Derry hurling boss McGarvey delighted with victory over Donegal

McGarvey admitted defeat in Round Two against Wicklow had removed the Oak Leafers' "safety blanket" in the race for a top two finish but said his players' response against their north west rivals was everything he'd hope for.

"We were under no illusions about what we needed to do," explained the Derry boss, "It was about the performance, and performance isn't just about how well you hurl, it's absolutely everything and I thought from the first whistle we were at it.

"And that's the way it is going to be now, it's on the line in every game for every team; probably bar Kerry. I always say you have to navigate your way through this competition and we do that reasonably well. When you come out here in Celtic Park, the sun is shining.... I mean the boys just wanted to get out and hurl and I thought all over the pitch, we were absolutely brilliant."

Derry dominated against Mickey McCann's team but led by only one at the break before excellent second half goals from Deaghlan Foley and Rian Collins on his senior debut put the seal on a 2-23 to 1-16 victory.

"I think so and for us, it has been coming," replied McGarvey when asked if Saturday was his team's best display of the season, "We played reasonably well down in Wicklow, we just didn't take our chances. We probably should have come out of that match with 1-20 and walked away comfortable winners but we left it behind us and we knew that.

"We knew coming here, Donegal gave a great performance last week (against Kerry) and had a great win against Wicklow in the opening round. We play them most seasons so we know what they're about but - as we said in the changing rooms beforehand - this was about how we were going to perform, how we were going to attack the match and we went at it from the start.

"We pressed up on the puck out, we gave them no space, had turnovers and we were probably unfortunate to go in at half-time just a point up. It probably should have been five or six. I don't think I’ve ever seen as many over carries blown in hurling match in my life and we picked up six yellow cards and I thought some of those were just tackles.

"But sometimes that's the way it goes. I thought we created space, used our two inside men so well; Cormac (O'Doherty) picked up four or five points and I don't recall their full forward line getting a clean ball all day.

"The only annoyance was probably the goal we conceded because we were playing so well but we are just over the moon."

With Kerry maintaining their dominance at the top of the group and Meath defeating Wicklow on Sunday, it leaves Derry sitting second on four points alongside the Royals ahead of a titanic showdown in two weeks’ time.

"It was always going to be like that," added McGarvey, "Even had we beaten Wicklow last week, we were still going to have to go and beat Meath anyway and it's exactly the same for Meath. They will have to win as well.

"It's championship hurling, that's what it's about. You get a safety blanket in the group but we’ve had ours and now it’s time to press on."