Down 0-18 Tipperary 1-9:DESPITE HAVING lost three men to yellow cards, Down picked up full points from their trip when they defeated Tipperary at Semple Stadium yesterday.

Down were first off the mark with a point from Jamie O’Reilly. But, it was Tipperary who made the early running with pointed placed balls from Barry Grogan (two) and Timmy Dalton.

Down began to find their pace with scores coming from Daniel Hughes, Benny Coulter and Brendan McArdle to give them the lead again. Tipperary were proving resilient, however, and were level at half-time, 0-7 apiece.

Down closed off the game early in the second half though as they fired five unanswered scores.

A Christy Alyward goal in the 59th minute was a mere consolation goal for Tipperary as the visitors held out for a six-point win.

DOWN: B McVeigh; C McGovern, K McKernan, L Howard; C Garvey, A Carr (0-2), P Murphy; J Lynch, S Kearney; J Fegan (0-4), C Maginn (0-2), J O’Reilly (0-1); B McArdle (0-1), D Hughes (0-4), B Coulter (0-3). Subs: R Sexton for McArdle (yellow), C Magee (0-1) for J O’Reilly (yellow), J Ireland for J Lynch (yellow)

TIPPERARY: P Fitzgerald, C Morrissey, C McDonald, A Morrissey, C Aylward (1-0), N Fitzgerald, B Fox, G Hannigan, E Hanrahan, B Mulvihill, P Austin, S Carey, B Grogan (0-6), B Coen, T Dalton (0-2). Subs: D O’Brien for Mulvihill, K Mulryan (0-1) for Hannigan, L Coskeran for Dalton, B Jones for Austin, M Phelan for Fitzgerald, J Cagney for C Morrissey.

Referee: P McGovern (Galway).