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 Down
Draw with Laois - 02/03/03
Allianz
National Football League DIvision 1B
Laois
0-17 Down 2-11 
@
2.30 p.m. O'Moore Park, Portlaoise, Sunday 2nd March 2003
 It
took a point three-minutes into injury time to maintain
Laois' unbeaten record as Down stunned Mick O'Dwyer's men
with two goals.
The home side were stunned to see their
side fall four-points down after a couple of minutes thanks
to a goal from Shane Ward. Damien Delaney hit back with
two frees but Down were the keener side early on and further
points from PP McCartan, Ward and Michael Walsh saw Down
lead 1-04 to 0-03 after 17-minutes. Michael Walsh in fine
form at centre half-forward added another point. However,
Damien Delaney scored five first half points (four frees)
to leave Laois a point ahead at the interval. Michael Lawlor
scored one from play as the O'Moore men led 0-10 to 1-6
at the break after playing against a stiff breeze.
Laois extended thier lead in the opening
section of the second half but any expectations that they
might pull away were soon quashed as Paddy O'Rourke's young
Down team matched Laois score for score with the home side
leading by 0-15 to 1-10 with five minutes remaining in a
fairly pedestrian match.
The game came to life as Mayobridge's Brendan
Coulter fired a goal after a great pass from the impressive
Michael Walsh. Down were back in the lead but Ross Munnelly
levelled the game for the Leinster men. Ronan Sexton then
restored Down's lead and Down looked set to collect both
points as Shane Ward won possession with time nearly up.
However, instead of holding the ball he
played a pass which was intercepted and was then worked
up to Beano McDonald who kicked the leveller from 14-yards
out. The last few minutes provided great entertainment in
a game that was dominated by the free kicking of Damien
Delaney, who hit 11-points from a range of different angles.
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