Down 1-17 Galway 1-16
Paul Devlin snatched victory for Down with an injury-time free as they beat Galway by 1-17 to 1-16 to move to the top of Division 2 of the Allianz Football League.
Galway had a strong wind advantage in the first half and led by six points at the break in Pairc Esler, Patrick Sweeney with an early goal, but Donal O'Hare's 43rd-minute major brought the home side back into the game.
Kevin Walsh's side were still four points up with ten minutes remaining but Down scored six of the last seven points in a dramatic finish.
Galway missed a glut of goal chances, especially in the first half, as Down goalkeeper Stephen Kane pulled off a number of fine saves.
The only time his line was breached was in the sixth minute when Sweeney capitalised on a huge hole through the middle of the Down defence to score an early goal for Galway.
It gave the visitors a cushion they held on, and extended, as the game wore on.
Sweeney's goal was the start of an unanswered 1-04 Galway scored in a nine minute spell to take control.
On several occasions, Galway players opted for points when goals presented themselves and a number of other shots went wide - wastefulness they were to regret later on.
Danny Cummins was a central character in the first half, roasting his marker Ryan Boyle and scoring three early points. Fiontan O Curraoin was hugely influential in midfield and gave Galway a lot of primary possession during the entire game.
Michael Martin's accuracy from frees kept the scoreboard ticking over while Sean Denvir, Garreth Bradshaw and Adrian Varley also chipped over nice points with the wind at their backs.
Ross McGarry scored a point on his debut for Down with Donal O'Hare, Mark Poland and Conor Laverty also scoring from play.
Galway led by 1-10 to 0-7 at the break, but probably should have been further ahead such was their dominance, and Down scored 1-2 without reply in the opening eight minutes of the second half to get themselves right back in the game.
O'Hare's free and Devlin's first point of the day got their tails up before O'Hare shipped a high tackle from Declan Kyne, who was black-carded.
Worse for Galway was the resulting penalty, and while Manus Breathnach saved O'Hare's initial shot, the Down forward was able to tap the rebound into an empty net in the 43rd minute.
Kane pulled off super saves from Sweeney and Paul Varley but Galway rallied with points from Varley, Denvir and Damien Comer.
They led by 1-15 to 0-11 after 60 minutes before Down staged another remarkable comeback, similar to their late heroics in Newbridge when they snatched victory over Kildare last month.
The Mournemen hit five points in a row to go in an eight-minute spell to take the lead in the final minute.
A Devlin '45', an O'Hare free and quality points from Laverty, sub Caolan Mooney and Kevin McKernan got the hosts' noses in front for the first time since the fifth minute.
If Laverty's strike from near the stand side was good, then McKernan's spectacular 55m sky-scraper was even better. The ball hung in the air and dropped over the bar in the last minute of normal time to put Down 1-16 to 1-16 ahead.
Galway sub Paul Conroy showed great composure to level the scores in the second minute of injury-time but Cathal Sweeney's high tackle on Laverty resulted in a 45m free, which Devlin converted to snatch a precious Allianz League victory for the home side.
Scorers for Down: D O'Hare 1-5 (3f), P Devlin 0-4 (one '45', 2f), C Laverty 0-3 (1f), M Poland 0-2, R McGarry, K McKernan, C Mooney 0-1 each
Scorers for Galway: M Martin 0-5 (4f), D Cummins 0-4 (2f), P Sweeney 1-0, S Denvir, A Varley 0-2 each, G Bradshaw, D Comer, P Conroy 0-1 each
DOWN: S Kane; R Boyle, L Howard, D Turley; P Devlin, C Garvey, C McGovern; B McArdle, P Turley; R McGarry, K McKernan, D O'Hanlon; M Poland, C Laverty, D O'Hare
Subs: J Johnston for McArdle (10), A McConville for Garvey (BC, 31), C Mooney for McGarry (47), A Carr for Johnston (56), P Downey for Boyle (60), C Maginn for Poland (70)
GALWAY: M Breathnach; D Kyne, F Hanley, C Sweeney; P Varley, G Bradshaw, G O'Donnell; F O Curraoin, E Tierney; S Denvir, P Sweeney, D Comer; M Martin, A Varley, D Cummins
Subs: C O Ceallaigh for Kyne (BC, 43), P Conroy for Tierney (45), S Breathnach for Cummins (54), E de Hora for Sweeney (64)
REFEREE: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)
