Derry power past Antrim to reach last four

Derry powered through to an Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final with a 2-23 to 1-13 victory over Antrim at a sun-kissed Celtic Park.

Heavy favourites prior to throw-in, Ciaran Meenagh's side handled their business with minimal fuss, taking a firm grip as the opening period moved forward and saw out the second half to book a meeting with either Monaghan or Cavan on 2 May.

While both sides came into this game off the back of reasonably positive league campaigns that failed to result in promotion, it was Derry operating two levels above and this told on a day in which the hooter system was abandoned due to a clock malfunction.

The Oak Leafs had 10 different scorers on the day with Shane McGuigan leading the charge with nine points including a pair of two-pointers, while Lachlan Murray and Paul Cassidy grabbed the goals in either half.

Antrim battled throughout and while they didn't really threaten to upset the odds following a positive start, they could take much from the performances of Niall Burns, Peter Healy and goalkeeper John McNabb who pulled off a string of saves.

That McNabb was one of the stars on show told its own story as while Derry had gears to go through, they still had 13 points to spare.

Niall Burns gave Antrim an early lead, but he was to be the Saffrons' main threat for most of the half as Derry had a much better spread of attacking options.

In all, the Oak Leafers have seven different scorers in the opening period which helped them lead by as many at the half, but that could have been a lot more had they taken the majority of their goal chances.

The first came after Shane McGuigan levelled as Conor Glass was first to react to Conor Doherty's dropping shot and the ball broke to Lachlan Murray who poked wide.

At the other end, Burns made the most of his chance when a flowing move saw him put in by Conor Hand to finish low with 11 minutes played.

Derry responded well with five of the next six points to lead by two and they did find the net in the 24th minute as Murray nipped in to intercept a miss-hit pass by Dominic McEnhill around the 65 to race through and with McNabb out of his goal, he applied the finish.

McNabb would thwart Murray twice before the half was out, while at the other end Pat Shivers looked set to find the net, but Shea McGuckin recovered to tip his close-range shot up and over from just yards out.

The post would deny Derry's Diarmuid Baker, but play was brought back for a foul which McGuigan punished and the Slaughtneil man who kick the only two-pointer of the opening half from a free awarded for a breach by Antrim, a mistake they could ill-afford as Derry took a 1-11 to 1-4 lead into the dressing room.

McGuigan and Antrim captain Eoghan McCabe traded early in the second period, but Derry continued to play the game on their terms, stretching the lead to nine before McCabe hit back with Antrim's first two-pointer.

However, from the kick-out, Brendan Rogers was given too much space to collect and set Niall Loughlin on his way. again, McNabb pulled off the save, but this time Paul Cassidy was on hand to turn the rebound home.

That was effectively that in the 46th minute as it was a case of game management for Derry.

Ryan McQuillan did find a two-pointer for the Saffrons, but they would lose Ronan Boyle to a black card in the 62nd minute, returning in stoppage time - seven minutes of stoppage time to be precise, which seemed a little excessive.

By the time of his return, Derry were long out of sight with McGuigan bringing his tally to nine with a two-pointer from play, while Conor Doherty had kicked his third score of the game.

McQuillan had the final say for Antrim, but it was Derry's day as they record their first victory in the provincial championship since their 2023 penalty win over Armagh in the final.

They now await the winner of Sunday's quarter-final between Monaghan and Cavan in Clones [15:00 BST).

Derry: Shea McGuckin; Diarmuid Baker, Ruairi Forbes (0-1), Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty (0-3), Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan (0-1); Eoin McEvoy (0-1), Brendan Rogers (0-1); Ethan Doherty, Conor Glass, Paul Cassidy (1-1); Niall Loughlin (0-2), Shane McGuigan (0-9, 1x2p, 1x2pf), 2f), Lachlan Murray (1-3).

Subs: Patrick McGurk for D Baker (53), Shea Downey for E McEvoy (53), Niall Toner for N Loughlin (57), Niall O'Donnell for B Rogers (62), Ruairi O'Mianain (0-1) for R Forbes (64).

Antrim: John McNabb; John Morgan, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; Eoghan McCabe (0-3, 1x2p), Peter Healy, Marc Jordan; Paddy McAleer (0-1, 1f), Joseph Finnegan; Conor Hand (0-1), Adam Loughran, Ronan Boyle; Niall Burns (1-3), Pat Shivers (0-2), Dominic McEnhill.

Subs: Ryan McQuillan (0-3, 1x2p) for A Loughran (38), Tiernan McCormick for M Jordan (53), Tomas McCann for D McEnhill (53), Benen Kelly for K Keenan (62), Cathal Hynds for N Burns (67).

Referee: David Gough (Meath)