Down made it two wins from two in the All-Ireland senior football championship’s group stage by holding off Louth’s late push in Newry this evening.

Having trounced Clare in their opening round a fortnight ago, Conor Laverty’s side held on for a 0-25 to 0-24 victory against the Leinster champions here, with Pat Havern’s late point ultimately proving the difference between the sides at Pairc Esler in the end.

The home side’s electric start saw them running up a 0-10 to 0-1 lead after the opening quarter of an hour and, with Havern and Danny Magill in good shooting form, they’d go on to hold a 0-16 to 0-7 advantage come half-time.

Ger Brennan’s men improved vastly after the change of ends, as a couple of two-pointers from captain Sam Mulroy brought them right back into contention to bounce back from their opening loss to Monaghan

Tommy Durnin landed a two-pointer of his own ahead of Mulroy making it a three-point game with five minutes to go, and the latter would nail another one from beyond the arc to really put the heat on the Mourne men.

Ciaran Downey’s point left the minimum between the sides before Havern sent over at the other end in the closing minute to take some pressure off the hosts, with another point from Downey ending up being in vain for the Wee County ahead of the final whistle.

What a second half!

A huge second-half fightback by Louth just isn't enough as Down take it by a point.#BBCGAA pic.twitter.com/JaJaao9osW

— BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) May 31, 2025

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