Glen duo play part in Derry rout of Limerick

Derry eased to a convincing opening Division Two victory over Limerick in a one sided game, winning in the end by 12 points.

Shane McGuigan was the Oak Leaf star of the show, hitting nine points in a game in which Derry never had to get out of second gear. Five points up at half-time Derry never looked overly stretched throughout a game they had won from a long way out.

All the pre-match talk centred on the inclusion of Derry's Glen trio Conor Glass, Ethan Doherty and Conleth McGuckian and despite rumours to the contrary, both Glass and Doherty started in a strong looking Derry 15.

The Ulster champions were odds on favourites to start with a win and the one sided opening half did little to dispel the notion, McGuigan hitting four points as Gallagher's team eased to a 0-7 to 0-2 half-time lead without ever hitting anything like top gear.

Limerick were without last season's leading scorer Josh Ryan and his absence was keenly felt as Ray Dempsey, in his first competitive game in charge of the Treaty County, saw Adrian Enright register Limerick's solitary score.

Derry had the ball in the net after only two minutes but Lachlan Murray's joy was short lived as the goal was ruled out with Ethan Doherty having been adjudged to have over carried in the build up.

Derry were far from their best, wayward shooting puncturing their almost constant attacking, but once Paul Cassidy got the scoreboard up and running on seven minutes, there was only one winner.

Niall Toner (free) and McGuigan had Derry three up before Enright's fisted effort for the visitors but thereafter it was one way first half traffic as McGuigan (3) and Toner eased Derry to their five point interval advantage. It probably could have been more as both Paul Cassidy and