0 MINS:Dermot Earley joins his team-mates for the warm-up but is unable to complete it. Hughie Lynch starts in the Kildare midfield beside Daryl Flynn.
0 MINS:Down break off before the parade is over; Kildare gather at the sideline for last second words from Kieran McGeeney and Earley.
2 MINS:Eamonn Callaghan opens the scoring after early Kildare wides from Lynch and Pádraig O'Neill.
6 MINS:Another umpiring mistake in a season of far too many. Alan Smith kicks through the middle of the posts, from an angle, after good work by James Kavanagh only for it to be signalled wide by the white coats. The big screen replay confirms a clear point.
8 MINS:Acting very unlike themselves, Kildare have taken the initiative so Down really needed Kevin McKernan's point, flashed over from the outside of his boot.
12 MINS:Goal! Benny Coulter deflects a dropping ball from Marty Clarke past Kildare goalkeeper Shane McCormack. It looks like a square ball and replays confirm this. Referee Pat McEnaney goes to check with his Canal end umpires before confirming the goal to stand. McKernan completes the swing in momentum with a fine point, 1-2 to 0-3.
22 MINS:Johnny Doyle's third point, his first from play, ties it up at 1-3 to 0-6.
23 MINS:Marty Clarke cuts loose but is dragged down by marker Brian Flanagan, who is yellow-carded, allowing Mark Poland to put Down back in front. In another Down blitz, Danny Hughes tacks on another score to make it 1-5 to 0-6.
28 MINS:A great point from Marty Clarke is followed by another from Paul McComiskey that makes it 1-7 to 0-7. Down are seizing control as Kildare lose another midfielder, Daryl Flynn, who is struggling with a neck injury he picked up after three minutes. Tellingly, Ronan Sweeney, and not Dermot Earley, comes in.
35 MINS:Benny Coulter is out by the sideline. He looks towards the posts and thinks better of it, passing to Peter Fitzpatrick, who gives it back so Benny swings it over the bar despite the presence of three Kildare defenders. A score to rank with some of Coulter's finest.
Half-time:Down lead 1-9 to 0-7.
38 MINS:A neatly struck Marty Clarke free extends Down's lead to six points after Hugh McGrillen is adjudged to have hauled down Coulter.
42 MINS:The ball drops for Alan Smith who feeds Eamonn Callaghan, but his clean shot ricochets off the post to Eoghan O'Flaherty, who puts it wide. This feels like a seminal moment.
45 MINS:The game explodes to life as Marty Clarke finds himself in open country; he curls a kick pass to McComiskey who finds Peter Fitzpatrick but after dummying two men, Morgan O'Flaherty makes a dramatic block on his goal-bound shot.
55 MINS:Clarke points a free from out on the right and, really, Kildare don't look capable of bridging the five-point gap. Their marquee forwards – Doyle and Kavanagh – only have a point each from play.
57 MINS:Conor McGinn points for Down and the all-action Peter Fitzpatrick adds another after a brilliantly weighted foot pass by Clarke. At 1-14 to 0-10, Kildare are being overrun and are in desperate need of a green flag.
57 MINS:Goal! Callaghan bursts through the Down defence before rounding Brendan McVeigh and throwing Kildare a lifeline. 1-14 to 1-10.
58 MINS:Coulter registers one of the most important points in his 11 years playing inter-county football for Down to bring it back to a five- point margin.
64 MINS:Hughie Lynch leathers his second speculative shot over the bar. Only a goal separates the teams.
65 MINS:Ronan Murtagh is on the pitch just four minutes and, as he has done all championship, isn't long making an impact, 1-16 to 1-12.
67 MINS:Johnny Doyle kicks a free to bring it back to three points.
70 MINS:Three minutes of injury time are announced. David Lyons points for Kildare.
72 MINS:A massive midfield scrum sees Daniel Hughes gather possession and win a free but Marty Clarke sends it wide.
75 mins:After some brilliant catches by Johnny Doyle and then Kavanagh, somehow, Kildare win a 13 metre free. McEnaney makes it clear that time is up. Robert Kelly delivers a ferocious shot that Kalum King palms onto the crossbar. The breaking ball is scrambled off to the right as McEnaney's whistles sends Down into their sixth All-Ireland final and first since 1994.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)