Goals either side of half-time helped steer Derry to a fine 2-9 to 1-9 NFL victory over a game Mayo side at Celtic Park. Colin Devlin and Mark Lynch hit the jackpot but Derry, in truth, made heavy work of translating their territorial advantage into the hard coinage of two league points. The homesters were at their best in the first half during which time Devlin bagged a lovely goal in the 16th minute and a string of points from Paddy Bradley (two), Mark Lynch and Ciaran Mullan had Mayo reeling on the ropes. Four wides from close range frees hampered Mayo's attempts at getting back on track and it took them 31 minutes in total to register their second score of the game through Austin O'Malley after Andy Moran had opened the visitors' account in the 14th minute. Trailing by 0-2 to 1-8 at half-time, Mayo were a rejuvenated outfit on the restart with scores from Moran, Dillon (two frees) and Mortimer closing the gap to 1-8 to 0-6. However Mayo's hopes of gaining parity were dashed when a great move involving Fergal Doherty, Devlin and Mullan was finished to the net by Lynch on 55 minutes. But a goal and a point from Conor Mortimer again left just four points, 2-8 to 1-7, between the sides but despite hitting the crossbar twice in the run-in and a late score from Mickey Mullins, Mayo just couldn't quite deny Derry the spoils. Derry - J Deighan; R Dillon, K McGuckin, F McEldowney; L Hinpey, M McBride, J Keenan; F Doherty, J Conway; M Lynch 1-1, B McGoldrick, E Muldoon 0-1; C Devlin 1-0, P Bradley 0-5, C Mullan 0-2. Subs - E Lynn for C Devlin, M McIver for R Dillan, C O'Kane for B McGoldrick, R Wilkinson for J Keenan Mayo - D Clarke; C Moran, BJ Padden, L O'Malley; C Barrett 0-1, T Howley, K Higgins; S O'Shea, P Gardiner; J Gill, A Dillon 0-2, M Mullins 0-1; C Mortimer 1-2, A O'Malley 0-1, A Moran 0-2. Subs - D Heaney for J Gill, T Cunniffe for C Moran, T Parsons for BJ Padden Referee - J Bannon (Longford) Tweet

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