Derry 1-18 Laois 2-11:It's five weeks since Derry tamely exited the Ulster championship with a performance that looked certain to cost Paddy Crozier his post as Derry manager.
That hapless display at Casement Park must seem like an aberration, parallel reality to the Ballymaguigan man after he saw his players book a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals with a thrilling victory at Breffni Park on Saturday evening.
"If anybody had said after the Monaghan game that we'd be in the last eight, we'd have given them a right look but the players have fought hard and they've got themselves back into contention. They've beaten a good Armagh team and a good Mayo side, teams that were looking to be playing in the All-Ireland final. We'll look forward to our quarter-final and see where that takes us," he said.
Derry have a reputation as a dour defensive side but this victory over Laois proved that they can win shootouts as well as wars of attrition. With Enda Muldoon outstanding in a roving role and Paul Murphy and Paddy Bradley providing a cutting edge they recovered from the concession of second-half goals from Padraic McMahon and Billy Sheehan to outscore Liam Kearns's game Laois outfit.
It made for exciting viewing but Crozier admitted the ebb and flow of the match had frayed his nerves.
"I'm sure it was entertaining enough for the spectators there but it was tough watching on the sidelines. They hit us with a couple of sucker goals and that could have rocked us but we showed great character. In the first half we put ourselves under pressure, our forwards were taking bad decisions, shooting under pressure and giving the ball away," he said.
Indeed Crozier agreed he had been worried by the fact that his side were only a single point ahead, 0-9 to 0-8, after a first period that they had largely dominated. With Bradley, Colin Devlin and Murphy looking lively, Derry had opened up an early 0-6 to 0-2 lead. But Fergal Byron's effective use of short kickouts was causing problems and as Colm Parkinson repeatedly opened up the right side of the Derry defence, the Leinster side gained a foothold in the match.
When Parkinson scored the first point of the second half the sides were level but with the outstanding Gerard O'Kane and Muldoon driving them on, Derry surged 0-12 to 0-9 in front.
The Ulster side could have been derailed when McMahon cut through their defence for a superb solo goal but they responded by scoring an unanswered 1-3 with Paul Murphy clipping the coolest of finishes past Byron in the 55th minute for what proved the key score in the game.
Kearns's last throw of the dice was to push Brendan Quigley up to full forward and when he broke a ball down into the square for Sheehan to blast home it cut the gap to 1-15 to 2-10 but Derry never really looked ruffled as Bradley clipped over two scores.
A Tierney free got Laois back within a goal but O'Kane fired over the insurance point with his left foot and the Derry revival continues.
DERRY: B Gillis; M McGoldrick; K McCloy; G O'Kane (0-1); L Hinphey, SM Lockhart, F McEldowney; F Doherty (0-1), J Conway (0-1); M Lynch (0-2), P Murphy (1-2), E Muldoon; C Devlin (0-1), Paddy Bradley (0-7, five frees), C Gilligan (0-3, two frees). Subs: J Keenan for Hinphey (half-times), K McGuckin for McGoldrick (47 mins), R Wilkinson for Murphy (52 mins), G Donaghy for Lynch (59 mins), Patsy Bradley for Gilligan (66 mins).
LAOIS: F Byron; A Fennelly, C Ryan, J Higgins (0-1); P McMahon (1-0), T Kelly, B McCormack (0-1); P Clancy, B Quigley; P O'Leary, P Lawlor (0-1), C Parkinson (0-3); M Tierney (0-4, three frees), K Fitzpatrick, R Munnelly (0-1). Subs: R Stapleton for Ryan (22 mins), B Sheehan (1-0) for Lawlor (41 mins), D Brennan for Fitzpatrick (58 mins).
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).
