Paddy O'Rourke said his team did enough to win the game

O'Rourke insisted that bad calls by Meath whistler Seamus McCormack had enabled Cavan to notch two second half goals which turned the game.

"Two major decisions went against us and they got goals off them," said the furious Down boss.

Down led by six with 17 minutes left but were stunned by Cavan's comeback.

The two teams served up, arguably the match of the football championship so far at Breffni Park.

Benny Coulter's two goals late in the first half seemed set to be the difference between the sides until Cavan's three final quarter goals.

The first half followed the pattern of the drawn encounter with Cavan looking the better side early on - only for Down to hit back with Coulter's two superb finishes.

Down started the game without injured captain Liam Doyle which meant that Aidan O'Prey had to be drafted into the attack.

We were shellshocked at half-time Cavan boss Eamon Coleman

Cavan led by 0-5 to 0-4 after 20 minutes with Michael Lyng again looking sharp for Eamon Coleman's side.

Down then had a let-off when Gerard Pierson missed a glorious goal chance when he only had Michael McVeigh to beat.

Benny Coulter showed the youngster the way to finish when he won a high ball in the Cavan square and hammered the ball past Eoghan Elliott.

Four minutes later, Coulter hit the net again with an emphatic shot after soaring spectacularly to field Gregory McCartan's drop-kick from midfield.

At that stage, Cavan looked shellshocked and manager Eamon Coleman introduced Dermot McCabe, Peter Reilly and Cathal Collins at the break for Seanie Johnston, Pierson and Eamon Reilly.

However, Down were still six points clear midway through the second half after, the otherwise impressive, Mark McKeever had missed another great goal chance for the Breffni county.

However, the crucial moment of the game came in the 53rd minute when McCabe outfielded his marker to hammer the ball to the net.

Cavan boss Eamon Coleman (right) made crucial substitutions

O'Rourke insisted afterwards that the substitute had committed a foul in winning the ball.

Further points from Lyng and Jason O'Reilly then left the minimum between the sides before Daniel Hughes notched what appeared to be a steadying point for Down.

However, the second moment of controversy then came with referee McCormack adjudging that a Down defender and not McCabe had handled the ball on the turf.

Even though McCabe was lying injured on the ground, Lyng was allowed to hit a quick free to Peter O'Reilly who hammered to the net.

Gregory McCartan then levelled for Down again but Cavan were by now firmly in the ascendancy with the 58th minute dismissal of Adrian Scullion not helping the Mourne cause.

Jason O'Reilly pointed to put Cavan ahead with two minutes left and the clinching goal came in the second minutes of injury-time when substitute Rory O'Donohue set up Jason O'Reilly for the simplest of tap-ins with McVeigh out of his goal.

Cavan had Mark McKeever sent off in the closing moments but it didn't take the gloss off the Breffni county's victory.

Cavan: E Elliott; E Reilly, D Rabbit, P Brady; A Forde, T Crowe (0-1), A Gaynor; P McKenna (0-1), C Crotty; L Reilly, M Lyng (0-5), M McKeever (0-3); G Pearson, J O' Reilly (1-3), S Johnston. Subs: D McCabe (1-0), P O'Reilly (1-0), C Collins.

Down: M McVeigh; B Grant, A Molloy, A Scullion; J Clarke, M Cole, S Farrell; B Coulter (2-2), G McCartan (0-3); A O'Prey (0-1), Shane Ward, R Sexton; E McCartan, D Gordon (0-1), D Hughes (0-2). Subs: R Murtagh (0-3).

Football fixtures

Saturday 29th May 2004
Connacht Championship replay
Roscommon 2-16 1-15 Sligo

Sunday 30 May
Connacht Championship
London 0-8 8-14 Galway
Leinster Championship
Carlow 1-7 0-15 Laois
Ulster Championship replay
Cavan 3-13 2-12 Down
Ulster Championship
Donegal 1-15 1-9 Antrim
Ulster Minor Championship replay
Monaghan 0-11 0-19 Armagh
Ulster Minor Championship
Donegal 2-10 1-4 Antrim

Hurling fixtures

Saturday 29th May 2004
Leinster Championship
Offaly 2-23 1-15 Laois

Sunday 30 May
Munster Championship
Limerick 2-12 1-18 Cork