The Down captain Pierce Laverty and his team mates with the Tailteann Cup after the Tailteann Cup Final match between Down and Laois at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
Tailteann Cup final
DOWN 0-14 LAOIS 2-6
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
After three seasons of Tailteann Cup toil, Down are finally champions and will take their place in the race for the Sam Maguire Cup in 2025.
That rich reward didn't come without an epic struggle though as Conor Laverty's crew held firm to deny Laois during a frantic final few minutes at Croke Park.
With a five-point lead and the clock ticking into stoppage time, a sixth win in the tier two campaign seemed a done deal for Down.
But Mark Barry's brilliant 71st minute goal for Laois cut the gap to just two points and Justin McNulty's side had their opportunities to wipe out the deficit entirely in the closing minutes.
They couldn't make it happen though and Down held on for a win that, in truth, they fully deserved. It wasn't anything like the 8-16 they put on the board against Laois at the semi-final stage last year but, with promotion on the line, it was a mightily effective performance as they got the better of a much improved O'Moore side.
Odhran Murdock played a central role in the win with three points, the same as Pat Havern, while Danny Magill had a huge impact with two points and an assist for another after coming on. Pierce Laverty played a captain's role too with an expert man-marking job on Laois captain Evan O'Carroll.
Down hit Laois hard and early in last year's semi-final and hinted at doing something similar again with three points in the first four minutes here.
Liam Kerr, Havern and Shealan Johnston grabbed those scores and all three players came to the party with stories to tell.
Kerr, who blasted 3-2 against Laois last year, was recalled to the team after scoring 0-3 from the bench against Sligo while Havern started at midfield again despite wearing number 14. As for Johnston, the rumour beforehand was that he was to be replaced by Ryan Magill but the Kilcoo man started as planned.
Down made three changes from the extra-time semi-final win over Sligo; bringing back in Kerr along with Jonny Flynn and James Guinness.
Laois were unchanged and, after that tricky start, came strongly into the game, reeling off 1-2 between the seventh and 15th minutes.
Seamus Lacey grabbed the crucial 11th minute goal that put the Division 4 champions ahead briefly, 1-1 to 0-3.
Lacey capitalised after Down goalkeeper John O'Hare, under pressure from Brian Byrne, punched the ball straight to him.
The scores dried up on Laois after O'Carroll's 15th minute point. They scored just one more point in the half and didn't manage one from play until Conor Heffernan struck from long range in the 38th minute.
Down, meanwhile, had tonnes of possession and while they fired four of the game's next five points to lead 0-8 to 1-3 at half-time, six first-half wides undermined them.
Laois goalkeeper Killian Roche, perhaps the best 'keeper in the competition this season, got all 14 of his first-half kick-outs away successfully.
The problem for Laois was they kept being turned over high up the pitch, allowing Down to break away with the ball. Murdock hit two excellent points for Down, one off either foot, but all those wides and a Kerr score attempt after another turnover that dropped short proved frustrating.
The sides shared six points equally in the third quarter, Laois initially scoring three in a row to take the lead before Down responded in kind.
Magill's 44th minute introduction was central to Down's resurgence. A goal-king for Down last year, Magill kicked back-to-back points this time before setting up Murdock for his third, 0-11 to 1-6.
It remained that way until substitute Caolan Mooney put Down three clear on the hour.
Down stretched the gap to five after reeling off six points in a row in all between the 46th and 69th minutes.
Laois looked a busted flush but dramatically grabbed a goal back through Barry in stoppage time to make it a really interesting final few minutes.
Down scorers: Odhran Murdock 0-3, Pat Havern 0-3 (0-1f), Danny Magill 0-2, Liam Kerr 0-1, Shealan Johnston 0-1, Jonny Flynn 0-1, Ryan Johnston 0-1, Caolan Mooney 0-1, Peter Fegan 0-1.
Laois scorers: Mark Barry 1-2 (0-1f), Seamus Lacey 1-0, Paul Kingston 0-1 (0-1f), Evan O'Carroll 0-1, Killian Roche 0-1 (0-1f), Conor Heffernan 0-1.
DOWN: John O'Hare; Peter Fegan, Ryan McEvoy, Pierce Laverty; Miceal Rooney, Daniel Guinness, Shealan Johnston; Odhran Murdock, Pat Havern; Paddy McCarthy, Jonny Flynn, Liam Kerr; James Guinness, Ryan Johnston, John McGovern. Subs: Caolan Mooney for McGovern 39, Danny Magill for Rooney 44, Ryan Magill for James Guinness 57, Conor McCrickard for Ryan Johnston 69, Finn McElroy for Kerr 73.
LAOIS: Killian Roche; James Kelly, Simon Fingleton, Mark Timmons; Seamus Lacey, Brian Byrne, Ben Dempsey; Damon Larkin, Conor Heffernan; Niall Dunne, Eoin Lowry, Kevin Swayne; Mark Barry, Evan O'Carroll, Paul Kingston. Subs: Rioghan Murphy for Lowry 57, Shaun Fitzpatrick for Kingston 66, Kieran Lillis for Larkin 69, Ciaran Burke for Dunne 69, Eoin Buggie for Kelly 71.
Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).
