New Galway boss Alan Mulholland was both surprised and delighted with his young side's victory over Derry in Celtic Park.

"There wasn't much expected of us today because we'd picked a youthful side and Derry were coming off a good performance in the McKenna Cup. So I think the cheering from our supporters was most astonishment than anything else at the end," he said.

"It was fantastic for the lads who might have been wondering if they had the ability at this level and they were able to answer those questions when they were asked."

Mulholland's Derry counterpart John Brennan felt injuries to key players had played a part in his team's downfall.

"I just can't conjure up players if they're not there. Those fellas out there are doing their best and I'm not going to be critical of them. If we had a few of our main players back, we would have better balance.

"But to be fair to Galway, they were well organised and had one or two forwards with great balance that were able to turn our defenders and score." Tweet

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