Derry U21 hurling boss Collie McGurk says he's looking forward to his charges "getting a run" at Kilkenny in next month's All-Ireland semi-final.

The Oak Leafers delivered their first provincial title in the grade since 2008 with a 3-17 to 1-9 demolishment of Down last night and afterwards their manager reserved plenty of praise for the young men out on Corrigan Park's surface.

"13 of that group have played senior hurling at different stages this year for Derry so we always knew the quality was there," McGurk told Highland Radio.

"10 of them were part of the Slaughtneil group that went to an All-Ireland semi-final and coped well with that pressure.

"Our touch there tonight and our touch against Antrim was on a part with anything we've produced in Derry before, so it was good to see it.

"Look, we're delighted, we're getting a run against Kilkenny now and we've made a big improvement in a year."

He added: "We've rejuvenated our senior squad not just with good athletes, but with quality hurlers, which is where we wanted to be."

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