Down 1-16 London 1-7 Down claimed a fairly emphatic victory over London in Saturday evening's All-Ireland qualifier at Pairc Esler in Newry. Midfielder Dan Gordon led the way for the home side with a peerless performance at midfield, while London also found half back Conor Garvey impossible to contain in a first half which ended with Down leading by nine (0-12 to 0-3). It could have been even worse for the Exiles, with Donegal man Brian McBrearty making three fine saves to prevent Down from running riot. London enjoyed a brief period of dominance at the start of the second half, with Chris Donnellan firing to the net to close the gap to six, but order was quickly restored at the other end. Danny Hughes, whose brother Johnny was in action for London, fired two points and set up a goal for Benny Coulter before Ronan Sexton wrapped up the scoring before the finish. Down - B McVeigh; C McGovern, K McKernan, D Rafferty; T Hanna, P Murphy, C Garvey (0-2); D Gordon (0-2), S Kearney; D Hughes (0-3), C Maginn, B McArdle (0-2, 1f); B Coulter (1-0), P McComiskey (0-3, 1f), J Boyle (0-3, 1 '45). Subs: C Murney for T Hanna (39), P Fitzpatrick for S Kearney (54), R Sexton (0-1) for B McArdle (54), D O'Hanlon for K McKernan (56), A Rodgers for C Maginn (67). London - B McBrearty; D Conlon, P Malone, B Comer; O Coffey, E O Cuiv, C Beirne; P Geraghty (0-1), F McMahon; A Murray, P Duffy (0-2), J Hughes; K Downes (0-2, 2f), K McMenamin (0-2, 1f), D Keating. Subs: R Ormsby for O Coffey (ht), C Donnellan (1-0) for D Keating (ht), C McCallon for A Murray (ht). Ref - P Fox (Westmeath) Tweet

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