Goals from Colin Devlin and Mark Lynch steered Derry to an opening night win in Allianz NFL Division One as they saw off the challenge of Mayo at Celtic Park.
Lynch set up Devlin's superb 15th minute goal and three frees from All Star Paddy Bradley helped Derry lead 1-08 to 0-02 at half-time.
In wet and wintry conditions, Mayo improved drastically in the second half but Lynch's 54th minute major proved crucial.
Conor Mortimer netted 1-01 in the space of a minute for the visitors, but their luck was out when Peadar Gardiner and Andy Moran both hit the crossbar late on.
Eager to make up for last week's Dr McKenna Cup final disappointment, Derry simply roared out of the traps and were 1-06 to 0-01 to the good coming up to the half-hour mark.
Enda Muldoon opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Bradley notched two early pointed frees, while Moran opened Mayo's account in the eighth minute.
On a wet and dreary evening, Derry were dominant at midfield with Fergal Doherty and James Conroy proving influential.
Devlin's goal was a thing of beauty as he raced in from the left wing, taking a pace from Lynch, before burying the ball past Mayo stopper David Clarke.
Three minutes before the break, Clarke had to be on his toes to deny Derry a second goal, but with Ciaran Mullan (0-02) getting himself on the scoresheet, the Oak Leafers were well in control.
Mayo's cause was not helped in the first half by the fact that Alan Dillon and Conor Mortimer missed four close range frees between them.
The westerners' only points in the opening 35 minutes came from Moran and Austin O'Malley.
Mayo had the elements at their backs for the second period and profited, as they landed four successive points through Moran, Dillon (0-02) and Mortimer.
But those scores were effectively cancelled out when Lynch found Clarke's net, a quarter of an hour from the finish.
That score put Crozier's men 2-08 to 0-06 but Mayo still had time to make Derry sweat.
Mortimer's smart finish saw him pick off a goal after some sloppy Derry defending, while the DCU star also added an immediate point.
Gardiner then blazed a shot off the crossbar and while the visitors' answered a Paddy Bradley free with a fine Chris Barrett point, Moran frustratingly found the woodwork in injury-time to just about sum up Mayo's night.
