Rory Gallagher felt Derry “outclassed” Meath on a sobering night for new Royals boss Colm O’Rourke.
Saturday’s game was billed as a clash between two of Division Two’s hottest promotion rivals but the Ulster champions made a mockery of that with a statement win in Owenbeg.
“I am delighted we won it in the style we did and in the fashion we did on a night when it wasn’t easy to play football,” said Derry boss Gallagher.
Read more: Recap as Derry claim facile 11-point victory over Meath to top Division Two table
“We did really outclass them and I was delighted with that. The scoreline didn’t flatter us.”
Derry led 2-7 to 0-3 at the break after goals right at the start and the end of the half from Ethan Doherty and Niall Toner.
“It was nice to have a lot of the work done by half time and be in a position where you’re never going to lose the game,” added Gallagher.
Having won 11 league points last season yet failed to go up, Gallagher was reluctant to read too much into winning his opening three games.
“Any day you beat Meath as comfortably as we beat them is a good sign of progress but I suppose there is a small bit of déjà vu in that we were here last year and we didn’t capitalise so we can’t look too far ahead, we just look forward to the next game against Kildare.”
Having beaten Cork and Clare back-to-back, expectations were rising in Meath.
But this was a reality check for a side still in the early building stages under O’Rourke.
“We got a major setback that the lads will learn from,” he said.
“You could say the game was over at half time. We were poor in a lot of areas but a lot of it due to inexperience, players not playing at this level.
“Maybe tonight was a more accurate reflection of where we are at at the moment. We still have a long way to go.
“But when you have players who are committed and interested in improving themselves we can make progress. It may not come all of a sudden, we may have to be patient with them, but it will come.
“I think they will bounce back and I will be very disappointed if we don’t have a positive response against Louth.”
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