Sligo ease past neighbours Leitrim by 22 points in one sided affair

Sligo secure Division three status as Leitrim are relegated to Division four.

STATUS SECURED: Sligo eased past neighbours Leitrim to secure Division three status. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Allianz NFL Division 3: Sligo 0-32 (0-1-30) Leitrim 0-10 (0-0-10)

SLIGO went score crazy at Markievicz Park when beating their Connacht neighbours Leitrim by 22 points, 0-32 to 0-10, in a one-sided AFL Division Three clash.

There were half a dozen points from Pat Spillane and Niall Murphy, with Cian Lally also shooting an impressive 0-5, as Sligo, with 12 scorers in all and almost total dominance of midfield possession, completed their campaign on a high.

The hosts needed to win to make sure of their Division Three status – which they did in emphatic fashion – with the already-relegated Leitrim seeking to salvage a degree of pride following their controversial decision not to field against Fermanagh the weekend before due to an injury crisis.

Although eventually overwhelmed, Leitrim were competitive in the early exchanges and Tom Prior landed two fine points as matters were level, 0-3 apiece, by the 12th minute.

Cian Lally's 14th minute point that put Sligo back in front was the first of 11 points without reply from the winners, who led 0-14 to 0-3 with 32 minutes gone.

There was a brief rally from battling Leitrim in additional time – when they bagged 0-3 – but Sligo were full value for a 0-15 to 0-6 interval lead – they controlled all aspects of proceedings and their six starting forwards all scored.

It got worse for Leitrim in the second-half as Sligo added a further 17 points and continued to attack and score at will. Midfielder Patrick O'Connor landed the game's only two-pointer – a booming score from play from outside the arc.

The only consolation for Leitrim, who have ended this season with seven losses, is that Sligo didn't score any goals – Nathan Mullen sent a piledriver narrowly over and a Cian Lally effort for goal came off the crossbar in the 52nd minute.

All four of Leitrim's second-half scores came from Riordan O'Rourke, who kicked one effort from play and converted three frees.

Scorers for Sligo: P Spillane (0-6), N Murphy (0-6), C Lally (0-5); A McLoughlin (0-3, 1f), L Towey (0-2); P O'Connor (0-2, 1 2pt); A Reilly, S Deignan (0-2 apiece); N Mullen, P Kilcoyne, J Lavin, D Quinn (0-1 apiece)

Scorers for Leitrim: R O'Rourke (0-4, 3f); T Prior (0-3); K Keegan, E Harkin, B Guckian (1f) (0-1 apiece)

SLIGO: D Lyons, E Lyons, E McGuinness, P McNamara, B Cox, N Mullen, L Towey, P Kilcoyne, P O’Connor, C Lally, D Quinn, A Reilly, A McLoughlin, N Murphy, P Spillane 

Subs used: A Devaney for D Lyons, h-t; R Doherty for D Quinn, h-t; J Lavin for L Towey, h-t; M Gordon for A Reilly, 44; S Deignan for P O’Connor, 56 

LEITRIM: B Cull, E McLoughlin, K Clancy, E McNamara, S McLoughlin, M Diffley, J Rooney, K Keegan, C Quinn, J Flynn, E Harkin, S Harkin, R O’Rourke, B Guckian, T Prior 

Subs used: J Foley for C Quinn, 10; C McGloin for E Harkin, h-t; R Bohan for E McNamara, h-t; D Cox for S McLoughlin, h-t; S Finn for B Guckian, 52 

Referee: Alan Coyne (Westmeath)