Dubs inflict Derry with first league defeat

March 02, 2024

Derry's Christopher McKaigue and Con O'Callaghan of Dublin ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Dublin produced a dominant second-half display to hand Derry a first loss in this year’s Allianz Football League Division 1 campaign and pick up their third win in the process.

The All-Ireland champions’ 1-16 to 1-11 victory at Celtic Park was sealed by Cormac Costello’s 51st minute goal that put five between the sides, as the visitors never looked back from the moment it hit the net.

Dessie Farrell’s men had made a better start to the fifth round clash that saw them 0-7 to 0-3 up before Conor McCluskey hit their net with a brilliantly taken goal in the 25th minute.

The points of Brian Fenton and Sean Bugler would still see the Dubs head in with a 0-9 to 1-4 lead at the break and, despite a Shane McGuigan score early in the restart, they grabbed points via Con O’Callaghan and Ciaran Kilkenny to go up by three.

Costello’s introduction some 10 minutes later would see him hitting Derry’s net from close range almost immediately and scores from Fenton (2), Lorcan O’Dell and Lee Gannon ensured they were taking both points back to the capital.


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