Down are right back in the hunt for the Senior Two title.

The Malone Park side produced the performance of the season last weekend to comprehensively sweep aside their nearest title challengers with a display that will send alarm bells ringing in the ears of their other opponents over the coming weeks.

Having lost to the police at home in December, Down knew they had to produce a top drawer performance and they didn't disappoint, scoring six goals.

There were heroes all over the park including goalkeeper, Mark Johnston, who was outstanding and produced a number of crucial saves when it mattered most.

Down were forced to start without Richard Owens who is still recovering from a bout of 'flu, but they still produced an outstanding, potentially title-winning display.

The players know there's no room for complacency, but the manner of last weekend's display will stand them in good stead during the crucial title run in.

The visitors got off to the best possible start when Gavin Ringland fired them into the lead in the fourth minute after a great run by Adam McKee who tortured the police defenders all afternoon.

He slipped the ball to Ringland who unleashed a ferocious shot which flew past the 'keeper before he had time to move. A minute later, the police had a golden opportunity to get right back into the game, but a forward's shot flew over the crossbar.

Down went 2-0 ahead in the 13th minute when the impressive Ringland scored his second of the afternoon. A superb move started at the back by Paul Neill saw the ball worked to Paul Tate, another of Down's top performers on the day. He drove forward and passed to Ringland whose shot ended up in the back of the net via the back of the goalkeeper's helmet after a wild swipe at the ball by Mark Elliott.

Johnston then produced two blinding saves in quick succession in the 20th minute, but from his second block the ball spun up into the air and was crashed back past him by Simon Harvey to make it 2-1.

Chris Taylor should have put Down 3-1 ahead in the 25th minute after great work by Ringland, but he screwed his shot past the wrong side of the post. Down did stretch their lead to 3-1 five minutes before the interval.

McKee was the architect of the goal and once he had skipped past his marker he looked up to pick out Tate who drilled the ball home to give the visitors a well deserved lead at the break.

But the PSNI hit back within two minutes of the restart to make it 3-2 with a perfectly executed drag flick from a short corner and it was nervy time for the visitors.

Ringland shot wide at the other end when well placed and then Johnston earned his corn with two fantastic saves to not only keep his side in the game, but prevent the cops from levelling the scores.

Also during this period, Down skipper, Jeremy McCready, produced the save of the day. A goal-bound shot looked destined for the back of the net and with the PSNI players already celebrating, McCready stopped the ball dead on the line and hacked it to safety.

The skipper's timely intervention marked the turning point in the game as a few minutes later his side went 4-2 ahead when Taylor's efforts were rewarded with a goal.

Elliott made it 5-2 in the 59th minute with a shot which looked as though it was heading wide, only to spin and bobble and eventually nestle inside the post.

Taylor had a chance to make it 6-2 in the 61st minute, but missed after more good work by Ringland before Sinclair White put the seal on an outstanding performance with his side's sixth goal.

He did all the hard work and surprised his team mates with a sublime reverse stick shot which whistled into the net to seal an emphatically comprehensive victory which takes Down a step nearer promotion to Senior One.