Michael Quinlivan's injury-time goal saw Tipperary secure promotion to Division 2 this afternoon in dramatic fashion against Armagh.

Liam Kearns' side needed all three goals from their Clonmel Commercials talisman to pull off a remarkable 3-8 to 0-16 win at the Athletic Grounds, where the hosts had led by four with five minutes to go.

The Orchard men were 0-7 to 0-4 in front at half-time thanks to scores from Jamie Clarke, Aidan Forker and Niall Grimley before Quinlivan's first major levelled matters early in the restart.

The Premier men's full-forward struck again with a little over 20 minutes to go to make it 2-5 to 0-10 and, despite the concession, Armagh battled back with points from Andrew Murnin, Oisin O'Neill (2) and Clarke to make it a four-point game approaching the finish.

Last year's All-Ireland semi-finalists demonstrated utter resolve in those closing stages however, which set the stage for Quinlivan to strike and snatch them promotion up to the second tier.

Tipp now play Louth in the Division 3 final next weekend, with the already promoted Wee County losing out to Sligo this afternoon by 0-17 to 1-11 in Drogheda.

Louth's Sam Mulroy with Pat Hughes of Sligo.

Ronan Holcroft bagged an early goal for the home side but the Yeats men had more on the line and turned around a four-point half-time deficit with points from Niall Murphy, Mark Breheny and Adrian McIntyre to make sure of their status.

In Belfast, 13-man Longford secured their place in Division 3 for next year thanks to a late Sean McCormack free which rescued a 0-16 to 1-13 draw against Antrim and relegated the Saffrons in the process.

The visitors were in front by 0-10 to 0-7 at the half and extended their lead with scores from Robbie Smyth, Liam Connerton and a Paddy Collum '45'.

CJ McGourty's goal from the penalty spot brought Antrim back to life though and they led until the closing stages when McCormack crucially intervened.

In Tullamore, Offaly scored a surprise 3-15 to 4-11 victory over Laois to condemn the O'Moore men to Division 4.

Sean Doyle's goal helped the home side to a commanding 1-9 to 0-3 lead heading towards the break and the second-half was a real thriller, with two goals from Donie Kingston not enough to save the visitors in the end.

Tipperary - E Comerford; A Campbell, P Codd, S O'Connell; B Maher, R Kiely (0-1), G Hannigan; L Casey, J Kennedy; J Keane, K O'Halloran (0-2f), B Fox; C Sweeney (0-2, 1f), M Quinlivan (3-1), C O'Shaughnessy. Subs: K Fahey for C O'Shaughnessy, L Boland (0-1) for K O'Halloran, A Moloney (0-1) for G Hannigan.

Armagh - B Hughes; J Morgan, C Vernon, P Hughes; N Rowland, A Forker (0-1), A McKay; B Crealey, O O'Neill (0-2); N Grimley (0-2), A Duffy, R Grugan (0-3); J Clarke (0-3), S Campbell (0-1), A Murnin (0-3). Subs: G McParland for A Duffy, C McKeever for B Crealey, C O'Hanlon for O O'Neill, G McCabe (0-1) for A Forker.

Referee - R Hickey.

**

Sligo - F Ruddy; C Harrison (0-1), R Donavan, N Gaughan; E McHugh (0-1), B Egan, Keelan Cawley; C Breheny, A McIntyre (0-1); N Ewing, N Murphy (0-6, 3f), J Kelly (0-3, 2f); D Kelly, P Hughes (0-1), C Henry. Subs: S Gilmartin for J Kelly, M Breheny (0-2, 1f) for D Kelly, A Marren (0-2) for C Henry, K McDonnell for N Gaughan, S Coen for P Hughes, J Clarke for C Breheny.

Louth - B Flanagan; K Murphy, P Reilly, K Carr; D Crilly, D McMahon (0-1), D Marks; C Martin, J Califf (0-3f); A Williams, J McEneaney (0-4, 3f), C McKeever; R Moore, S Mulroy (0-2), R Holcroft (1-1). Subs: J Bingham for K Murphy, Dean Maguire for K Carr, N Gallagher for B Flanagan, R Burns for R Holcroft, Derek Maguire for D Crilly, J Stewart for D Marks.

Referee - N McKenna.

**

Antrim - C Kerr; C Hamill, P Gallagher, P Healy (0-1); P McBride, D Lynch (0-2), P McAleer; J Dowling, K Niblock; R McCann (0-1), M Fitzpatrick (0-1), S Donnelly; C J McGourty (1-7, 1-0pen, 0-5f), B Bradley (0-1), N Delargy. Subs: P Branagan for C Hamill, D Nugent for J Dowling, C Small for R McCann, E Walsh for S Donnelly, J Hannigan for P Branagan, R Murray for N Delargy.

Longford - P Collum (0-1'45); D Brady, B Gilleran (0-1), A Farrell; D McElligott, P McCormack, B O'Farrell; D Gallagher (0-1), L Moran; L Connerton (0-1), J McGivney (0-1), B McKeon (0-2); R Smyth (0-4, 3f), M Quinn (0-1), S McCormack (0-4, 3f). Subs: D Masterson for L Moran, J Keegan for D Gallagher, P Farrell for L Connerton.

Referee - N Mooney.

**

Offaly - A Mulhall; P Cunningham, J Lalor, B Darby; N Darby (0-1), M Brazil (0-1), C Donohoe; E Carroll (0-3), D Hanlon; J O'Connor (0-2), G Guilfoyle (1-0), S Nally; B Allen (0-3, 2f), N Dunne (0-4, 2f, 1'45), S Doyle (2-1). Subs: D Brady for P Cunningham (BC), J Maloney for S Doyle, W Mulhall for D Hanlon.

Laois - G Brody; D Strong, D Booth, J Kelly; P McMahon (0-1), E Buggie, D O'Connor; J O'Loughlin (0-1), K Meaney (1-1); A Farrell (0-1), D Conway (0-1), A Doran; D Kingston (3-4, 1-0pen, 0-3f), E O'Carroll (0-1), P Kingston (0-1). Subs: G Walsh for A Doran, N Donoher for P Kingston, D Luttrell for G Walsh, S Moore for D O'Connor, G Dillon for A Farrell, D O'Reilly for E O'Carroll.

Referee - A Nolan.

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