Sluggish Mayo find Down stubborn foes

Mayo 1-19 Down 1-16: A big crowd turned up in Castlebar expecting to see Mayo take care of business and clock up what was supposed to be the routine win they needed to continue their unrivalled long stay in Division 1.

Instead almost 8,500 home fans were left on the edge of their seats as Mayo stumbled alarmingly before eventually snatching the two precious points they needed to stay up.

Down, who were scripted to play the part of cannonfodder, saved their best performance of a disastrous league campaign until last.