THIS derby clash was all over, bar the shouting, long before referee Jim Burns blew the half-time whistle.
Castlewellan, viewed by many as the best pure footballing side in the county, were almost home and hosed after racing into a 3-7 to 1-4 interval lead, a lead they amassed in impressively spectacular style.
Brains and martinet-in-chief behind this display was Kevin Duffin. The county player maximised the use of his talkative left foot, which is sharper than anything the Count of Monte Cristo ever used and he cut to shreds a Downpatrick side still reeling from the shock resignation of manager Kyran Smyth during the week.
Castlewellan went on the offensive from the outset and their policy of moving the ball quickly from midfield into their full forward line paid immediate dividends.
With just two minutes gone Duffin carved out an opening for Aidy Burns, but his shot was well saved by Gareth Brown. Duffin then broke the deadlock when he pointed form play in the third minute.
With four minutes gone Duffin, who had been given the freedom of the park by an errant Downpatrick midfield, played in Cahal Crilly (inset) and he made no mistake with an explosive finish to give his side a 1-1 to 0-0 lead.
Kevin Gracey and Jarlath Branagan registered points for Downpatrick, but with nine minutes gone Duffin picked out Burns with another laser pass and the big full forward blasted his side into a 2-1 to 0-2 lead.
Two consecutive points from the accurate Branagan kept Downpatrick in the hunt, but Davy Gilmore cancelled these out with a brace of points for the home side.
With 17 minutes gone Duffin against sliced a porous Downpatrick defence wide open and Burns did the rest to give Castlewellan a 3-3 to 0-4 lead. Burns tagged on a monster point from play and Duffin applied the piece-de-resistance when he effortlessly lofted over a 50 against the wind.
Branagan then gave the visitors some desperately needed respite when he bagged an opportunist goal to leave Downpatrick trailing 3-5 to 1-4 after 20 minutes.
Castlewellan finished the first half on top and further points from Burns and Duffin gave them a 3-7 to 1-4 lead at the break.
Duffin opened the scoring at the start of the second half with a point from play after just 10 seconds, but Downpatrick bottled him up after this and restricted the amount of time he spent on the ball.
This gave the visitors a foothold in the game and unanswered points from Branagan, Neal Cunningham and Gracey left Downpatrick trailing 3-8 to 1-7 after 37 minutes.
Donal McKibben, who was only on the field a matter of minutes after replacing Sean Russell, made it 3-9 to 1-7 and with 47 minutes gone older brother Liam netted with a sensational goal.
His shot from out on the right was caught by the wind and instead of going over the bar it dipped violently into the top corner of the net with goalkeeper Brown stranded and rooted to the spot.
Two Branagan frees were negated by scores from Duffin and Burns before a Branagan free brought the scoring to a close with Castlewellan clear winners.
Castlewellan: M. Cunningham, L. Lennon, B. Travers, W. Og McCawley, A. Brogan, P. Boyle, D. McGrady, K. Duffin (0-5), L. Toner, L. McKibben (1-0), C. Crilly (1-0), C. Og Crilly, S. Russell, A. Burns (2-3), D. Gilmore (0-2). Subs: D. McKibben (0-1) for Russell, R. Burns for C. Og Crilly, J. O’Neill for Gilmore, Conal Crilly for Cahal Crilly, Sean Doran for McCawley.
Downpatrick: G. Brown, Declan Turley, C. MacNabb, D. Braniff, G. Collins, Damian Turley, C. Curran, G. Trainor, P. Turley, J. Bell, P. Telford, N. Cunningham (0-1), L. Kearney, J. Branagan (1-7), K. Gracey (0-2). Subs: D. McCarron for J. Bell. R. Slavin for Curran.
Castlewellan 4-11
Downpatrick 1-10
ACFL DIVISION 1