Derry miss out on promotion from Division 2 despite Meath late show

A stirring finish in Navan secured a morale-boosting come-from-behind win for Derry but promotion from Division 2 of the Allianz NFL ultimately eluded the Oak Leafers.

Rory Gallagher's side needed to beat Meath and to hope that Roscommon lost to Galway in order to return to the top flight for the first time since 2015.

They got the win they craved, coming from five points down after 60 minutes to win by two thanks largely to goal-scorer and top scorer Niall Loughlin, though with Roscommon winning handsomely elsewhere their promotion bid was dashed.

They will look back with frustration on their round five draw with Roscommon as the game that cost them given that the Rossies finished one point ahead of Derry in second position.

Still, Derry could only take care of their business at Pairc Tailteann and duly did that, even if they left it late to get the better of a Meath side chasing three consecutive wins.

Loughlin finished with 1-04 for Derry while the returning Shane McGuigan struck 0-06 and was a key performer.

Derry will return to duty on 1 May to play Fermanagh or Tyrone in the Ulster SFC quarter-finals while Meath will meet Laois or Wicklow on the same afternoon in Leinster.

The pressure was on Derry to perform given the possibility of promotion and they delivered initially, playing to a high standard and benefiting from McGuigan's return in attack.

The Slaughtneil man was suspended for the heavy defeat to Galway in round six but, having previously scored 1-27 in the campaign, picked up where he left off with a brilliant opening quarter.

He scored three points as Derry opened up a fully deserved 0-07 to 0-03 lead after 18 minutes.

Derry's midfield, powered by ex-AFL player Conor Glass and Emmett Bradley, was entirely on top,