Down stormed to an Ulster SFC win over Donegal at Pairc Esler, the Division Three side adding further pain to a side in turmoil following relegation from Division One and the departure of their manager.
The Mourne men will play in the Sam Maguire Cup later this year if they can get past Armagh in the semi-final.
Otherwise it's the Tailteann Cup, but either way, they will take heart from a morale-boosting victory.
Goals from Liam Kerr and Pat Havern completed Donegal’s misery in the Marshes as they limped out of the provincial title race with more days of uncertainty looming in the weeks ahead as they await the identity of their round-robin opponents.
Daniel Guinness, Danny Magill and Ryan Johnston were the men who led this Down tour de force with sparkling performances, injecting a level of energy that few of their opponents could match.
In front of a Newry crowd of 9,139, Donegal were handed the perfect start by a misunderstanding between Down defenders Anthony Doherty and Niall McParland, allowing Jason McGee to collect Michael Langan’s delivery and skip through to angle his shot past goalkeeper Niall Kane with less than three minutes on the clock.
But the Mourne men regrouped to establish a fortified resistance as they protected the scoring zone and frustrated their opponents as they pressed with the wind in their backs.
The loss of Michael Langan to injury after just 15 minutes was a blow to the managerless Tir Chonail’s attacking resources, but they moved three ahead in the 20th minute when Caolan Ward split the posts.
Down’s early scores came from Havern and Ryan Johnston, but they gave little indication of any genuine attacking threat until Liam Kerr’s magical intervention in the 21st minute.
Ryan McEvoy won Niall Kane’s kick-out, and the ball appeared entangled under the feet of Eugene Branagan out on the right wing, but Kerr darted in with a clever pick-up to head for goal and drill his shot past Shaun Patton for the levelling goal.
Havern’s second free nudged them in front for the first time, but they almost conceded a second goal as half-time approached.
Stephen McMenamin’s crunching tackle broke up a Down attack to send Donegal sweeping forward in numbers, and it was Conor O’Donnell who got on the end of the move to fire in a shot that was superbly saved by Kane.
Daire O Baoill’s second score had the sides level again, and they were deadlocked at 1-4 each at the break, 'keeper Shaun Patton converting a ’45, but missing two others at the end of a first half that had offered little in terms of excitement beyond Kerr’s inspired contribution.
Both sides had goal attempts early in the second half, with Daniel Guinness seeing his effort blocked by Donegal defender Ward, before Caolan McColgan fired in a shot at the other end, this time Danny Magill getting in the vital block.
But Down’s pace caused panic as they ran in numbers at the Donegal defence, and a sweeping move gave them a second goal in the 46th minute.
Ceilum Doherty and Shane Annett combined to send Ryan Johnston cutting in on goal, and illegally halted by Brendan McCole, with Havern tucking the penalty to the bottom corner of the net.
Donegal responded with a string of points from Conor O’Donnell, Ciaran Thompson and O Baoil, but with Daniel Guinness and Danny Magill taking the challenge fearlessly to their opponents, Conor Laverty’s side bounced back again to hit the target through Havern, Magill, and Andrew Gilmore.
Guinness charged through to put three points between the sides late on, and Donegal lacked the cutting edge and the accuracy to dig themselves out of a deepening crisis.
And they were caught on the breakaway as Conor Poland and Gilmore wrapped it up in stoppage time.
Down: N Kane; P Laverty, A Doherty, S Annett; D Magill (0-01), N McParland, M Rooney; D Guinness (0-02), R McEvoy; C Doherty, R Johnston (0-03, 2m), L Kerr (1-00); D McAleenan, P Havern (1-03, 1-0 pen, 3f), E Brannigan (0-01).
Subs: C Francis for Annett (49), A Gilmore (0-02, 1f) for Branagan (53), S Johnston for R Johnston (60), C Poland (0-01) for McParland (65), G Collins for McAleenan (70)
Donegal: S Patton (0-01, ’45); M Curran, B McCole, C Ward (0-01); C McColgan, S McMenamin, E Ban Gallagher; C McGonagle, H McFadden; D O Baoill (0-03), M Langan, C Thompson (0-02, 2f); J Brennan, J McGee (1-01), C O’Donnell (0-02).
Subs: L McGlynn for Langan (15), O Gallen (0-01) for McFadden (46), K Tobin for Ward (49), R O’Donnell for McMenamin (65), K Barrett for McGlynn (70)
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare).
