A late Donal Hughes goal earned Down a major victory over Antrim at Dunloy on Saturday afternoon.
Antrim led the tie at the break despite only 50 per cent of their first half strikes resulting in a score. They fell behind early after Tom McGrattan's opening score for Down inside a minute.
The hosts soon replied and would grab the initiative thanks to a trio of scores from Seáan Elliot, the Dunloy native lashing over three frees in succession.
Down were determined to keep the game scrappy as the scoreboard remained unaltered for the next five minutes with the game playing out in the middle of the park.
Antrim usually retained possession before firing efforts the wrong side of the uprights but eventually Elliot found his and Antrim’s fourth point with their first from play on the quarter hour mark.
Unlike the league contest between the two, goals chances were a rarity in the first half with neither side troubling the opposition shot-stopper. Eventually the Mourne county got into the game with a first for Pearse Óg McCrickard and Daithi Sands soon followed suit.
The first half homecoming rang true when the Dunloy cohort on the panel all found their shooting range as Conal Cunning, Eoin O’Neill and Keelan Molloy all firing scores from play as the half played out.
Down did answer some of Antrim’s questions and narrowed the gap to two after McCrickard and McGrattan struck for raised flags, but the late tally from Ryan McCambridge and Paul Boyle kept the away side at arms length from their Ulster rivals.
The away side got up and running again as they looked to mount a comeback over Antrim with Tom McGrattan striking first before James McNaughton found his second score of the afternoon.
Scores from Coleman and Hughes kept Down reducing the scoreboard as they hoped to continue to pile home the scores.
Antrim kept them at bay with Elliot’s free taking, but the Saffrons slunk back into their shells, allowing the away side a glimmer of hope that looked far-fetched as the final ten minutes approached.
Hughes had fired home the winner in the league clash between the sides in Páirc Esler and lightning would strike twice, the same player burying the critical goal in injury-time to give the visitors a dramatic victory.
Late efforts from Gerard Walsh and Ruairi Donaghy missed the target as the Saffrons were unable to find the scores to rescue a result. Davy Fitzgerald's side head to Laois in desperate need of a win but for Down, it's a famous win which kicks off their Joe McDonagh tilt in the best possible fashion.
Antrim: Cormac McFadden; Oisin Donnelly, Niall O'Connor, Stephen Rooney; Ryan McNulty, Paddy Burke, Joe Maskey; Eoin O'Neill (0-01), Paul Boyle (0-01); Keelan Molloy (0-02), Ryan McCambridge (0-02), Conal Cunning (0-02); James McNaughton (0-03), Ruairi Donaghy, Seáan Elliot (0-11, 10f).
Subs: Gerard Walsh for Eoin O'Neill 60’, Conal Bohill for Paul Boyle 48’, Jack McCloskey (0-01) for Conal Cunning 68’
Down: Pearse Smyth; Tom Murray, Ruairí McCrickard, Ben Teggart (0-01); Barry Trainor, Caolan Taggart (0-01), Niall McFarland; Donal Hughes (1-01), Liam Savage (0-01); Daithí Sands (0-02), Finn Turpin (0-01), Pearse Óg McCrickard (0-08, 8f); Tom McGrattan (0-04), Tim Prenter, Shea Pucci
Subs: Marc Fisher (0-01) for Liam Savage 48', Cahal Coleman (0-01) for Tim Prenter 48’, Ronan Beatty for Shea Pucci 57’, Ronan Smyth for Niall McFarland 64’, Owen McDermott (0-01) for Finn Turpin 57’
