Down 3-13 Kildare 1-15

Nothing much tops the injury-time goal to close out a tight game. Nothing at all tops two injury-time goals and a point. And so Down got out of Newbridge with exactly what they wanted, if not exactly in the way they wanted it.

That’s not saying Kildare didn’t set themselves up for a fall. Manager Jason Ryan described it as a “stinker” of a finish and that was certainly true for his side. Kildare had their noses in front for much of the game and then let it all slip as Ryan sought to solidify his defence.

Kildare also had a second-half penalty saved by Down’s replacement goalkeeper, when a goal would probably have been decisive. They also let a similar lead slip late on against Tyrone last year, in Division One.

So not the way Ryan wanted to kick-start the drive for promotion. With Meath up next weekend, in Navan, the heat is already on.

Down, naturally, were delighted. They were trailing by three points, bang on 70 minutes, when Dara O’Hanlon’s hopeful, probing free rebounded off the Kildare crossbar and into the hands of Arthur McConville, who promptly buried it.

Kildare were stunned, Down were mainlining adrenaline, allowing Paul Devlin to deftly score what was presumably the winning point. And in the second minute of injury-time Donal O’Hare added another goal, just to make sure.

“Maybe the scoreline does flatter us a little, with two of those goals coming right at the end, but I certainly think we deserved the two points,” beamed big Jim McCorry, and understandably so in his first league season as Down manager .

“I thought Arthur McConville was doing very well in there, even before he got the goal. But every manager will tell they target the first two games, and try to get a least two points.

“So coming out of Kildare with two points is a great start. Even coming down here, I felt there was a great atmosphere, and will to win.”

Leading by example

In fairness, Down played committed football throughout. Paul Devlin was also in fine scoring form, with Kevin Kernan leading by example as always. They never let Kildare out of their sights, even when trailing by three points late in the first half. Saving the Kildare penalty, on 49 minutes, reinforced their self-belief.

The penalty came after Down goalkeeper Michael Cunningham grabbed rather than tackled Gary White. Cunningham was black-carded, and Stephen Kane brought in, and his first action was to save Padraig Fogarty’s strike.

Kildare pressed on and were three points clear on the hour, at which point Down hadn’t scored in 18 minutes and were without full forward Conor Maginn to a black card. “For our goalkeeper to come off the bench, make a save like that, was very inspirational, for the rest of the team,” said McCorry. “That was a pivotal moment.”

Kildare weren’t exactly robbed, and Ryan duly admitted they left themselves open. “Today, in my opinion, our performance was good enough to win. So we lost the game.

“Because going into those last few minutes we were exactly where we wanted to be, with a three-point cushion. Most teams would take that. So it’s very disappointing.

More pressure

“I’d still see some positives, in that we were winning that game, right at the finish. But it was a stinker of a finish. It just adds even more pressure to next weekend’s game, against Meath.”

What is certain is that it’s going to be an extremely hard fight for promotion (Meath also going down to Galway), and if every point is going to matter, conceding three goals in the opening game can only be costly.

DOWN: M Cunningham; D O'Hagan (0-1), C Garvey, L Howard; D Turley, B McArdle, K McKernan; N Madine, P Fitzpatrick; R Johnston, C Laverty, P Devlin (0-6, two free)s; J Johnston, C Maginn, D O'Hare (1-6, four frees). Subs: C Mooney (1-0) for R Johnston (half time), M Poland for Garvey (45 mins); S Kane for Cunningham (49 mins, black card); D O'Hanlon for Fitzpatrick (54 mins), A McConville (1-0) for J Johnston (58 mins), P Turley for Maginn (63 mins, black card). KILDARE: M Donnellan; C Fitzpatrick, P Kelly, M O'Grady; O Lyons, D O'Brien, E Doyle; H Lynch, P O'Neill; E Callaghan, N Kelly (1-1), E O'Flaherty (0-4, three frees); D Mulhall (0-4, one free), F Dowling (0-4), P Fogarty (0-2). Subs: G White for O'Neill (16 mins, inj), F Conway for Doyle (58 mins), D Hyland for P Kelly (63 mins), K Cribbin for Mulhall (69 mins). Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)