We expect to be better against Galway' - Derry manager Paddy Tally

All-Ireland Senior Championship | Derry vs. Galway | Celtic Park | Sunday, 2pm | Ref: Niall Cullen

Derry manager Paddy Tally rued their missed goal chances but was proud of this side not “downing tools” in the face of Armagh’s 13-point lead in the All-Ireland opener.

The Oakleafers created eight goal chances in Saturday’s game, including four in a frantic final quarter that were saved by Ethan Rafferty.

Watching on was Galway manager Padraic Joyce and his selector Mickey Graham, running their eyes over Derry ahead of Sunday’s game that Tally has highlighted as a crunch game.

“I was disappointed because we created enough chances in that second half not only to get something out of it but to win the game,” Tally said of Saturday’s 2-21 to 2-17 defeat at the hands of the All-Ireland champions.

“Ethan Rafferty pulled off four saves in that second half which is disappointing. On a day like that, you have to be taking your goal chances when you're creating them because they're hard to get.

“At the same time, I'm very proud of the players because they could have put the tools down there at one stage and it didn't look good but they really dug in. I'm also delighted with the boys coming off the bench.”

There were championship debuts for Ryan Mulholland and Anton Tohill. Patrick McGurk and Ruairí Forbes started their first games while Tommy Rogers and Danny McDermott made their senior debuts.

“Those boys did really well when they came in,” Tally said. “I’m happy for them but just disappointed we didn't get something out of the match.”

Derry scored first before falling 0-5 to 0-1 behind and later six points in arrears before a rally left them three adrift with the wind at their backs for the second half.

“We needed a fast start in the second half and we didn't do it,” Tally added. “We had a really poor start in the second half. Armagh scored four in a row and, all of a sudden, the game is back out to seven and then you're really under pressure.

“We really wanted to go out hard in the second half but Armagh dominated the kick outs, we couldn't get our hands on the ball.

“We lost the throw in, they scored and we lost the next three kick outs and they scored and that put us in a real tight spot.”

After an injury to Conor Glass and a stoppage, Armagh hit two goals to put them in a winning position.

At one point, they let 2-20 to 0-13 before Derry had their spell of play. After Rafferty had twice denied Brendan Rogers, Glass and Dan Higgins hit goals to offer a glimmer of hope.

“We turned the kick outs, we got a bit of pressure on,” Tally said. “Conor Glass scored a really good goal against the run of play and all of a sudden, momentum swung to Derry.

There was still time for Rafferty to deny both Brendan and Tommy Rogers with Shane McGuigan and Glass pulling two-point attempts wide.

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It was a frustrating finish to the game for Derry who weren’t able to get within the kick of a ball to properly push for the winning line.

“We haven't played in seven weeks and I think because of the fact that we haven't, it makes a big difference,” Tally said of Derry’s lack of competitive games.

“Armagh are coming off two weeks ago, they played an Ulster final and you could see they were a lot better pitched to us than we were. That's our first game in seven, so now that’s under our belt, we expect to be better next week.”