Saturday, Casement Park

As expected, Down brushed New York aside on Saturday but the scoreline hides the fact that this was no jaunt for them.

Leading by 0-4 to 0-3 after 13 minutes, Down went on to hit 2-6 without reply before the interval, their goals coming from former All star Ger McGrattan in the 30th minute and Noel Sands one minute into injury time. New York's Owen Cummins pointed 90 seconds after the restart and 30 seconds later full forward Kevin Kennedy scrambled home a goal to give them some hope. The visitors snatched a further five points in the next 22 minutes, to Down's one, to leave only five points between the teams.