Derry came back from an eight-point half-time deficit to beat Donegal by three points in this Christy Ring Cup clash at Owenbeg.
Derry 0-20 Donegal 1-14
Donegal led by 1-12 to 0-07 at the break, Dylan Duffy getting the goal when he flicked Sean McVeigh’s long ball into the net for Donegal’s opening score.
However, they could only add two points to their tally in the second-half as Derry came storming back to shoot 13 second-half points and take the victory by a three-point margin.
Without both Declan Coulter and Lee Henderson it was Danny Cullen who took over the free-taking responsibilities for Donegal and the Setanta man didn’t disappoint with some fine scores.
Donegal led by 1-07 to 0-05 after 28 minutes and finished the half impressively to lead 1-12 to 0-07 at the break.
However, Derry improved significantly in the second-half with Slaughtneil’s Cormac O Doherty leading the way for frees and open play and slowly but surely the home team began to eat into Donegal’s lead.
Mickey McCann’s men still led by a single point with two minutes of normal time remaining 1-14 to 0-16, but O Doherty, Gerard Bradley, Brian Og McGilligan and Se McGuigan all added late points to give Derry the win and send a gallant Donegal to their second defeat in the Group.
In the group’s other Down beat Wicklow by 2-25 to 2-19 and they will provide the opposition for Donegal at O Donnell Park in two weeks time.
