Fermanagh brought back down to earth

High-flying Fermanagh came back to earth with a bang at Enniskillen after a promising first half in which they were twice denied certain goal chances. Goalkeeper Michael McVeigh saved in the ninth minute from Shane King and corner back Paul Shields also stopped a Fermanagh goal in the 29th minute from Raymie Gallagher.

Lack of discipline among the Down players in the opening half resulted in three yellow cards and they were fortunate to have a 1-4 to 0-6 lead at half-time.

The Down goal in the 15th minute was against the run of play and followed a mix-up in the defence with Shane Ward taking full advantage to find the net. In the run-up to half-time, two points by Rory Gallagher and another by Kieran Gallagher left Fermanagh a point behind.

Down came out for the second half with their resolve obviously strengthened. They did survive an early scare when Fermanagh full forward Liam McBarron fired straight at the goalkeeper. Tom Brewster, who was following up, pointed to bring the teams level.

That was in the second minute but it was to be 27 minutes before Fermanagh would score again. They did create five excellent scoring chances, however none were taken. Overall their forwards were well contained by the Down defence in which Ciaran Byrne, Paul Shields and Paul Higgins were outstanding.

The midfield pairing of Brian Burns and Gregory McCartan, scorer of four pointed frees, ruled the roost and as a result the Down forwards had plenty of possession. Among them ageless Michael Linden was the main playmaker. He won two frees from which McCartan converted and had the final say with the last score of the game.

Fermanagh's fortunes improved slightly with the introduction of a number of substitutes, one of whom, Stephen Maguire, showed up well at full forward. However, the excellent Byrne maintained his game as the usually reliable Gallagher fluffed scoring chances.

Down: M McVeigh; P Higgins, C Byrne, P Shields; M McMurray, Sean Ward, M Magill (0-1); B Burns (0-1), G McCartan (0-4); P McGrath, S Mulholland (0-1), P Sloan (0-1); M Linden (0-1), C McCabe (0-1), Shane Ward (1-1). Subs: P Matthews for McGrath, J McCartan for Sloan, S Poland for Burns.

Fermanagh: P Maguire; M Lilly, P Courtney, P McGuinness; T Callaghan, T Collins, K Gallagher (0-1); P Brewster, M Greene; K Cassidy, Rory Gallagher (0-3), T Brewster (0-1); Raymond Gallagher (0-1), L McBarron (0-2), S King (0-1). Subs: S Maguire for Cassidy, K Donnelly for Greene, D Fitzpatrick for Raymond Gallagher.

Referee: M McGrath (Donegal).