Down 1-16 London 1-7:DOWN DULY reached round two of the qualifiers after victory over a gallant London side in Páirc Esler in Newry on Saturday night.
Down, with Dan Gordon and \Stephen Kearney dominating at midfield, controlled the first half despite Paul Geraghty giving London the lead with a point after 20 seconds.
The home side led 0-12 to 0-3 at half-time.
With Paul Geraghty dominating midfield after the restart, London started to look more dangerous, and former Donegal star Kevin McMenamin and Pádraig Duffy scored two points each.
In the final quarter, Down regained their composure for a non-too-impressive victory.
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 McCumiskey (0-3,1f), J Boyle (0-3,1 45). Subs: C Murney for T Hanna (35 mins); P Fitzpatrick for S Kearney, R Sexton (0-1) for B McArdle (both 53 mins); D O’Hanlon for K McKernan (55 mins); A Rogers for C Maginn (68 mins).
LONDON: B McBrearty; D Conlon, P Malone, B Comer; J Hughes, E O Cuiv, C Beirne; P Geraghty (0-1), F McMahon; A Murray, P Duffy (0-2), K Downes (0-2, 2f); O Coffey, K McMenamin (0-2), D Keating. Subs: C Donnellan (1-0) for D Keating; R Ormsby for O Coffey (both h-t); C McCallon for A Murray (55 mins).
Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).
