Jim McGuinness will not be happy though as Louth made a contest of this in the second half despite only scoring twice in the opening period, at the end of which they trailed by 0-13 to 1-1. The goal only arrived in the 34th minute, via Paddy Keenan, as Donegal were in complete command.

It was 0-2 to 0-1 when Donegal went on an 11-point scoring spree, with Colm McFadden, Michael Murphy, Dermot Molloy, Christy Toye, Anthony Thompson and Rory Kavanagh amongst the scorers.

Donegal moved 11 points clear early in the second half but the concession of two more goals to Brian White and Keenan suddenly saw the margin reduced to three points, before David Walsh eased the home supporters’ nerves with a late goal.

Monaghan also put Laois in relegation trouble with their 0-19 to 0-14 win in Clones. The Farneymen started well with two excellent points from Kieran Hughes, who was a constant threat to Laois.

Tomás Ó Flatharta’s side settled though and a free from Donie Kingston got them into the lead for time in the 21st minute.

The teams were level three times in the final 10 minutes of the first half and the opening period finished with them deadlocked on 0-8 apiece.

Two points from the magnificent Hughes and another from a Conor McManus free got the hosts in front again and they wouldn’t cede the advantage, although Laois did reduce it to the minimum at one stage courtesy of Ross Munnelly (free) and Billy Sheehan.

Stephen Gollogly came off the bench to score two points though and with Dessie Mone, Fintan Kelly, McManus and Martin McElroy on target, Monaghan pulled away for the win.

Armagh are also in danger of relegation after suffering a surprise loss to Galway. Paul Grimley’s crew were playing with the wind in the first half but conceded goals to Eddie Hoare and Michael Martin in the opening four minutes and found themselves 2-8 to 0-9 behind at the change of ends.

Grimley made three substitutions in his defence before the break and they were much improved in the second half. A Tony Kernan goal got them to within two points of Galway entering the final quarter and they were level with 10 minutes remaining.

Galway were able to stem the momentum though and points from former Kildare player James Kavanagh, Paul Conroy (two), Mike Farragher and Tom Flynn helped them to a 2-13 to -13 win that moves them out of the relegation positions but not certain of safety.

Last night, Meath finished strongly to secure the points against Down by 1-14 to 1-11 in an entertaining tie at Páirc Táilteann.

A Graham Reilly goal early in the second half gave Mick O’Dowd’s men the lead but Down responded immediately with a major from Ambrose Rogers.

That left the sides level on 1-9 apiece with 15 minutes remaining and it was Meath that were able to find that little bit extra on the home stretch.

Reilly, Stephen Bray and Shane O’Rourke were all on target to keep Meath’s promotion hopes alive, while simultaneously putting a dent in Down’s aspirations.