Hurlers Look for Final Chance

It's been something of a topsy-turvy 2009 season for Derry's hurlers. After a decent start to the Division 3 NHL campaign, promotion was not forthcoming following a run of disappointing results. The Christy Ring Cup also came and went with a loss to Kerry swiftly following a facile victory over Wicklow. But Brian McGilligan's side still have a chance to save their season in this weekend's Ulster SHC semi-final against Down.

All year, the Dungiven man has lamented his side's inability to defend effectively, and the shipping of big tallies has led to inevitable defeats. After an NHL defeat to Kildare in March McGilligan claimed that "the couple of free goals in the first half tore the arse clean out of it”; following defeat to Kerry in the Christy Ring Cup three weeks ago he made a similar observation saying that after "a couple of silly mistakes and a couple of bad goals, the backside just fell out of it".

There appears to be a problem in the region of the derriere!

Ironically, against London in the Ulster quarter-final it was Derry who relied on a flurry of goals to see off a strong exile challenge (4-10 to 3-12). But Brian still wasn't happy:

"We wouldn’t win a Nicky Rackard on that performance. It was the worst I’ve seen from a Derry team for a long number of years. We were just very lucky to get the goals at the right time."

It's no surprise then that he feels Derry need to show a big improvement to overcome the Mournemen:

"It's going to be a mighty hard task. On the London performance, not a chance."

In Thursday's Irish News, he even goes so far as to say that Derry will need "a miracle" to beat Down. That's one way of getting the player's fired up!

If Derry do manage to win they will set up an Ulster Final clash with Antrim, who will no doubt be fresh after their short-lived appearance in the Leinster SHC.

Taking the Ring-road

It's getting harder and harder to make sense of GAA competitions these days, what with back-doors and round-robins, and trap-doors and all the rest of it. At least Santa Claus has the decency to go down the chimney.

It's got to the stage that even when watching BBC's The Apprentice, I'm half expecting the losing candidate to appear in some sort of loser's round on BBC Four the following Saturday night, with the winner appearing at the quarter-final stage. If there was one. But no. When Alan Sugar says "You're fired!", that's the end of the road.

And rightly so. Some of our competitions could pay notice.

Anyway, I digress. If any of you are still reading I'll cut a long story short. Even though they suffered a four-point defeat to Down last Saturday, Derry's hurlers are still well and truly in this year's Christy Ring Cup. A win against Wicklow this weekend will qualify them for a quarter-final.

Sam Dodds amassed a personal tally of 0-17, but his side still came up short against the Mournemen, who were unable to field for a friendly against Limerick just a week before!

The Oakleafers had a convincing 18-point victory over Wicklow in the NHL back in March, and will be confident of repeating a similar feat at Banagher this Saturday. A win could even set up a rematch with Down in the last-eight, if Down manage to get beat by Kerry in their Round 2 game.

Make sense?

Silly Goals Cost Derry

He wasn't happy three weeks ago when Derry suffered a four point defeat against Meath, and the mood of Derry hurling boss Brian McGilligan has brightened little after last weekend's NHL defeat to Kildare by an identical margin.

After the game against the Royals the Dunigiven man claimed that his Derry side were guilty of hurling "you would see U12s at". A harsh criticism that has reared its head once again in light of Saturday's reverse:

“This is one we left behind. A couple of bad mistakes cost us. The ’keeper was at fault for two of them, the corner-back was caught flat-footed, ball blocked down and it’s in the back of the net. It’s the basics, you wouldn’t do it at U12 hurling but a lot of these boys are not much older.”

Those U12s are getting a hard time of it!

Three goals conceded in a twelve minute period of the first half was the chief reason for this defeat. Having opened a six point lead early on, the Oakleafers were soon chasing a sizeable deficit that they couldn't claw back. "The couple of free goals in the first half tore the arse clean out of it”, said McGilligan; and you can't say fairer than that!

Derry were aided by a magnificent scoring haul of 13 points from Michael Kirkpatrick, and it is a match they should have won. Defeat however, consigns Derry to the lower reaches of Division 3A, with promotion hopes dashed. McGilligan though is happy to look towards bigger challenges later in the year:

"Overall I’m happy enough with the way we’re performing at the minute. We’re just trying to get it together for the Christy Ring Cup. We’re trying to get a settled team. In our minds we think we have a settled team but then you see boys showing well. The door’s not closed on anybody yet."

McGilligan will hope the silly mistakes so prevalent in Derry's previous two games will have been eradicated by the time the summer comes around.

McGilligan Rues Royal Defeat

Derry hurlers' hopes of achieving promotion from Division 3A of the NHL suffered a blow on Sunday when they were defeated by Meath on a scoreline of 1-17 to 1-13.

The game at Davitt Park Swatragh, came alive in the closing 20 minutes when Derry reduced a ten point deficit to just three points. Unlike their last game against Armagh however, Derry couldn't find the late scores required to produce an improbable result. Manager Brian McGilligan was left to rue what he saw as a missed opportunity:

“The game was there for the taking. We should have won the match. But you only have to look at our number of wides and the amount of stupid mistakes we made in front of goal. In inter-county hurling there is no place for that. It’s something you would see U12s at."

Meath were able to score at ease throughout the game though, and their extra proficiency showed in the dying moments when they held off the Derry challenge by hitting enough points to ensure victory. The Royals now top Division 3A, and with Derry's next game away to Kildare in three weeks, Oakleaf hopes of promotion have been dented.

McGilligan is aware that his team will have to improve if the aims for the season are to be met and his mood won't have been helped by having to drop five players from his panel. He has confirmed that the five won't be getting back in the squad unless they are "prepared to meet the required level of commitment". A few weeks ago the Dungiven man talked about how, in recent seasons, the Derry Senior Hurling team was a "bit of craic" for some players, and that attitudes would need to change. It appears he is sticking to his word.

Orchard Robbery

While the footballers were busy recording a comfortable victory over Westmeath, Derry's hurlers were at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh committing "daylight robbery" (Brian McGilligan's words, not mine!). Four points down with just three minutes to play in this NHL fixture, Kevin Hinphey came to Derry's rescue scoring a goal and a point in the dying minutes, to finish the scoring at 1-10 apiece.

The Derry manager will have been disappointed with the level of his side's performance, but he appeared to be relieved at having at least salvaged a draw:

“Armagh were by far the better team over the hour’s hurling. We had a few new faces on show today but, even with that, we would have expected to win. We are mighty glad to come away with a point."

Last week I wondered if Derry could make a push for promotion out of Division 3A. Sunday's performance might well have diluted this hope, but Brian McGilligan's side, backboned by last year's successful U21 team, still has plenty of time to improve this season.

Improvement and progress are buzz-words in the Armagh camp also, and the Orchard-men have been making great noises over the past eighteen months about how they are closing the gap on the likes of the Oakleafers. Sunday's result certainly adds credence to the claim, but the Ulster Championship will be their true test. As it will be for Derry, where another performance like this won't see them get off scott free.

Hurlers Open With Victory

I'm sure Mayo's hurlers were delighted when it emerged that their opening NHL Division 3A game against Derry on Sunday was switched to Magilligan due to an unplayable pitch at Banagher. This meant that the men from the Heather County (I kid you not) would have to travel as far as the North Derry coast to get their campaign underway. The Magilligan venue has a long-held reputation for having the driest pitch in the county. It's a claim that must have been sorely tested over the past week or so, but - as much of the county was receiving another fresh carpet of snow on Sunday afternoon - the game was the only Division 3 fixture to go ahead. Although the Mayo squad might have wished for something a little closer at hand.

They probably wished also, that in 70 minutes of hurling they would be able to muster a single point from play. But they managed to get as far as the final whistle without one to their name. That statistic was one of the key reasons why Derry's low tally of nine points was enough to secure a three-point victory (0-9 to 0-6) on a bitterly cold, windswept afternoon. Derry's section also contains teams such as Meath and Kildare, so it won't be easy for Brian McGilligan's relatively young squad to gain promotion to a strong-looking Division 2. Speaking last week, the Dungiven man acknowledged that promotion wasn't yet on the agenda:

"We need to retain our position in the division we're in. We don't want to be dropping down, but I don't think we're strong enough yet to go up."

Sunday's win will go some way to securing Division 3A status as Derry look forward to a game against Armagh next weekend. As for Mayo, they'll probably be happy just to get home.