Derry maintained their 100 per cent record in Division Two with a win over Cork yesterday.
Shane McGuigan led the scoring for Rory Gallagher’s men with 0-8 in a game the Oak Leaf side controlled for large periods.
“It was very comfortable in the end in very heavy conditions,” said Gallagher, whose side go to Clare next.
“I felt in the first half we missed a number of goal chances and we should have been more than two up at half-time.
“It would be nice to be coming back up the road next week with eight points and guarantee your safety and then you can seriously focus on going to Division One.
“It’s a good position to be in. When you come up out of a division you want to make sure you stay in it before thinking of pushing on.
“I wouldn’t say six points guarantees it but with our score difference we’re not in a bad position and we look forward to Clare.”
The teams exchanged frees early on, with Stephen Sherlock opening the scoring at one end after three minutes before McGuigan responded for Derry to level.
McGuigan then fired Derry into the lead on 15 minutes before extending the gap to two.
Cork ended a 25-minute wait for a score when Daniel Dineen jinked inside and slotted between the posts but Lachlan Murray made it 0-4 to 0-2 before McGuigan added another to his tally after he’d been fouled by Billy Hennessy.
Benny Heron rattled the crossbar, while the final scoring act of the half saw on target with another free, leaving it 0-5 to 0-3 at the break.
A free from McGuigan and an Emmett Bradley score extended Derry’s lead early in the second half.
The major turning point came on 44 minutes when, at one end, Odhran Lynch saved from Dineen before Derry raced up field and Benny Heron finished to the net after McWilliams’ initial shot was saved by Chris Kelly.
“It’s disappointing when you put a lot of energy and money and that sort of stuff into it and then not to get the performance — it doesn’t reflect the work that they’re putting in,” said Cork boss Keith Ricken, whose side now sit on one point from their first three games.
