Galway manager Padraic Joyce admitted his side were fortunate to take a draw from Celtic Park at the weekend after Derry’s dominant second-half display.

The Connacht champions were seemingly coasting after building up a 1-10 to 0-4 half-time lead, but Paddy Tally’s men battled back in the second-half with substitute Lachlan Murray and ace attacker Shane McGuigan leading the charge for them.

Two McGuigan points were what earned the Oak Leafers a 0-16 to 1-13 draw and, speaking to BBC Sport NI afterwards, Joyce accepted that his team were second best after the break.

"It was a funny game,” he stated. "It was a brilliant first-half performance by ourselves but our second-half, we have to look at it, we were well beaten all over the pitch.

"We only punched a point and kicked a two-pointer but Derry were all over us, they had 21 shots at goal and kicked 11. In the end we were blessed to come away with a point.”

He added: "Points away from home are hard to come by in the league and we have five out of six, which is not too bad.

"The players are disappointed because we were in a winning position and we didn't see it out. But Derry is a proud footballing county and they had no points and we knew they weren't going down without a fight, so we expected a huge battle and that's what it was."

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