Donegal were minutes away from winning a first Conor McGurk Cup but Down rallied late to snatch a one point victory 1-22 (25) to 2-18 (24) at The Dub Arena in Belfast.
With the League start just around the corner, Donegal played their best hurling of the competition and Man of the Match Davin Flynn starred scoring the two goals.
Down were reduced to 14 men in the first half when Caolan Taggart got his marching orders.
Donegal capitalised to lead through Flynn’s first goal of the evening and would go into the break level at 12 apiece.
With Down not finding their range in the third quarter, Donegal would hit six unanswered points to take a grip of the tie.
By the second half water break Donegal lead by five points 1-16 to 0-14.
When play resumed Davin Flynn would again step up with another goal to put seven points between the sides.
14 men Down chipped away at Donegal’s advantage and recieved a huge boost with a Paul Sheehan goal.
The Mourne men scored 1-8 in the final quarter and the winning point came right at the death with a free from Sheehan.
