Kieran McGeeney wasn't too downbeat after Armagh were pipped by Derry in the opening round of the Dr McKenna Cup.

"I was happy with the majority of the performance," the Orchard County boss told the Irish News after the game in Owenbeg.

"We gave away a penalty and we missed a couple of chances. In fairness to the Derry 'keeper (Ben McKinless), he made a superb save near the end and you have to hand it to him.

"But there were a lot of good things in it for us. We would have liked to get the victory. They fought back well and showed some good composure at times, and poor (composure) at other times. But I think there were more positives than negatives for us."

Brian McGuckin, who took charge of Derry in the absence of manager Damian Barton, who is currently in Australia, said: "We were five or six points up with five minutes to go and instead of really pushing on, we retreated and we invited Armagh onto us.

"If there had been another minute or two to play in the game, who's to say that they couldn't have grabbed another goal. We were in a position to really put that game to bed."

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