Saturday Night's Alright

Saturday's victory in Parnell Park all but ensures that Derry will be playing NFL football in Division 1 next season. This was the primary aim at the start of the NFL campaign, and it now affords Damian Cassidy the chance to further explore and develop his squad as the Championship approaches.

Players and fans alike realise that the "real stuff" is for later in the year, and victory over a poor Dublin side yields two league points and only that. The win was both encouraging and satisfying nonetheless, but while the Oakleafers can reflect on a positive performance, some unwanted media attention has fallen on a struggling Dublin side.

In an article in the Irish Independent, Eugene McGee described the game as a "rude awakening" for new Dublin manager Pat Gilroy.

"Derry arrived into town last Saturday night and blew Dublin footballers, both seasoned and greenhorns, away. This was one of the most comprehensive beatings inflicted on Dublin in Parnell Park for a very long time and it is sure to change the air of conviviality that the new management was so anxious to portray."

Never one to mince his words, McGee described the Dublin performance as "insipid" on Setanta Sports' coverage of the game. In print he has upgraded this analysis to "deplorable". He continues to suggest however, that it is still early days for this Dublin side, and it is a point reiterated by Tom Humphries in the Irish Times:

"Dublin’s apparent sluggishness on Saturday night was down to Derry’s superior fitness at this time of the year. Derry looked like a side who are five to six weeks further down the road on their fitness. Dublin are working to a different schedule."

It isn't surprising that the media reserve any praise on offer for an excellent Derry performance. McGee suggests that Derry are responding to a "totally different and attractive approach", while Humphries opines that "Derry are pretty much there":

"Consistency is what they are looking for under Damian Cassidy, a serious manager whom one imagines will get that extra few per cent out of a team which looked when winning the league at this venue last year to be capable of doing serious damage in the championship."

Talk of last year's NFL win should be a sobering thought for Derry fans and it now appears to be a by-word for a side yet to produce the goods come Championship time.

It may have only been the league, but on a moderately mild evening in Parnell Park, Spring was in the air. Let's hope some of the class Derry exuded will be in evidence again come the Summer.