Down made short work of Sligo at Páirc Esler on Sunday afternoon to keep promotion firmly within their sights as they claimed a fifth straight victory in Division 3.
Sligo are still not out of the race, with two home games to come, but a win against Offaly next will be a must.
Pat Spillane was an injury absentee for Sligo and while Down were without star midfielder Odhran Murdock - who picked up an injury during the week – it made little difference with a strong performance from Conor Laverty's men.
Sligo opened the scoring with a well-taken point in the first minute from Alan McLaughlin that went over off the inside of the post. Tony McEntee’s side wouldn’t get their next score for 20 minutes however, while the Mournemen notched up 1-06 in that spell.
Points from brothers James and Daniel Guinness and a brace of frees from Saval man Pat Havern preceded their first goal on 17 minutes.
The superb Daniel Guinness picked up the ball from a Sligo kick-out and went on the run, passing to corner-back Ceilum Doherty who fired into the net.
Danny Magill tagged on a point to give his side a seven-point lead but Sligo almost narrowed the gap to four when they broke at speed with the ball played through Niall Murphy and Donal Conlon. He delivered to Sean Carrabine whose low hard goal-bound shot rebounded back into play off the post.
Down picked up the rebound and Daniel Guinness kicked over the bar to make it 1-06 to 0-01.
Sligo recovered somewhat with the next four points from Patrick O’Connor, Cian Lally and two from Carrabine but Down had a chance of raising a second green flag on 32 minutes, however it was their turn to be denied by the woodwork with Daniel Guinness’ shot ricocheting off the underside of the crossbar.
Murphy came close to a maximum before the short whistle but he was denied with a block by Peter Fegan. Appeals for a penalty for a touch on the ground were waved away and the half ended with a point from Ryan McEvoy to give Down a six-point advantage at the break.
Havern got the scoreboard moving with his first from play after the restart and three minutes in Down were 2-09 to 0-05 to the good when a lovely one-two between James Guinness and Conor Francis saw Guinness finish to the net.
But Down weren’t certain of the result quite yet. They switched off seven minutes later when Nathan Mullen easily ran around the back, cut in from the left and stroked into the net.
While their manager would not be happy with that, Down settled again and three Havern frees and a point from Kerr with two for Sligo saw the hosts lead 2-13 to 1-07 with 60 minutes on the clock.
The sting was out of the game in the last 10 minutes, with Down scoring four of the last five points as they cruised to a 2-17 to 1-08 victory.
Down: John O’Hare (0-01, 0-01f); Peter Fegan, Ryan McEvoy (0-01), Ceilum Doherty (1-02, 0-01m); Miceal Rooney, Pierce Laverty, Ryan Magill; Jonny Flynn, Ryan Johnston; Caolan Mooney, Liam Kerr (0-01), Daniel Guinness (0-02); Danny Magill (0-01), Pat Havern (0-07, 0-06fs), James Guinness (1-01).
Subs: Conor Francis for Mooney (29), Oisin Savage (0-01) for J Guinness (47), Gareth McKibben for Johnston (60), Finn McElroy for R Magill (64), Gerard Collins for Kerr (66).
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Paul McNamara, Eddie McGuinness, Evan Lyons; Brian Cox, Darragh Cummins, Nathan Mullen (1-00); Patrick O’Connor (0-01), Paul Kilcoyne; Alan McLaughlin (0-01), Donal Conlan, Cian Lally (0-01); Luke Towey, Sean Carrabine (0-04, 0-02fs), Niall Murphy (0-01, 0-01f).
Subs: Lee Deignan for Conlon (ht), Canice Mulligan for Towey (47), Daire O’Boyle for Murphy (58), Mickey Gordan for Mullen (58), Kielan Cawley for O’Connor (68).
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).
