Under-21s show promise

Derry's Under-21 side made a successful start to their Ulster SFC campaign at Celtic Park last night with a comfortable win over Monaghan (3-12 to 1-3). Winning by a sizeable margin of fifteen points, it was one of those victories that will have people talking about possible Ulster titles and like. But we in Derry don't do expectation very well so it's probably best if we dampen our excitement for a while yet, after all it was only the first round.

Still, after a difficult start to the week - with defeats for both St. Pat's Maghera in the MacRory Cup Final and St. Columb's Derry in the McLarnon decider - this was an encouraging result for the Oak Leaf underage setup. An energetic Derry side attacked the Monaghan defence like a Tory Chancellor attacking pensioners in a spring Budget, and it quickly paid off, with goals from Fergal Duffin and Emmett McGuckin helping the home side to an eleven point half-time lead. The job had been done right there. Another goal from McGuckin in the second half didn't so much put the tie to bed as kill it stone dead.

Invariably when the Under-21 Championship comes around, people will rewind the clock back three years and predict the outcome of the forthcoming games based on how the respective teams fared at minor level (and express surprise when the results are wildly different). Nothing could be more irrelevant. Squads will have changed, management teams changed and the form and experience levels of the players will be different. The minor Championship is played off on Sundays during the summer. The Under-21 equivalent is shoe-horned into Wednesday evenings in March and April with teams being bussed to the far end of the province after a day's work (or a day at University). Totally different animals.

Last night's game in Celtic Park was a case in point. Back in 2009 Derry played at home to Monaghan in the Ulster MFC. It was a disappointing result for the Oak Leafers, as they lost by 1-12 to 0-10. Fast forward three years and the tables had turned completely. 2009 was also the year Armagh won the All-Ireland Minor title. Last night, the Orchard-men lost their under-21 encounter against Cavan. The Breffni county have showed steady progress at underage level over the past few years, winning both the Minor and Under-21 Ulster titles in 2011. That type of gradual improvement and lifting of silverware at different levels is a better indicator of who might succeed in the month or two ahead, and have subsequent success at senior level.

Speaking of Cavan, Barry Dillon's side will face them in the Ulster semi-final in two weeks time (April 4th at Brewster Park, Enniskillen). That will represent a step up in class in terms of opposition and will give us a better idea of how good this promising Derry Under-21 side really is.

Forget the lows of Tralee

What a difference three days makes.

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.