by John Clarke, Liam Doyle, Michael Walsh and Benny Coulter, and the rousing leadership of team captain Seán Ward.
DOWN: P Travers; D McCartan, J Clarke, M Cole; J Lavery, A O'Prey, L Doyle (0-1); Seán Ward, B Coulter (1-1); PT McCartan (0-2), M Walsh (0-3), D Gordon; S King, R Murtagh (0-1), Shane Ward (0-2). Sub: A Devlin for R Murtagh.
SLIGO: P Walsh; N Maguire, N Carew, B Phillips; P Doohan, M Langan, D Durcan (0-1); P Durcan, E O'Hara; K O'Neill, K Quinn (0-1), S Davey (1-0); M Brehony (0-5), J McPartland, G McGowan (0-1). Subs: P Taylor (0-3) for G McGowan, P Gallagher for J McPartland, G Maye for S Davey.
Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).
