It's a busy week in Derry footballing circles, and in the middle of it, it's pleasing to be able to talk about an excellent result for Derry in the U21 Championship against Tyrone. There has been much doom and gloom over recent days and weeks following Derry's lacklustre displays and subsequent defeats to Dublin and Kerry in the NFL, but a resounding win in Omagh on Wednesday night might just lift spirits again.
Even if it is only a preliminary round victory.
This is generally the same squad that reached the All-Ireland Minor Final in 2007, so much expectancy surrounds it. Senior squad members Caolan O'Boyle, James Kielt and Lee Moore all featured at Healy Park, while the injured Declan Mullan has yet to come into the side.
Fermanagh are up next in the first round proper, so Damian Cassidy will hope that his side can keep grounded and assume some consistency as they aim for an Ulster title.
Moving back to Sunday and the disappointing three-point defeat against Kerry. It would have been easy afterwards to blame Derry's defeat on inaccuracy in front of the posts, but Damian Cassidy got a little closer to the real reason for defeat:
"It was a ball-winning problem. When Kerry got on top, they went through a phase, really for 10 minutes in the second half, where they dominated practically all of the breaking ball which is where we lost the game."This was the problem alright, but why Derry did not vary their tactics to prevent Kerry from picking up possession so easily is a more pressing concern. Time after time - in a painful second half for Derry and their followers - the Kingdom picked up easy possession from kickouts. Just like Parnell Park a few weeks earlier, Derry's gameplan totally broke down, with the forwards feeding off scraps and relying on frees to keep themselves in touch.
The Oakleafers were poor in possession also, with the unforced error count rising steadily as the game wore on. Not only did this prevent Derry from building meaningful attacks, but it handed the initiative to a Kerry side playing below-par in the first half. Once the twin central duo of Kieran Donaghy and David Moran had put the home side in front with ten minutes remaining, there never looked like a way back for Derry.
It's true that if Derry had taken more of their first-half chances they would probably have won the game. Fergal Doherty was unlucky to see his rasping drive come off the crossbar, and it would have given Derry a six-point lead at the break. But a lead was still there at the interval, and it was disappointing that Derry couldn't think of a way of holding on to it - especially when things weren't going our way in the second-half. Teams like Kerry and Tyrone have been able to hang in there when they are put under pressure. They can minimise opportunites for the opposition, while managing to take the odd score themselves. Derry must somehow learn to adpat better in these situations.
The windy conditions more or less spoilt the game, but Derry will surely hope they don't play as badly as that this season when facing a stiff breeze.
Personnel-wise, Aidy McLaughlin will have been happy enough with another good showing. He has settled well into the inter-county setup and on Sunday showed a willingness to run directly with the ball, grabbing another point.
It was also good to see Paddy Bradley back in the team. Playing alongside Eoin, it is still a worry however, that Derry seem to solely rely on this pair for scores. Damian Cassidy must figure out a way of bringing the other forwards into the game. Lumping the ball into the Bradleys hasn't cut it in the championship before, and this year will be no different.
Derry weren't too bad defensively. In the end, fifteen points was a big enough total to concede, but Dermot McBride did well on Cooper, as did Michael McGoldrick on Darren O'Sullivan. Derry weren't really threatened by sweet Kerry football - Jack O'Connor's side did their damage through the centre of their forward division.
Kevin McCloy coped reasonably well on Donaghy, but with the big full-forward gaining the man-of-the-match accolade, McCloy will realise he still has plenty of work to do before he realises his All-Star form of 2007.
Eyes now shift to the Mayo game in Celtic Park on Saturday night. With things so tight in Division 1 there isn't much room for manoeuvre, and a win is badly needed if Derry are to avoid getting completely bogged down in a relegation battle. With the U21 players available this weekend, changes will be expected.
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