Not even the advantage of the strong breeze could prevent them trailing by two points at the interval.

After midfielder Ruari McGrattan opened the scoring for the visitors in the first minute it looked ominous for the hosts and although they battled gamely were always playing second fiddle in most areas of the field.

London's half-back was under intense pressure from Down top-scorer Paul Braniff and Brendan McGourty who picked off a total of six points in the match.

The home side competed reasonably well in the second quarter and a Mark Mythen goal after 33 minutes surprisingly left just a point between the sides but another point for Down put them ahead 0-11 to 1-6 at half time.

The second-half , however, soon developed into a rout with the visitors setting up and knocking over points with little or no response from the Exiles, save for an Ian Walshe goal after 51minutes.

Substitute Gareth Johnson also got in on the scoring spree when introduced with five minutes of normal time remaining to put the icing on the cake with 1-2 and leave Down convincing winners.

Down: G Clarke; L Clarke, S Murray, F Conway; P Hughes, K Courtney, G Clarke, A Savage, R McGrattan; P Braniff, B McGourty, E Trainor; E Clarke, K McGarry, S Clarke. Subs: J H Hughes for S Clarke, C O'Prey for E Clarke, G Johnson for K McGarry.

London: JJ Burke; B Mulcahy, S McLoughlin, E Fahy; T Abernety, N Healy, E Phelan; S Quinn, N O'Grady; S Malone, J McCarthy, M Mythen; K McMullen, I Walshe, C McDonnell. Subs: C O'Halloran for I Walshe, I Walshe for C McDonnell, M Heffernan for E Fahy, M Harrell for S Malone.

Referee: Eoin Elliott (Antrim).