NHL Div 2: Down 2-16 London 0-13

Down’s senior hurlers qualified for the NHL Division 2 semi-finals by recording a 2-16 to 0-13 win over pointless London at Pairc Esler, Newry.

The northerners hadn’t things all their own way though and they had to scrap hard to sneak into a 1-9 to 0-8 lead by half-time.

Down forced the pace throughout but were nonetheless thankful for a 12th minute goal by James Coyle after some good approach work.

London tried hard to stymie Down’s offensive but their reliance on the accuracy of freetaking of Martin Finn was all too obvious.

Finn scored nine points in total, eight of them from frees, but Down remained on top as the third quarter panned out with Paul Brannif bringing his tally to eight points (five frees) for the afternoon.