The long wait, 90 years, for Derry's patient hurlers is over. Victory though, could not have been attained without the sheer hunger that the Derry men displayed from the start. It will matter little to them that the standard of hurling rarely reached any great heights. The contribution by Oliver Collins, their 25-year-old midfielder to this historic win over Down in the Ulster senior championship semi-final was undeniable.

Down will be concerned however that they relinquished their Ulster crown without fulfilling their potential on the day. They had no real answer when a twogoal flurry by the spirited Derry side saw them off in the third quarter.

Modesty prevented Collins, who has also figured on the county football team, from agreeing that it was his one-man show that truly sent the fancied Down team packing.

"It was a classical team effort," he said "It's unbelievable and long overdue. The two goals in the second-half lifted us. On the day we were the better team but I never felt we had it won until the final whistle," said a delighted Collins.

The Lavey man notched a personal tally of 12 points, eight of which were biffed over from placed balls ranging from 50 yards to the halfway line.

Down were desperately unlucky to lose their star midfielder Danny Hughes in the second half.

Jim McKeever, the Derry chairman had never lost faith in this team. "It is just reward for hard work done over a period of time," he said.

It was obvious that much work had gone into Derry's performance. "I am fourteen years in the team and it has been well worth the wait," said Colm McGurk, the team captain.

And the Derry management was quick to point out that they still have the Downey brothers, Henry and Seamus, ready to rejoin the squad for the final against Antrim.

Frank Dawson, the Down manager, admitted that Derry were the better side on the day.

Fittingly it was Collins who opened Derry's account with a pointed free from the half-way line after five minutes.

Gerard McGrattan had Down's first score from play in 16 minutes to give his team a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage. Derry had their fair share of wides in the first half, eight in all, and they trailed by 0-10 to 0-7 at the interval.

The second half was only 13 minutes old when it all began to happen for the wind-assisted Derry men who were trailing by 012 to 0-8.

A mistake by Down full back Jerome McCrickard allowed Geoffrey McGonagle in for their first goal. This was followed in rapid succession by a Collins point and within a minute John O'Dwyer set up substitute Micky Conway for a goal chance which he took in style.