Adrian Marren notched 1-5 as Sligo recorded an emphatic 2-17 to 0-13 victory over Leitrim in tonight's rearranged fixture at wet and wintry Bekan.

Goals from Geevagh's Pat Hughes and his Curry colleague Marren ensured the winners of a comfortable eight-point interval advantage, 2-9 to 0-7, and they went on to prevail by ten despite a spirited showing from the losers in the second half.

Technically a home fixture for Leitrim, this Round Two clash was originally fixed for Ballinamore ten days ago but was postponed due to a frozen pitch with the teams already on the field ready for action. The seemingly-ill-fated-game was then rescheduled for Cloone tonight, but at lunchtime today word emerged that it would be switched to the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, as wintry conditions again gripped the Wild Rose County.

With both sides seeking their first win of the year (although Leitrim did earn an impressive draw with Mayo in Castlebar a week ago), Stephen Coen opened the scoring for Cathal Corey's team from a free and the dependable Keith Beirne replied in kind before Yeats County full forward Hughes netted to propel his team three points clear.

Scores from Jack Heslin and Beirne had Leitrim back within the minimum by the 14^th minute but wing back Gerard O'Kelly Lynch and Marren - a late addition to the Sligo starting XV - edged the winners three clear again.

Beirne (free) and Marren traded points and a quickfire Hughes brace had the Yeats men five ahead with ten minutes left before the break. With the bit now firmly between their teeth, Sligo kicked on with further points from Marren and Coen - 1-8 to 0-4 after 27 minutes.

Despite a brace of Beirne frees - either side of Marren's fourth point - Brendan Guckian's charges still found themselves trailing by double scores with half an hour played. And it got worse when Marren pounced for his major deep into first-half stoppage time after Ryan O'Rourke had pulled back a Leitrim point.

The unerring Beirne slotted the first two points after the restart - one from play and one free, bringing his personal tally to 0-7 - and the same player fired over the losers' tenth point at the three-quarters stage but only after twin terrors Marren and Hughes had tagged on Sligo points.

Patrick O'Connor nudged the gap back out to eight points with 15 minutes remaining, 2-12 to 0-10, and the Division Three side ran out convincing winners, with Niall Murphy catching the eye after coming off the bench and corner back Mikey Gordon closing the scoring with the last kick of the game, while Beirne did his confidence no harm ahead of Leitrim's Division Four campaign as he clipped over a couple more frees before the final whistle sounded.

This game signals the end of Leitrim's Connacht senior football league programme, while Sligo have an opportunity to rack up their second victory of the competition when they entertain Mayo at Markievicz Park on Sunday afternoon.

Sligo - A Devaney; M Gordon (0-1), L Nicholson, E McGuinness; Keelan Cawley, P Kilcoyne, G O'Kelly Lynch (0-1); J Clarke, P O'Connor (0-1); N Ewing (0-1), F Cawley, A Marren (1-5, 0-1'45); S Coen (0-2, 1f), P Hughes (1-3), K Cawley. Subs: S Carrabine (0-1) for A Marren, D Cummins for L Nicholson, J O'Reilly for Kyle Cawley, N Murphy (0-2) for F Cawley, G Brady for J Clarke, K Henry for P O'Connor.

Leitrim - B Flynn; L Ryan, A Armstrong, N Plunkett; J O'Brien, C Canning, D Feely; C Moreton, D Moran; J Heslin (0-1), D McGovern, K McGloin; N McWeeney, K Beirne (0-10, 8f), R O'Rourke (0-2). Subs: M McWeeney for L Ryan, M Murphy for A Armstrong, A Flynn for D Feely, B Gallagher for K McGloin, C Reynolds for J Heslin, D Rooney for D Moran.

Referee - D Corcoran.

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