New Donegal boss Rory Gallagher hailed the influence of substitute Martin McElhinney as his side opened their Allianz Football League campaign with a six-point win over Derry.
The Ulster champions trailed by three points at the break, but came out stronger in the second half and gained the upper hand in midfield to run out 1-15 to 0-12 winners at Ballybofey.
Speaking after the game, Gallagher told RTÉ Sport: “I thought after a bright opening that we fell away badly. Derry were in complete control and we probably rode our luck a wee bit to only be three behind at half-time.
"[We were] probably worried about our [fitness] but we came good in the second half.
“I thought we gained a platform in the middle of the park. In the first half Derry were catching us out with their kick-outs, that gave them a massive advantage.
“Then we gave away two bad scores from our own kick-outs and they are big swings in games.
"Once Martin McElhinney and Neil Gallagher got a stranglehold in the middle of the field and [Michael] Murphy went inside in the second half, they upped the intensity levels an awful lot and I thought [we] were the better team by far.”
