It rarely happens: An All-Ireland Minor Football semi-final that fails as a contest. Derry's dominance was pronounced, leaving the packed house audibly ruminating about prospects in the big game, while the Hill gave early renditions of "come all ye boys in blue".
It proved a nightmare for the Longford youths and the fact that they had their right wing forward Michael Kelly sent off after 44 minutes for a second bookable offence had little bearing on Derry's comprehensive win.
The Ulster champions were mature in most facets of play. They created space and had far more options than a jaded looking Longford side who got a dream start inside the opening five minutes when a blocked down attempted clearance gave Michael Kelly the chance of a goal which he accepted in style.
But it seemed ominous for Longford from an early stage when their forwards were unable to worry the alert and composed Derry rearguard in the way the Ulster champions' forwards caused panic in the losers' cover. Mark Lynch, Paul O'Hea, Patsy Bradley and Ruairi Convery usually set up Derry's most dangerous attacks.
O'Hea's well-delivered penalty kick in the 14th minute, which earned Derry the lead for the first time, gave the scoreboard a more realistic appearance.
With Derry having so much possession - they seemed to own the ball - it was amazing that only one point separated the sides well into the second quarter. The final shot at the Longford posts seemed to be causing difficulties for the Ulster youths and there were a cluster of seven wides to prove it.
But after Paul Young was denied by the woodwork, Derry's luck around goal changed drastically, to Longford's discomfort. A centre by Cathal O'Kane rebounded off the crossbar to present Cathal Mullan with a goal chance which he took with open arms against the stranded Longford goalkeeper, Gerard Evans. At last Derry's dominance was reflected on the board, 2-3 to 1-2.
Longford's management were set to deliver the mother of all half-time pep talks with their side trailing by 2-6 to 1-2 and looking even worse off.
Longford looked determined to react quickly to their officials' words of wisdom and started the second half with greater conviction but Joe O'Brien's drive was off target.
Fergus Kelly's point moments later proved to be Longford's only addition on the scoreboard despite having a few chances for consolation scores that proved fruitless in the remaining 29 minutes.
The 79,386 attendance, largely present for the main attraction, was subjected to a boringly one-sided second half. James Bateson's point for Derry off a line ball close to the corner flag was the individual highlight.
There were suggestions that Longford's campaign, which involved round-robin matches at the outset, finally caught up on them. Some careless passing and errors in the second half gave some credence to such a view but the reality was that the fluency, coordination, confidence and skills of the physically stronger Derry side won the game hands down.
DERRY: E McNicholl; M McGolderick, G O'Kane, J Keenan; C McCallon, M Lynch, P O'Hea (1-0 pen); P Bradley, R Convery; B McGolderick (0-1 free), C O'Kane (0-2), C Moran (1-2); J Bateson (0-3, one line ball), P Young (0-1), C Mullan (1-4). Subs: A Cassidy for B McGoldrick (43 mins), R Murray for McCallon (52 mins), M Carey for Bateson (54 mins), M O'Brien for Young (60 mins).
LONGFORD: G Evans; N Farrell, S Smith, C McKeon; D Reilly, S Mullian, E Finn; T Murphy, F Kelly (0-2); M Kelly (1-0), E Williams J O'Brien; P Masterson, D Farrell, M Hussey (0-1 free). Subs: B McCormack for McKeon (36 mins),.D Hegarty for Finn (54 mins).
Referee: J Geaney (Cork).
