Gallagher: Six from six Derry have 'earned the right' to play Division One football
DESERVED PROMOTION: Derry manager Rory Gallagher. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Rory Gallagher says Derry have proved they belong in Division One after six wins from six games secured a first return to the top flight since relegation in 2015.
Clare were the latest county to be brushed aside in Owenbeg, the Oak Leafers holding the Banner County scoreless for 42 minutes and then limiting Colm Collins' team to just four points overall in the most one sided of games in front of 4,127 ecstatic fans.
Sunday's 10 point victory, a result that also sees Clare relegated after Kildare's victory over Limerick, means that since the Covid enforced break in 2020 Derry have played 18 league games across Divisions Two and Three, winning 18, drawing one and losing only just one.
It is a record worthy of the Ulster champions and one Gallagher believes highlights they belong in Division One.
"If you want to become a real heavyweight in our sport you have to be playing in Division One, that's the reality of it," explained the Derry boss, "I know Dublin are probably the exception at the minute, the second favourites for the All Ireland and playing in Division Two, but that's not normal.
"We want to play the top teams and I think we've earned the right. We came back in September 2020 after Covid, and we had the addition of Conor (Glass), Ethan (Doherty)and Paul (Cassidy) into our squad and today was the 20th league game we've played since. We've won 18, drawn one and lost one. We are clearly a lot better than the majority of those teams but ultimately the Dublins, the Galways, the Roscommons - there is not much between any of us and we want to play against those teams all the time.
"To be honest we learned more out of the Dublin game than we would have learned out of the other 15 games.
"It's a great credit to the boys. We've had setbacks and, listen, even from myself getting involved, it was a rocky start and there were setbacks but everybody stuck to together, and we learned together. No matter what, you always want to go and prove yourself and we have proved ourselves to an extent."
Sunday was a game lacking the drama of Derry's recent victory over Dublin but while Rory Gallagher's team were celebrating promotion, Clare found themselves at the opposite end of the spectrum, forced to wait a couple of hours after the final whistle until Kildare's victory confirmed the Banner County's relegation to the third tier.
It's been a campaign of 'what if' for Collins' team but they can have no complaints about Sunday's result.
Derry, with Shane McGuigan hitting 0-5, were 0-9 to no score up at half-time and while Clare produced an improved second half, their first point didn't arrive until the 42nd minute and Derry were in cruise control long before the end of a game that was never a contest.
Shane McGuigan (0-5, 1f, 1m), Ethan Doherty (0-3), Niall Loughlin (0-1), Conor Glass (0-1), Paul Cassidy (0-1), Conor Doherty (0-1), Gareth McKinless (0-1), Benny Heron (0-1)
Emmet McMahon (0-2), Pearse Lillis (0-1), Dermot Coughlan (0-1).
O Lynch, C McKaigue, E McEvoy, C McCluskey, P McGrogan, C Doherty, G McKinless, C Glass, B Rogers, N Toner, Paul Cassidy, E Doherty, B Heron, S McGuigan, N Loughlin.
Padraig Cassidy for McEvoy, 40mins; S Downey for C Doherty, 56mins; M Downey for N Loughlin, 63mins; C McGuckian for B Heron, 63mins; N O'Donnell for B Rogers, 67mins.
S Ryan, M Doherty, C Brennan, R Lannigan, C Russell, P Lillis, A Sweeney, C O’Connor, D Bohannon, J Malone, E Cleary, D Coughlan, I Ugweru, K Sexton, E McMahon.
C Rouine for A Sweeney, HT; P Collins for I Ugweru, HT; G Cooney for C Russell, 42mins; M Garry for R Lannigan, 54mins; B Rouine for M Doherty, 63mins;
P Faloon (Down)
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