​Tailteann Cup final

Wicklow 1-21 Down 2-16

By Paul Keane at Croke Park

Wicklow, the comeback kings of Croke Park!

For the second game running at GAA HQ, Oisin McConville's side came from behind with a huge second-half display to record a famous win.

Just like the semi-final win over Offaly, when Wicklow outscored the Faithful by 1-17 to 1-4 in the second half, the Division 4 side turned an apparent lost cause into a landmark result.

And this time there was a huge reward for victory - the Tailteann Cup title and a golden ticket to the 2027 All-Ireland SFC.

Wicklow trailed by 12 points at half time, and by 13 early in the second half, but ended up winning by two, a quite incredible 15-point turnaround on the scoreboard.

Man of the Match Dean Healy's 56th minute goal was a cracker, and hugely significant, though it was a monumental collective effort to haul themselves back from the brink as they did.

Eoin Darcy, Kevin Quinn and Oisín McGraynor all weighed in with four points each while Wicklow's defensive effort was superb in the second half as they outscored Down by 1-17 to 0-6 in the 35 minutes.

Having just failed to beat Dublin in the Leinster SFC earlier in the season, a result that followed a devastating loss to Longford that cost Wicklow promotion to Division 3, it's a landmark win that Wicklow fought so hard for.

But Down, strong favourites to match their 2024 title success, having beaten Donegal early in the season in the Ulster SFC, will have nightmares about how this game got away from them.

The Division 3 champions fired six second half wides and butchered a series of late opportunities with Wicklow scoring the last four points of the game to pick the Mourne County's pockets.

Wicklow trailed Offaly by eight points at half time in their semi-final tie and found themselves even worse off this time, behind by a dozen at the turnaround. It seemed almost hopeless for them.

They played catch up from the game's opening score, a Pat Havern point which underlined just how clued in and focused Down were early on.

Odhran Murdock engineered that score when he took a solo-and-go after winning a free, bypassing a Wicklow defender and playing in Havern for a goal chance which flew over.

A minute later, Wicklow defender Gavin Fogarty fumbled an attempted catch, allowing Patrick McCarthy to play in Céilum Doherty for a tap over.

And on it went like that, Down quick and incisive, and punishing any sort of error by Wicklow.

Miceal Rooney's eighth minute two-pointer for Down stretched their lead to five points, 0-5 to 0-0.

Wicklow didn't manage a point from play until the 21st minute, a Quinn score, but Down had already put 1-9 on the board.

Havern's 16th minute goal was a big turning point as it came from the kick-out after Mark Jackson had fired a 45 attempt wide. Realising that Jackson hadn't yet returned to his goal line, Down got their kick-out away quickly and booted the ball down long. Jackson was just back to contest the dropping ball but Havern beat him in the air and flicked it in.

It was one of those halves for Jackson who only took 0-1 from four score attempts, converting a 45 but wasting two others and kicking wide from a free outside the arc.

Ronan Burns was brilliant at the other end for Down, showing the bravery and confidence to go short with most of his first-half kick-outs and getting all nine of them away successfully. He also converted two two-point frees from two attempts and saved a 27th minute penalty from Wicklow's Darcy.

Down went with a towering full-forward triumvirate of John McGeough, Havern and Eamon Brown and used the long ball successfully.

McGeough's 29th minute goal put the tin hat on a terrific first half for Down, the Mourne winning a free beneath the Hogan Stand - Wicklow manager Oisín McConville argued the toss over that one - and sending in the long ball that McGeough beat Jackson to and redirected to the net.

Shane Annett hit the first second of the second half to nudge Down 13 points clear and it seemed close to a lost cause from Wicklow's perspective.

But with the wind behind them, they dug remarkably deep from there, simply refusing to accept defeat.

Padraig O'Toole kicked three points in the third quarter to help ignite the comeback and it kept going from there with Down apparently powerless to prevent the onslaught.

Two-pointers from Chris O'Brien and McGraynor were significant too while Healy roared through the middle for a brilliant 56th minute goal.

Twice the sides were tied in the closing minutes and Down did regain the lead briefly but Wicklow weren't to be denied, goalkeeper Jackson, Darcy and Quinn all getting the scores that sealed a win for the ages.

Wicklow scorers: Dean Healy 1-1, Eoin Darcy 0-4 (1 tp, 0-1f), Kevin Quinn 0-4, Oisín McGraynor 0-4 (1 tp, 0-1f), Mark Jackson 0-3 (1 tpf, 0-1 45), Pádraig O'Toole 0-3, Christopher O'Brien 0-2 (1 tp).

Down scorers: Pat Havern 1-2 (0-1f), Ronan Burns 0-4 (2 tpf), John McGeough 1-0, Miceal Rooney 0-3 (1 tp), Ceilum Doherty 0-3, Daniel Guinness 0-1, Shane Annett 0-1, Eamon Brown 0-1, Ruairí McCormack 0-1.

Wicklow: Mark Jackson; Malachy Stone, Tom Morgan, Gavin Fogarty; Darragh Fee, Eoin Murtagh, Matt Nolan; Dean Healy, Jack Kirwan; Jonathan Carlin, Pádraig O'Toole, Christopher O'Brien; Oisín McGraynor, Kevin Quinn, Eoin Darcy.

Subs: Joe Prendergast for Kirwan 52, Cian Deering for Murtagh 54, Mark Kenny for Fogarty 59, John Paul Nolan for McGraynor 68, Liam O'Neill for Darcy 69.

Down: Ronan Burns; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Patrick McCarthy; Callum Rogers, Shane Annett, Ruairí McCormack; Ryan McEvoy, Odhran Murdock; Daniel Guinness, Céilum Doherty, Miceal Rooney; John McGeough, Pat Havern, Eamon Brown.

Subs: Caolán Mooney for McCarthy 28, Ryan Magill for Rogers 48, Ruairí O'Hare for McGeough 53, Patrick Brooks for Brown 64.

Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).