A late Conor Poland goal ensured back-to-back Cadbury Ulster under 21 football title successes for Down at Casement Park last night. Armagh 2-10 Down 1-14 Poland's strike two minutes from the end decided a brilliant contest which had looked to be going Armagh's way after points from Stefan Forker and David Cumiskey had edged them in front moments earlier. But Pete McGrath's side dug deep and were rewarded when corner forward Poland got on the end of a four-man move to blast home the winning goal and set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Mayo at Pearse Park on Saturday. Despite playing against the breeze in the first half, Armagh struck for two goals from Shane Carroll in the 12th minute and Kieran Hoey in the 27th minute to lead by 2-4 to 0-7 at half-time. Down reduced the deficit to the minimum early in the second half before two frees from Forker and a Kyle Carragher point pushed Armagh's lead out to four by the 42nd minute. The Mournemen rallied with scores from Michael McGee, Paul McComiskey and Jamie O'Reilly and Peter Fitzpatrick to draw level with 10 minutes remaining before Fitzpatrick gave them the lead. In a dramatic finale, Forker and Cumiskey restored the Orchard County's advantage, only for Poland to snatch for Down right at the death. Down - G Joyce; C Murney, N Higgins, D Turley; C Poland (1-1) , J Fitzpatrick, T Hanna; M Magee (0-1), P Fitzpatrick (0-2) ; E Toner, C Maginn (0-2), J O'Reilly (0-3); P Devlin (0-1), P McComiskey (0-4) , J Murphy. Subs - C Magee for E Toner, R McGovern for D Turley. Armagh - P Rodgers; M Shields, G McCoey, P McKeown; M McConville, M McCoy, D Cumiskey (0-1); S Harold (0-1) , K Toner; K Hoey (1-0) , S Clarke, J Clarke (0-1); S Carroll (1-1), S Forker (0-5), K Carragher (0-1). Subs - P McCullough for K Hoey, K Hoey for S Carroll, D McKenna for M Shields, S Williams for K Carragher. Ref - Martin McErlane (Derry) Tweet

Most Read Stories