Down add to Donegal's woes to advance in Ulster

Down stormed to an Ulster SFC win over Donegal at Pairc Esler, the Division Three side adding further pain to a side in turmoil following relegation from Division One and the departure of their manager.

The Mourne men will play in the Sam Maguire Cup later this year if they can get past Armagh in the semi-final.

Otherwise it's the Tailteann Cup, but either way, they will take heart from a morale-boosting victory.

Goals from Liam Kerr and Pat Havern completed Donegal’s misery in the Marshes as they limped out of the provincial title race with more days of uncertainty looming in the weeks ahead as they await the identity of their round-robin opponents.

Daniel Guinness, Danny Magill and Ryan Johnston were the men who led this Down tour de force with sparkling performances, injecting a level of energy that few of their opponents could match.

In front of a Newry crowd of 9,139, Donegal were handed the perfect start by a misunderstanding between Down defenders Anthony Doherty and Niall McParland, allowing Jason McGee to collect Michael Langan’s delivery and skip through to angle his shot past goalkeeper Niall Kane with less than three minutes on the clock.

But the Mourne men regrouped to establish a fortified resistance as they protected the scoring zone and frustrated their opponents as they pressed with the wind in their backs.

The loss of Michael Langan to injury after just 15 minutes was a blow to the managerless Tir Chonail’s attacking resources, but they moved three ahead in the 20th minute when Caolan Ward split the posts.

Down’s early scores came from Havern and Ryan Johnston, but they gave little indication of any genuine attacking threat until Liam Kerr’s magical intervention in the 21st minute.

Ryan McEvoy won Niall Kane’s