Roscommon footballers kept in touch with the leaders of the division with this impressive win over a very disappointing Louth side at Hyde Park.

A goal from outstanding corner forward Lorcan Dowd after two minutes gave the home side a perfect start against the breeze and they led 1-7 to 0-3 by half-time.

Louth enjoyed a good share of possession during the first half but simply ran out of ideas when they worked the ball through to their full-forward line. To make matters worse, freetaker Stefan White squandered a number of close-range frees, and the same player had a point disallowed before the break when the linesmen intervened after an umpire had incorrectly signalled for the score.

The Leinster side made a number of changes for the second half but to no avail. At one stage in the half they found themselves 14 points adrift after Conor Connelly scored Roscommon's second goal. In fact the second half was 18 minutes old by the time Ollie McDonnell registered Louth's first score since the same player had scored just before the interval. This was a good result for Roscommon and greatly improved their scoring average which could yet prove crucial in the likely event of a tie in the division. Their defence easily handled a weak Louth attack while at the other end corner forwards Lorcan Dowd and Frankie Dolan always looked dangerous and Eddie Lohan gave a superb display of place-kicking.

Roscommon: D Thompson; D Gavin, D Donlon, E Gavin; R Callaghan, M Ryan, C Heneghan; D Connellan, T Ryan; C Connelly (1-1), F O'Donnell, E Lohan (0-7, all frees); F Dolan (0-1), F Grehan (0-1), L Dowd (1-3). Sub: D Duggan for O'Donnell.

Louth: C Nally; B Philips, B Keenan, G O'Neill; C Fitzpatrick, J Donaldson (0-1), J Clerkin; A O'Neill (0-1), K Reilly; A Hoey, S Melia, O McDonnell (0-2); S White (0-2 from frees), C O'Hanlon, A Doherty. Subs: P McGinnity for O'Neill, N Sharkey for Doherty, S O'Neill for Hoey.

Referee: G Lynch (Fermanagh).