Mickey Donnelly felt the impact of the Down substitutes was a telling factor as they overturned a four-point deficit to defeat Longford by eight in Saturday’s Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final in Newry.
Darren Gallagher fired over a stunning sideline kick on the restart to nudge the visitors four ahead with Joe Hagan scoring 1-3 from play in an eventful first half.
Longford missed three goal chances with Niall Kane making two great saves while Odhran Murdock had a penalty saved as Down were 1-8 to 0-8 adrift at the break.
