Dismal second-half costs Derry

Derry managed to put last week's victory over Tyrone firmly behind them on Saturday night as an utterly insipid second half performance more or less defaulted the two NFL points to a limited Dublin side.

Make no mistake, this was a poor performance from Derry at Parnell Park. Putting it into a neat little nutshell, they had a serious inability to get the ball to the forward line. And when that happens you struggle to get scores. Derry struggled to get scores.

The question Damian Cassidy will be asking himself in the aftermath of this game is 'why?'. Why did the execution of the basic premise of the game elude his side so readily?

He could point to the fact that his forward line was missing several of its key components: Eoin Bradley, Enda Muldoon, Paddy Bradley. Not to mention two of last week's impressive performers: the injured duo Raymond Wilkinson and Declan Mullan. James Kielt was the only constant in the forward division. A big turnover in personnel. And it's not easy for things to click in such circumstances.

So what of the incomers. Most impressive was Aidan McLaughlin. He plays most of his football at midfield, but on Saturday night he staked a claim to become a more permanent member of Derry's forward line. He can win his own ball, turn a defender and take a score. He had a good first half, but Derry's second half collapse meant he would see limited possession. Caolan O'Boyle was also a victim of a lacking supply.

The problem Cassidy will likely dwell on - not a new one to Derry football - was the half-forward line. Joe Diver and Andrew McCartney started in the wing-forward positions, and the Ballymaguigan man was unlucky to be replaced in the opening half. Mark Craig came in; meaning that in the two wing-forward positions (pivotal to the system they are trying to play) the Oak Leafers had a midfielder and a corner-back. The link play was virtually non-existent. Derry only produced a single point in the second half. The likes of Enda Lynn would possibly have been better deployed in this role.

Yet things looked reasonably good at half-time. Derry were patchy in the first period - getting turned over on countless occasions - but they were efficient in front of goal. Mark Lynch and James Kielt were accurate from frees while and McLaughlin hit a nice score from play. Similar to last week against Tyrone however, Derry were aided by some loose shooting from Dublin. They missed several scoring opportunities - kicking a few balls into Gillis' hands. Derry's two-point lead at half-time was as good as it got.

Overall Dublin were poor. They fielded a weakened side also, but their passing was poor and they seemed to struggle with the basics. They really only got going midway through the second half when Bernard Brogan came on to steady their forward line, and they were aided by Derry's increasing ability to gift them possession - in central areas. Derry had defended well up until this point, with Dermot McBride impressive at corner-back, Gerard O'Kane comfortable at full-back and Charlie Kielt impressing again at right half-back. But Dublin eventually took advantage of the cracks in Derry's performance, with Kevin McMenamon's goal finishing the game as a contest.

Derry had looked edgy in possession. There was too much lateral passing, too few runners to make use of the open spaces, and too many players taking too much out of the ball. Derry's turnover rate probably increased in the second half. It was a miracle the game stayed so close for as long as it did (Derry were in the lead midway through the second half). Actually, it's probably a measure of how poor this Dublin side themselves played. All told, this was a horrible match.

No one should get carried away with the performance of Derry in this game - it's still 'still only February' - but the squad as a whole must learn from the deficiencies displayed at Parnell Park. When the gameplan goes AWOL, it's time to ensure that the basics are done correctly, and that simple passes find their targets. Derry struggled in this regard throughout the game and there's much work to do before the visit to Kerry in three week's time.

Derry should have a stronger squad available for Kerry, let's hope the mentality is stronger also.

A few other points from the game:

• Bernard Brogan's introduction basically won the game for Dublin. It shows how costly Eoin Bradley's indiscretion last week proved.
• On that point, Derry's discipline needs to improve. Fergal Doherty and Patsy Bradley picked up needless yellow cards. Derry need to learn the lessons of previous suspensions.
• Did Declan Mullan and Raymond Wilkinson increase their championship prospects on last night's performance alone?
• Seamus Bradley was extremely unfortunate to suffer a knee injury after landing awkwardly. Fingers crossed for his quick recovery.
• The fist-pass rule needs to go. You can see players brains churning at the thought of having to do a proper fist-pass. It leads to mistakes and slows the game down. There's no benefit to this new rule.
• Did neutrals actually hang about long to watch this game on Setanta Sports, considering they were also showing Cork v Kerry? Turns out, it was nearly as bad.
  
• It's mad that within about ten seconds of the referee blowing for half-time the Parnell Park pitch is covered in children playing football and hurling.

Derry: B Gillis; B Óg McAlary, G O'Kane, D McBride; C Kielt, M Lynch (0-2), L Hinphey; F Doherty, Patsy Bradley; J Diver, J Kielt (0-4), A McCartney; E Lynn, C O'Boyle, A McLaughlin (0-1). Subs: M McGoldrick for McAlary (22), M Craig for McCartney (30), S Bradley for Lynn (40), B Mullan for O'Boyle (48), L Moore for Bradley (52)

Derry can tame Dubs

The following is the Derry team to play Dublin in Saturday's NFL game at Parnell Park: B Gillis, B McAlary, G O’Kane, D McBride, C Kielt, M Lynch, L Hinphey, Patsy Bradley, F Doherty, J Diver, J Kielt, A McCartney, E Lynn, C O'Boyle, A McLaughlin.

Following last week's victory against Tyrone, Derry will travel to Parnell Park to face Dublin, and they'll do so with a new-look full-forward line.

Last Saturday evening in Celtic park, Eoin Bradley and Raymond Wilkinson hit 1-6 between them. This week they don't feature. Bradley has been hit by the first of this year's "retrospective bans" by the CCCC, while Wilkinson has a knee injury. Declan Mullan, who impressed when brought on last week, is also injured. Enda Lynn, Caolan O'Boyle and Craigbane's Aidan McLaughlin enter the fray and complete the full-forward line. Concerns immediately surround the potential lack of scoring-power - against a Dublin side that restricted Kerry last Sunday.

It remains to be seen if all three will play as their shirt numbers suggest. O'Boyle will be the focus of attack at full-forward, but McLaughlin is predominantly a club midfielder, while Lynn is most naturally deployed as a half-forward and had a decent league campaign there in 2009. It is probable that Lynn will play in a role similar to Wilkinson against Tyrone - foraging around the half-forward line to pick up loose possession whilst trying to find space for scores in the 30-yards zone. It will be a tough act to follow as Wilkinson was impressive against the Red Hands.

Subsequently, there will be pressure on O'Boyle to perform at full-forward (which many people regard as his most effective position), but the greatest scoring responsibility of the evening is likely to fall on James Kielt. Six points last weekend was an excellent return, and with Derry experimenting in the inside line, he'll need to be at his best again to keep the Derry half of the scoreboard ticking over. Seamus Bradley, Brian Mullan and Barry McGuigan are likely contenders to enter the contest if the Derry forward line requires a refresh.

Derry's first nine remains the same however. Damian Cassidy clearly feels that enough experimenting is happening in the forwards, so he has sensibly opted for continuation in defence/midfield. This will give Gerard O'Kane and Mark Lynch the chance to further impress in their central roles, while keener eyes will focus on Charlie Kielt following an impressive half-back display against Tyrone. Tomorrow night he'll have to keep tabs on Paul Flynn, who was Dublin's hero last week in Killarney, scoring 1-2.

That brings us to the Dubs. Manager Pat Gilroy has spent the whole week trying to cool down expectations following victory over the All-Ireland champions, but his side should be on a high after that win, and it is unlikely they will succumb in a similar manner to when the Oak Leafers visited last March. They too continue with an experimental forward division. Alan Hubbard and David Henry are corner-backs by trade, but they will be stationed at the other end of the pitch. That raises questions about Dublin's scoring threat also - will they have the firepower to really trouble Derry?

Bernard Brogan will start on the bench, while his brother Alan and Conal Keaney are injured. With Eoin and Paddy Bradley and Enda Muldoon out for Derry also, both managers will find out a lot about the strength in depth of the forwards in their respective squads.

It all points to a low-scoring affair, with the 1-18 Derry tallied last weekend - or indeed the 0-20 racked up against Dublin last year - unlikely to be repeated. Damian Cassidy has urged his players to enjoy the unique atmosphere generated by a game against the Dubs, but they might not get the chance to enjoy it too much as this game is likely to be a scrappy struggle, settled by a single goal.

Last week I was happy to predict a Tyrone victory, but the Oak Leafers proved me wrong, with a solid showing from their central spine laying the foundations for victory. With the exception of Eoin Bradley, that spine will remain at Parnell Park, and it might just be enough to help Derry to a narrow win.

It'll do for starters

Typical Derry really. No expectancy, weakened team, underdogs, poor pre-season... they beat Tyrone by six points.

Some bookies were prepared to offer 7/4 about a Derry victory, and even yours truly was happy to predict a Tyrone win! Should've known better.

Derry continued their good recent record in opening NFL games on Saturday night. since their return to Division 1 in 2006 they have won each of their five opening fixtures (Galway 2006,2007, Mayo 2008,2009), and the early two points helps take some pressure off any relegations concerns. But that won't be in Damian Cassidy's thoughts this week, neither will he dwell too much on the impressive nature of his side's victory. It's the first week in February.

What he can do though, is take the positives from this victory and try to build up a confidence and winning mentality within the camp. And there were a number of positives.

Firstly, Derry dug deep in the second half when, after initially holding a nine-point lead, Tyrone reduced the gap to four points. Derry defended well at this stage, with Gerard O'Kane leading from full-back; but more importantly, they got their hands on the football and used possession intelligently to take the sting out of the Tyrone fightback. This was in direct contrast to how Derry finished the game at Omagh in last year's fixture.

This was an industrious and efficient performance from an experimental Oak Leaf side, and Cassidy will be happy with how his side made the most out of their possession. 1-18 is excellent scoring in an opening league game. James Kielt was chief-executioner hitting six classy frees, while Raymond Wilkinson marked his return to inter-county action with 1-2. The Ballinderry man's work ethic and spirit epitomised Derry's purposeful display. Eoin Bradley had a fairly inconsistent evening, but he still managed to score four points. All in all, Derry's forwards had a solid showing, with Andrew McCartney and the very promising Declan Mullan also weighing in with points.

I was most interested in seeing how Gerard O'Kane and Mark Lynch performed in their new defensive roles. O'Kane had an excellent game. His intelligence and natural ability helped Derry turnover Tyrone attacks. When his confidence is up he's a hard man to stop and had numerous forays into Red Hand territory to help set up Derry scores. The same went for Mark Lynch, and he capped a strong display with two excellent points. Will these guys hold these positions come May? Hard to say right now, but it's worth persisting with during the league campaign.

Other stand-out performances came from Charlie Kielt and Declan Mullan (introduced towards the end of the first half). Kielt is a strong runner and did a good job of covering his full-back line and carrying the ball well from defence. Mullan added a new dimension when brought on. He offers so much in a half-forward role; working tirelessly to make himself constantly available for possession. And he had to suffer what seemed like a lot of unwarranted abuse from the Tyrone defence (Conor Gormley, and his knee specifically, the chief protaganist). Both players are possible Championship contenders.

Tyrone were generally poor. Bar the middle third of the first half when they hit four unanswered points, and a similar burst after Derry's goal, Mickey Harte's men struggled. They did a lot of things that Tyrone don't usually do. They must have landed about ten balls into Barry Gillis' hands, their passing was poor and they ran down cul-de-sacs. Their forward line did not function at all. Derry must take some credit for shoring up the central areas of the field, but it's unlikely that Tyrone could be as rusty come the summer. The Tyrone contingent will likely point to the absence of O'Neill, Dooher and Cavanagh, but Derry were also without Paddy Bradley, Enda Muldoon, Niall MCusker, Kevin MGuckin and the McGoldricks.

Overall Cassidy will obviously be aware that the result has little meaning, but he will have liked what he saw from his side. His players showed character and determination, and a few of the newer players look like they may fit into the desired system of play.

A few other points from the game:

• The game was simmering nicely just before half-time after Eoin Bradley let Conor Gormley know of his presence. Perhaps the half-time whistle was a good thing.
• Derry had great width to their play. The likes of Hinphey, Kielt and Mullan constantly providing an outlet.
• At one stage Ryan McMenamin was marking Brian Mullan. Talk about a cancelling-out match.
• A few early yellow-cards. Last year, they would have been early substitutions. Thankfully, that rule didn't stick.
• The new rule, where the referee doesn't blow for half/full-time until the ball goes out of play, might cause some confusion. Derry conceded a point at the end of each half, when the ball could have been kicked dead.
• From a Derry perspective I was happy to see Kyle Coney go off, and not Colm Cavanagh.
• With McGuckin, McCusker and three McGoldricks not featuring, Derry are adding a bit of depth to their defensive options.
• Probably a bit early for the olés - and we've been stung by this before - but it's so difficult to resist.
• They were selling Derry bedsheets outside the ground.
• How much does Charlie Kielt look like Liam Hinphey?

B Gillis, B McAlary, G O’Kane (0-1), D McBride, C Kielt (0-1), M Lynch (0-2), L Hinphey, Patsy Bradley, F Doherty, C O'Boyle, J Kielt (0-6), A McCartney (0-1), S Bradley, E Bradley (0-4), R Wilkinson (1-2); Subs: D Mullan (0-1) for O'Boyle, B Mullan for s Bradley, J Diver for Patsy Bradley, Lynn for McCartney, McGuigan for Wilkinson.

Derry experiment for Tyrone

The following is the Derry team to play Tyrone in Saturday's opening NFL game at Celtic Park: B Gillis, B McAlary, G O’Kane, D McBride, C Kielt, M Lynch, L Hinphey, Patsy Bradley, F Doherty, C O'Boyle, J Kielt, A McCartney, S Bradley, E Bradley, R Wilkinson.

It's one of the toughest NFL Division 1 campaigns in many years and Derry will hope to get off to a flying start against neighbours Tyrone at Celtic Park on Saturday night. Derry manager Damian Cassidy has named an experimental side for the game. Gerard O'Kane has been selected as captain for the forthcoming season and has been handed the task of filling the problematic full-back berth for the NFL opener. O'Kane will be joined in the full-back line by Dermot McBride and Brian McAlary who spent the pre-season in Queen's colours. James Kielt did likewise and he will return to the centre forward position alongside Caolan O'Boyle who has also returned from University duty (with Jordanstown). All four featured in UUJ's one-point Sigerson Cup win over Queen's on Wednesday. Andrew McCartney and Charlie Kielt will also making their debuts.

Despite the fresh look of the Oak Leaf line-up, it has an extremely solid and experienced spine with Mark Lynch starting at centre-back, Patsy Bradley and Fergal Doherty continuing at midfield, Kielt at centre-forward and Eoin Bradley at full-forward. Damian Cassidy will hope that this central unit can win the game, and also help the younger players through the challenge posed by the Red Hands.

Liam Hinphey and Raymond Wilkinson return to the side after missing last year's action, with the Ballinderry-man likely to assume a free role around midfield in the hope that he can pick up breaks and create attacking opportunites for the inside duo of Seamus and Eoin Bradley.

Barry Gillis starts in goals. He will be under pressure this year from Steelstown's Martin Dunne, who had a decent McKenna Cup campaign. No doubt he will get further opportunity to impress during later league outings.

Tyrone may be without the injured Stephen O'Neill, Sean Cavanagh, Owen Mulligan and Brian Dooher, but they have named an experienced side. The McMahon brothers, Conor Gormley, Enda McGinley and Brian McGuigan all start, while the Derry defence will be kept busy by the presence of the in-form forward trio of Martin Penrose, Kyle Coney and Tommy McGuigan.

The bookmakers have Tyrone as 8/11 favourites, and it's hard to argue. They appear to have scoring options throughout their forward line, and this will surely pose problems for a rookie Derry defence. By contrast, in the absence of Paddy Bradley and Enda Muldoon, Derry's scoring hopes will lie mainly on the shoulders of Eoin Bradley, and he'll be up against a hardened Tyrone back-line. Overall, Mickey Harte's men seem well set up to claim victory here, despite their poor recent record at Celtic Park.

When the sides met last year however, Derry were expected to claim the points - but it didn't quite work out that way at Healy Park. Damian Cassidy will hope his side can emulate Tyrone's victory last March to similarly upset the odds.

The experimental nature of the Oak Leaf side should make for an interesting match on Saturday night, and it may be more of a learning exercise for his young size than a point-gaining one. The opening round of league fixtures are always difficult to call, however I'll reluctantly go for a three-point victory for Tyrone.

On your marks...

The Allianz NFL may start for another campaign this weekend but it's all very quiet on the footballing front this week. You'd almost think most counties realise that performances during the league count for little enough come Championship time, and therefore the opening handful of games count for even less.

Either that, or there won't be any 126 birthday celebrations this year.

If 2009 started with a fireworks-fuelled bang... then 2010 is barely raising a whimper. Instead of Tyrone travelling to Croke Park for a heavily publicised extravangza against Dublin, they will make their merry way to Derry City. And the lack of hype is certainly telling as the opening round of the NFL seems to have come upon us quicker than ever.

Expectancy levels in Derry seem to be very low ahead of this year's campaign. Not since the late 80's do I remember such a low-key hype surrounding Derry's footballers. Its borne out of a mixture of a disappointing championship exit last year, poor McKenna Cup form, injuries to key players and the continued dominance of Tyrone in Ulster and Kerry (and now Cork) at All-Ireland level.

And a tough Ulster Championship draw hardly helps.

But there's nothing to lift the spirits like a win over Tyrone and ahead of the game Damian Cassidy has named his 32-man NFL squad. It's a panel with a few holes, most notably the absence of Enda Muldoon (through injury), Kevin McCloy and Sean Lockhart (following retirement). Although McCloy has hinted at rejoining the panel later in the year.

There are seven newcomers to the panel: Declan Mullan, Mark Craig, Charlie Kielt, Ciaran Mullan, Martin Dunne, Andrew McCartney and Michael Bateson, and their inclusion may provide some clues as to where Cassidy's main priorities will lie for this campaign. With men like Muldoon and McCloy playing lesser roles, Derry need to develop some new talent. James Kielt will begin only his second inter-county campaign, while there are also high hopes for Caolan O'Boyle and the returning Raymond Wilkinson. There is a lot here for Derry to work with and this possibly belies the lack of excitement that surrounds the start of the 2010 season.

However, the overall standard of performance from Derry in the McKenna Cup was fairly mediocre, with a facile win against a poor QUB outfit barely a highlight. Out of the new players only Declan Mullan really shone, while Charlie Kielt and Andrew McCartney showed well in patches. This provides some encouragement, but these players will need the challenge of a full NFL campaign to prove their overall worth.

The return and subsequent form of Raymond Wilkinson has been one bright point of the pre-season games. He has slipped back into the fray with minimum fuss and his energy, drive and natural footballing ability has been impressive in a half-forward line that needs a fresh impetus. A starting place come May is surely his for the taking.

Derry's defence was a bit of a trouble-maker throughout 2009, and following a shaky McKenna Cup campaign (in which Derry conceded three goals against Antrim) this is the one area Cassidy will be keenest to sort out during the early stages of the league. The return of Michael McGoldrick and Liam Hinphey adds strength to this sector, but there must be concerns surrounding the full-back position, considering the currently-injured Niall McCusker is the only recognised full-back in the panel. It will be interesting to see who plays here in the opening games against Tyrone and Dublin. New captain Gerard O'Kane might get the nod while Mark Lynch is likely to continue at centre-half back (it's like 2002 all over again!). Hopefully performances in the NFL will provide some concrete answers to these positional questions.

And a tough campaign it promises to be. Donegal and Westmeath have made way for Monaghan and Cork. Once again, the primary objective will be to avoid relegation and any thoughts of reaching a third-consecutive NFL Final have surely been firmly placed on the long finger. Derry will only have three home games this year and a difficult campaign on the road will see them face Dublin, Kerry, Monaghan and Galway. The Oak Leafers will fancy their chances in all seven games, but points must be specifically targeted in the home matches as an initial basis for survival.

It wouldn't be the start of a new footballing year if we didn't have a new set of rules to experiment with. Last year the yellow card was the main talking point, but this year it's all about 'the mark'. It is expected that this rule will suit teams like Derry who - with the likes of Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley and Joe Diver - have some excellent exponents of the art of fielding. But it will be interesting to see if the rule actually affords the attacking team sufficient advantage or if it will only result in slowing the game down. As ever, time will tell.

Derry NFL Panel: B Gillis, M Dunne, B Og Mc Alary, M Craig, M Mc Goldrick, D Mc Bride, B Mc Guigan, L Hinphey, G O' Kane, Charlie Kielt, K Mc Guckian, B Mc Goldrick, Ciaran Mullan, S L Mc Goldrick, N Mc Cusker, M Bateson, F Doherty, Patsy Bradley, J Diver, A Mc Cartney, B Mullan, R Wilkinson, James Kielt, M Lynch, E Lynn, Declan Mullan, Eoin Bradley, Seamus Bradley, C O' Boyle, A McLaughlin, E Brown, Paddy Bradley

Join us on Twitter!

With the start of competitive inter-county action for 2010 only days away, Oakleafers blog is back for another season of following the fortunes of the Derry footballers and providing an opinion on the GAA world in general.

And... our blog is expanding its online outlook for the season ahead by joining the world of Twitter.

I'm sure some of you have an innate fear of all things "social-networky", and if you might describe Twitter as "another internet toy for internet hoors"... you're probably right! But we'll hope to put it to good use for Derry fans this season by providing up-to-date news, team announcements and regular score updates from matches.

If you can't make Saturday night's game against Tyrone (or are unable to watch it on TV), we'll be experimenting our score update service from Celtic Park.

Don't worry if you don't have a Twitter account... you'll be able to view all our updates in the "Twitter Updates" box on the right-hand side of this homepage.

If you have a Twitter account (or even if you don't) you can follow us here:
http://www.twitter.com/oakleafers

Another new season on the horizon. Let's hope we can enjoy at least some of it!