London calling now for Derry hurlers says Johnny McGarvey

Christy McNaughton's 1-09 was the Oak Leaf inspiration on an afternoon when Derry were pushed to the pin of their collars by Mickey McCann's team who had a point to prove after a heavy league defeat three weeks earlier.

The visitors led 1-09 to 1-08 at the break but a scoring burst which saw Derry outscore Donegal by 0-7 to 0-1 in six second half minutes handed the Oak Leafers a control they refused to relinquish en route to a crucial win.

"It was very much as we expected it," explained the Derry manager, "The breeze played a part in the first half especially. It was a dogged game and a dogged performance but, look, this is championship now. You're not going to get it handed to you. You are going to have to dig in to get your results and, look, we are delighted to get the win."

"It was very much don't panic," he added of the half-time message, "We said take your time and chip away at the scoreboard and sooner or later we’ll get that passage when we get three or four on the bounce and it did come.

"It took fresh legs off the bench to get it over the line but I thought we had some great performances. First half we really had to dig it out. Donegal had a few wides they probably should’ve taken but, look, we probably left four goals behind us there. Meehaul (McGrath) left three behind him on his own," he smiled.

McGrath was one of a number of stand-out performers in red and white but none more so than McNaughton who continued his fine season with another virtuoso display.

"Christy was brilliant but it's not his scoring that makes him the player that he is. It's everything else," added McGarvey, "I mean his leadership within the team now is first class, but it’s those 50/50s he wins, the dirty ball when he picks a good pass. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes.

"I'm sure John Mullan got five or six from play as well and was really good up front. Defensively it was heroic stuff there at the finish, (Patrick) Turner, Mark Craig, 'PK' (Paddy Kelly)... Sean Kelly, just sound as always. Everybody.

"As dogged as it was, and it wasn't he free flowing hurling we had in O'Donnell Park three weeks ago, but the performance was just as impressive."

Next up is a trip to London to face an Exiles team who hit Meath for 5-18 in Trim with McGarvey expecting another huge championship test.

"Look, if you put five goals on Meath in Meath, then you’re a good team. We haven't really looked too much at them. We know what their results have been; we know how they've done today, a couple of players they had today, I'm not sure of them but we'll start looking at London this evening.

"We will go there well prepared. It's a hard place to get a result and obviously they beat Meath today and Meath are a really good side. Look, it's about navigating through this thing and trying to get to the final. This one is put to bed now and we move on. It’s all about London now."