Rampant Derry destroy Offaly in Celtic Park

Derry 2-25, Offaly 0-08

Derry's renaissance under Ciaran Meenagh is gathering pace as the Oak Leafer's bid for an immediate return to Division One gathered further pace thanks to a 23 point hammering of Offaly in Celtic Park on Saturday night.

On a night that proved a nightmare return for former Derry boss Mickey Harte - now in charge of the Faithful County alongside Declan Kelly - Derry were simply on a different level to the visitors.

A blistering start from the home side, who were minus captain Conor Glass as he served a one match suspension following his controversial sending off against Kildare, saw goals from Niall Loughlin and the excellent Matthew Downey put Derry 2-04 to no score up before Meenagh's men eventually changed ends with a 20-POINT half-time advantage.

With the second half now little more than a training session Derry cruised through to the final whistle on an evening with any number of positives for Meenagh. The loss of Shea McGuckin to injury saw Ryan Scullion - injured himself in the warm-up before the league opener with Meath - back in the No. 1 shirt and the Ballinascreen player was excellent, gathering a number of difficult high balls and making a couple of smart saves.

Matthew Downey helped himself to 1-02 and continues to improve with every minute while Paul Cassidy - long been one of Derry's unsung heroes - is finding it more difficult to stay out of the limelight following a series of superb individual performances.

Conor and Ethan Doherty, the latter making his 70th senior appearance for Derry, were their usual excellent selves but it is enthusiasm which will be tempered by the level of opponent. Offaly were simply not at the races and what becomes a huge clash with Cork next Sunday will be a considerable step up in standard from what Derry faced here.

Meenagh made four changes form the 15 that started last week's hard fought victory in Newrbidge, two enforced as keeper Scullion came in for his first start in the league while Jack Doherty came in for the suspended Glass. Niall Toner and Matthew Doherty were the other Oak Leaf changes.

Offaly came into the game still seeking their first point but any hopes Mickey Harte had of a warm welcome back to the county he managed to the Division One title of 2024 were quickly dispelled. Indeed the game was all but over as a contest inside 20 minutes as Derry cut through the Faithful County.

Jack Doherty got the home side up and running inside the opening minute and within 90 seconds, Toner was bursting through a sparsely occupied Offaly defence to tee up Niall Loughlin for the game's opening goal.

Ethan Doherty tagged on a point before, with still only nine minutes on the clock, Matthew Downey set off on a mazy solo run that took him past three defenders and ended with the Lavey player's first goal for the Derry senior team. It was quite a way to grab it!

Paul Cassidy, who grabbed a brace of two pointers in the opening half following his 'Goal of the Season' contender in Newbridge last week, rubbed salt into the wounds with his first before Jordan Hayes eventually got Offaly on the scoreboard 16 minutes in with a fisted effort to leave it 2-04 to 0-01.

Offaly’s efforts were not being helped by a malfunctioning kick-out that had seen the visitors win only one of their first seven and rather than push on from that opening point from Hayes, it was Derry who continued the onslaught.

Cassidy's second two-pointer was the first of three successive two-pointers as Shane McGuigan and the imperious Brendan Rogers added efforts of their own, with Conor Doherty and Downey then tagging on singles for 2-12 to 0-01.

Offaly, who registered six wides and sent four short in the opening 35 minutes, saw Keith O'Neill double their tally and the same player would grab their third of the half. However, with Niall Loughlin bringing Derry's total of first half two-pointers to five, the Oak Leafers were already in cruise control at half-time, leading on a remarkable scoreline of 2-17 to 0-03.

Derry handed Slaughtneil's Ruairi O Mianain his National League debut for the second half with a McGuigan free and another Matthew Downey score ensuring it remained business as usual after the restart.

Offaly did improve and substitute Eoin Dunne was denied a goal with his first touch by an excellent Scullion save but the gap between the sides was always evident. Hayes did end 24 scoreless minutes with Offaly's opening score of the second half 23 minutes after the restart but it was merely a footnote on a match that was long over. For Derry, it is onwards and upwards with Cork up next at Celtic Park next Sunday.

Derry scorers: Niall Loughlin 1-4 (1tp), Matthew Downey 1-2, Paul Cassidy 0-5 (2tp), Shane McGuigan 0-7 (2f, 1tp), Brendan Rogers 0-2 (1tp), Jack Doherty 0-1, Ethan Doherty 0-2, Niall Toner 0-1, Niall O'Donnell 0-1.

Offaly scorers: Harry Plunkett 0-3 (1tp), Jordan Hayes 0-2, Keith O'Neill 0-3.

Derry: Ryan Scullion, Diarmuid Baker, Ruairi Forbes, Shea Downey, Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan, Jack Doherty, Brendan Rogers, Ethan Doherty, Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy, Niall Loughlin, Shane McGuigan, Matthew Downey. (Subs) Ruairi O Mianain for G McKinless, HT; Sean Young for B Rogers, 42mins; Niall O'Donnell for C Doherty, 59mins; Mark Doherty for D Baker, 53mins; Charlie Diamond for S Downey, 60mins.

Offaly: Conor Melia, Shane O'Toole, David Dempsey, Darragh Flynn, Cormac Egan, Diarmuid Egan, Rory Egan, Jack McEvoy, Aaron Leavy, Marcus Dalton, Jordan Hayes, Keith O'Neill, Harry Plunkett, Niall Furlong, Lee Pearson. (Subs) Daire McDaid for D Dempsey, HT; Eoin Sawyer for D Flynn, 42mins; Eoin Dunne for M Dalton, 59mins; Conor Dunican for C Ryan, 53mins; Cathal Ryan for S O'Toole Greene, 66mins.

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)