Down 1-11 Roscommon 1-15
Roscommon survived a comeback from 14-man Down to secure a 1-15 to 1-11 Allianz League Division 2 victory in Newry.
Cathal Cregg hit three late points and fellow substitute Donie Smith was also on target to relieve the pressure on John Evans' side, who were 1-09 to 0-06 ahead at half-time thanks to Diarmuid Murtagh's goal.
Despite having an extra man, the Rossies failed to score for 20 minutes and Down got within a point thanks to Arthur McConville's fisted goal.
Both sides had periods of ascendancy but the visitors had their nerves eased by those three points from Cregg in the last 10 minutes, with Smith also scoring during their prolific late spell.
The Mourne men played the last 25 minutes with 14 men following Luke Howard's dismissal after he incurred a second yellow card and also lost Kevin McKernan and Conor Garvey to black cards, with Jim McCorry forced to use all six substitutes long before the end.
Down started brightly with two Donal O'Hare points in the first three minutes, but Roscommon hit four in a row in a six-minute spell, all from play, with Senan Kilbride turning onto his left to hit the best of them from long range.
The home side got back on level terms at 0-05 apiece through Paul Devlin's free and briefly took the lead when Jerome Johnston, a substitute for the injured Caolan Mooney, sent over his second point of the night.
From there, the Rossies completely took over and scored an unanswered 1-04, including a goal on the stroke of half-time from Diarmuid Murtagh.
Senan Kilbride's perfectly weighted pass over the top was well gathered by Murtagh, who finished it neatly to the far corner to put Roscommon 1-09 to 0-06 ahead at the break.
Kevin McKernan was black-carded for a trip after 25 minutes and McCorry rang the changes, having used five of his substitutions by the start of the second half.
Things got feisty following Down's second black card for Conor Garvey, and immediately after substitute McConville's palmed goal in the 46th minute, Howard was sent off for a second yellow card.
After all the free-flowing football of the first half, the second was littered with bad-tempered spats and stoppages.
Points from McConville, Jerome Johnston and Peter Fitzpatrick brought Down right back into it and they closed the gap to the minimum, trailing by 1-11 to 1-10 with ten minutes to go.
Despite having an extra man, Roscommon endured a 20-minute scoreless run until key substitutes Cregg and Smith came up with the goods.
Down: S Kane; D O'Hagan, B McArdle, L Howard; P Devlin (0-02, 0-01f, 0-01 '45'), D Turley, K McKernan; N Madine, P Fitzpatrick (0-01); C Maginn (0-01), C Laverty, C Mooney; C Crilly, D O'Hare (0-03, 0-01f), D Savage
Subs used: J Johnston (0-03) for Mooney (15 mins), C Garvey for McKernan (25, black card), M Poland for Savage (31), A McConville (1-01) for Crilly, D O'Hanlon for Turley (both half-time), N Donnelly for Garvey (45, black card)
Roscommon: D O'Malley; S McDermott, N Carty, N Collins; C Daly, N Daly (0-01), C Cafferkey (0-01); I Kilbride, C Shine; M Nally (0-01), D Shine (0-01, 0-01f), E Smith; C Murtagh (0-02), S Kilbride (0-01), D Murtagh (1-04, 0-02f)
Subs used: U Harney for Nally (12 mins), D Smith (0-01) for Shine (50), C Cregg (0-03) for D Murtagh, M Whyte for O'Malley (both 53)
Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)
