Down looked more like the side we saw last year with a comfortable 1-16 to 1-8 win over Leitrim in Newry on Saturday.
In Round 1 of the qualifiers the Mournemen suffered a huge fright against Clare but they eased away from Leitrim after a tight first period, helped by seven points from play by Benny Coulter.
It was Conor Laverty who was the pivotal figure in the Down attack early on. The Kilcoo man got the game’s opening score and with last year’s All Ireland finalists leading 0-3 to 0-1, it was Laverty who was hauled down by Leitrim’s Paddy Maguire in the square.
Marty Clarke tucked away the resultant penalty and it looked set to be a stroll for Down in Newry. But Mickey Moran’s men had other ideas.When Leitrim’s Robert Lowe knocked over his first point, the gap was back to just two midway through the first half.
The rain arrived at Pairc Esler and it was the local side who dealt with the elements best, with points from Mark Poland and a third for Coulter. But this Leitrim team are a tough bunch and they dug deep to grab two more themselves before the break.
A wonderful free by Enda Mulligan was followed by a James Glancy point and the Mournemen held a slim two-point lead at half-time.
That lead was wiped out inside the opening seconds of the second half as Adrian Croal raised the green flag to put Leitrim ahead by one.
Coulter and then a Liam Doyle effort saw the lead change hands yet again and Poland extended it with his second point of the day.
McCartan’s men now seemed to have finally settled and they started to pull away from Leitrim. Kevin McKiernan nabbed his first before a brace from the excellent Coulter saw Leitrim’s heads drop.
Coulter scored his last before being withdrawn and Down contained Leitrim comfortably in the final quarter.