Eoin McEvoy eyes 'sunbathing and golf' before quest for Sam Maguire

We're accustomed to players stressing how they won’t rest on their laurels after big-game successes, but Derry’s star man Eoin McEvoy has "sunbathing on golf" on his mind after the Oak Leafers captured the Allianz Football League Division 1 title after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Dublin at Croke Park.

McEvoy proved a revelation for Derry last season and the Magherafelt phenom contributed 2-02 to his side’s tally in an encounter that finished level at 3-18 to 2-21 after extra time.

"It was some game," a jubilant McEvoy told RTÉ Sport in his post-match interview.

"We set our stall out to win the game and that's what we did. Probably not a lot of people thought we would because Dublin have been so good.

"We thought we’d won in normal team, didn't happen. We thought we’d won in extra time, didn't happen. But these boys are practicing penalties."

Reflecting on his own brace of goals and Derry's hunger for top honours, McEvoy said: "Thankfully they went in. We got in a lot of goalscoring opportunities. Another day they might not have went in, but thankfully they went in today.

"We want to win every game, we make no bones about that, and when we got to the league final, we said we wanted to win it.

"We left no stone unturned and thankfully we have and now all out focus is on the championship."

The county's Ulster Championship campaign sees them face Division 2 kingpins Donegal at Celtic Park on Saturday, 20 April.

McEvoy is relieved that their turnaround from league to championship is less onerous than it could have been.

"We're lucky enough," he admitted. "We have a three-week break now until Donegal, where some counties have Ulster preliminaries next week.

"If you were in a league final and then had a game next week, it would