Derry 1-21 Monaghan 2-10: Gallagher tries to be picky but admits 'we were good'

Rory Gallagher tried to be picky after his Derry team outclassed Monaghan 1-21 to 2-10 in Saturday's Ulster Football semi-final but his satisfaction following the game was palpable.

"I thought it was good," Gallagher told GAAGO after the Omagh game.

"Monaghan are never going to give in but we were the best team even though we were a wee bit sloppy defensively.

"We pride ourselves on defending but I suppose when you score 1-21 you're very rarely going to get beaten."

• Derry overwhelm Monaghan in Ulster semi-final - as it happened

Karl O'Connell seemed to be given far too much space as he ran straight through the middle of the Derry defence to cut their early advantage to a point but the Oak Leafers regrouped to lead 1-12 to 1-5 at half-time and it was effectively game over at that stage.

Monaghan's second goal, as another high ball seemed to cause some consternation in the Derry defence, pegged the margin back to five with 20 minutes left but Gallagher's men soon regained complete control.

'I don't mind conceding goals when you are seven or eight up'

"I don't mind conceding them [goals] when you are seven or eight up," added the Derry boss.

"There is a wee bit of a pattern, high balls going in and we're not handling them very well.

"Probably we invested so much going forward, it's not easy for players to get back with the same regularity."

Irrespective of whether Armagh or Down win Sunday's second semi-final at Clones, on the basis of Saturday's action, the Oak Leafers look certain to go into the provincial decider on 14 May as favourites to land the county's first back-to-back Ulster titles in 47 years.

Last year, Derry's success was attributed to the form produced by the likes of Conor Glass, Shane McGuigan, Ethan Doherty, Brendan Rogers and Chrissy McKaigue.

A year on and the Oak Leafers look even stronger with corner-back Conor McCluskey deservedly picking up his man of the match after charging upfield to score Derry's first-half goal.

That was in addition to totally subduing Jack McCarron before the unfortunate Monaghan forward was sacrificed before half-time as Vinny Corey vainly tried to come up with some tactical plan to halt the Oak Leafers' superiority.

Paul Cassidy's brilliant form in attack has also given Derry an added dimension this season with keeper Odhran Lynch's ability to set up forward plays, despite some continuing nervousness under the high ball, a further component to their game plan, while Padraig McGrogan's performances have also been hugely impressive.

McCluskey's goal was a stunning individual effort as he got the ball some 35 yards metres out and skirted past 35-year-old McManus before running another 10 yards to lash to the roof of the net despite Rory Beggan's best efforts.

"We have a lot of fresh legs and when Conor McCluskey put on the burners it was all over for a few of them," added Gallagher.

"Conor McCluskey is like a wee road runner and he's great going forward."

The emergence of these new stars means Derry seem to have moved some distance ahead of the Ulster pack but Gallagher says his side will have to prove that in two weeks.

"It was great to win last year after the barren spell in Ulster. But I suppose you win and you're not sure after you beat Tyrone and after you beat Monaghan and after you beat Donegal…you end up being the best team.

"Now we think we're the front runners for it. We believe we are the best team in Ulster but that's no good - you have to go and prove it. That's the challenge for us now."

Monaghan 'outclassed' admits Corey

As for Monaghan boss Corey, he could only admit that his players had been "just outclassed by a better team".

"I thought Derry were awesome. We have no complaints," he told GAA Go.

"In the first half, I didn't think we were putting in the tackles that we were needing to put in. Derry were getting shots off and I don't think they missed much all day. They kicked some great scores.

"The second half was a lot closer but we left ourselves with too much to do.

"Derry are a top team. They are a well-oiled machine. They'll take some stopping but for us, we're going into the All-Ireland series. We'll regroup. We have three weeks now and we'll put our best foot forward there."

The consolation for Monaghan may be that they will probably meet considerably worse teams in the new Super 16s.