Joe McDonagh Cup
Round Three
DOWN 2-17 (23)
CARLOW 3-17 (26)
At McKenna Park, Ballycran

DOWN cut a ten-point deficit to almost clinch a miraculous comeback victory in Ballycran on Saturday afternoon, but a late flurry of scores from Carlow sealed the victory for the Barrowsiders.

The first half was a real scrappy affair with both sides struggling to take control of the midfield battle and the teams looked to be inseparable by the midway point of the opening period.

The southerners started the stronger with the breeze at their backs, striking a couple of scores inside the first three minutes after a 65’ from Martin Kavanagh floated between the uprights, and directly from the Down puck-out, James Doyle retrieved the slíotar and drilled a crisp strike over the black spot for an early lead.

Down replied through late addition and U20’s star, Cahal Coleman, who managed to grapple possession from Paul Doyle and despite the tight angle, the young corner forward made no mistake to earn a white flag.

The hosts soon levelled the tie as Daithí Sands clipped an effort from inside the 30-yard line as the game turned into a great battle in the middle of the park.

Sands looked to have an early goal chance, but his certain green flag was denied by the terrific acrobatics of Brian Tracey in the Carlow net as the Naomh Eoin man kept his side from falling to a deficit.

Tim Prenter and Martin Kavanagh both exchanged scores before Pearse Óg McCrickard got his opening point of the afternoon just on the quarter of an hour mark.

The final ten minutes of the half saw the game spring into life for the Leinster county as they managed to make amends for their early inefficiency in front of the posts.

Chris Nolan powered a terrific effort from the middle of the park, before Jack Treacy, and once again James Doyle, all tallied for the men in white, and the home side looked to be staring down the barrel of a defeat.

Kavanagh continued to star in the opening half, firing over another couple of great points to take his tally to four with a perfect conversion rate.

Down had struggled to adjust to the breeze and multiple wides looked costly. The Mourne County finally did break their temporary scoreless streak on the half hour mark after Tom McGrattan snatched the ball from a crowd and struck a fifth score of the half for his side.

On the stroke of the half a killer blow was taken to Down’s hopes of regaining the momentum and Carlow showed their emphatic goal threat as Martin Kavanagh attached himself to the full-forward line and managed to latch onto a loose ball, before fizzing an effort past Pearse Smyth and the net rippled.

The small whistle saw Carlow leading by seven, but Down knew they’d be able to aid of the breeze in the second period in their pursuit of their Leinster rivals.

The away side took no time at all to reignite their momentum from the first half. A great score from Murphy took the advantage to eight points and despite Pearse Óg McCrickard’s quick fire double Carlow would increase the gap to ten when James Doyle found the net.

Ciaran Whelan managed to secure the ball after a short puck-out from Smyth and found James Doyle who buried his effort for Carlow’s second goal.

The game sprung into life and the home side showed terrific resilience to combat and get themselves back into the game.

Down found scores from McCrickard and McGrattan but a major momentum changer came when Donal Hughes continued his Midas touch in front of the net as he buried Down’s first goal just moments after Carlow had managed the same.

The hosts truly rallied following the break and Prenter and Hughes kept the scoreboard ticking over and eventually Tom McGrattan had the game within the minimum by the hour mark.

The Mourne County looked to be set for a miraculous comeback victory when Pearse Óg McCrickard drilled his shot from the edge of the D and the net bulged, flipping the scoreline in favour of Down.

But Martin Kavanagh’s prowess from a dead ball stopped the momentum flowing and eventually Carlow would restore parity in the game.

Subs combined to put Carlow back in the lead. Jake Nolan’s effort for a score was caught in the wind, but the Down net-minder switched off and Paddy Boland pounced to bat the ball into the net.

Sands and McCrickard once again levelled the tie, but Kavanagh maintained his excellency from the dead ball and his tally stretched to 1-10 as the whistle sounded for full-time.

Down will still feel they are firmly in the fight for top-two after two wins out of three and another home game still to play.

DOWN: Pearse Smyth; Tom Murray, Ruairí McCrickard, Ben Teggart 0-01; Barry Trainor 0-01, Caolan Taggart, Niall McFarland; Donal Hughes 1-02, Liam Savage; Daithí Sands 0-01, Finn Turpin, Pearse Óg McCrickard 1-04 (4F); Tom McGrattan 0-03, Tim Prenter 0-03, Cahal Coleman 0-01

Subs: Marc Fisher on for Liam Savage (39’), Ronan Beatty on for Tim Prenter (55’), Nolan Smyth on for Tom Murray (60’), Paul Sheehan on for Ben Teggart (64’), Shea Pucci on for Cahal Coleman (67’)

CARLOW: Brian Tracey; Paul Doyle, Dion Wall, Jack McCullagh; Fiach Ó Toole, Kevin McDonald, Fiachra Fitzpatrick; Jon Nolan, Ciaran Whelan; Jack Treacy 0-01, Martin Kavanagh 1-10 (1x65, 7F ), James Doyle 1-02; Donagh Murphy 0-03, Conor Kehoe, Chris Nolan 0-01

Subs: Evan Kealy on for Fiach O’Toole (44’), Paddy Boland on for Donagh Murphy (52’), Jake Nolan on for Jack Treacy (60’)