All's well that ends well?

Finishing off the league season with our Division Two status intact was Derry's primary aim over the Easter weekend, but the way in which it was accomplished has left a sour taste in the mouth. And the fact we had to rely on our neighbours Tyrone to get us over the line doesn't exactly help matters.

All is definitely not well.

Relegation issues and final league placings aside, the performance and result in Mullingar was a very poor one from Derry's perspective. Both sides had to win to ensure safety and it was under those circumstances that the Oak Leafers threw away a seven-point lead to eventually lose by eight against Westmeath. Not nearly good enough.

Looking back over the last few games, Derry had shown at least some form: only one defeat in four games - away to Kildare - and wins against Monaghan and Meath. But on Sunday the Oak Leafers regressed. Back to somewhere approaching the poor displays that had blighted the early part of the campaign, resulting in defeat at home to Galway and an embarrassing no-show in Healy Park against Tyrone. Getting outscored by Westmeath in the second-half on Sunday by 1-12 to 0-2, probably ranks worse than what happened against Tyrone, considering it came against a side struggling in general, and not against the in-form team in the country.

So what did John Brennan make of it all then? Well, not one to mince his words, the manager said he was "disgusted" at an "unacceptable" performance.

"It was a complete collapse in the second half, albeit we lost our centre back who was having a very good game. There was a lot of Derry people down here today and I just feel sorry for them. I'm disgusted with that second half performance. I can't put it in any other terms. There was a non-performance by a number of players, I wouldn't mention names, but we missed frees and we conceded scores we shouldn't have conceded. Overall, Westmeath deserved their victory and good luck to them. Thanks to other teams we're safe, but that today was unacceptable. I feel almost ashamed for Derry people. I'm lost for words."

But really he wasn't lost for words, and the Lavey man uses some pretty strong adjectives there to articulate just how disappointed he was with how things transpired in Cusack Park. It's refreshing to hear a manager actually come out and say what he really thinks rather than wheeling out the same tired old rhetoric about 'bad days at the office' and 'things just not going well for us'. What Brennan and his management team plan to do to get Derry in shape for June is another matter completely, but at least they're not burying their heads in the sand.

Sitting at home with mobile twitter updates in one hand, and a Cadbury's Creme Egg in the other, Oakleafers Blog certainly isn't going to pontificate on the whys and wherefores of an extremely disappointing result, but it didn't sound good. "Complete collapse" sums it up quite well and indeed it was an amazing turnaround. Barely half an hour gone and Derry held an 0-8 to 0-1 lead. Tyrone were also comfortable against Monaghan, but it didn't matter, the Oak Leaf men were doing their own work. Home and dry. Paddy Bradley had kept up his good recent scoring form by kicking four points, while Enda Lynn and Sean Leo McGoldrick appeared to be worrying the Lakemen's defence, getting themselves on the scoresheet. Ryan Scott and Barry McGoldrick also chipped in with points as Derry made the most of the wind advantage.

Half a bag of Mini Eggs later and the news from Mullingar was not so good. The Lakemen were performing their own version of the resurrection. Fifteen minutes into the second half the sides were level, with Derry reduced to fourteen men following Dermot McBride's second yellow card. It seemed as if Westmeath were laying seige on the Derry goal, and the Oak Leafers had no idea how to stop the rot. Denis Glennon soon had the home side in front, and when James Dolan scrambled the ball to the net it was game over. The wind was a factor and the personnel deficit also had a bearing, but there can be no excuses for coming out of Mullingar with an eight-point defeat.

Derry's achilles heel in this league campaign has been the inability to win enough possession. Clearly this was a big issue again on Sunday, and has been the key reason for the Oak Leafers conceding an average of 16 points per game. We've scored well enough in bursts, but haven't given ourselves a chance at the other end. That level of point and possession concession just isn't sustainable. Gerard O'Kane and Dermot McBride have both been missed, as has a settled half-back line. John Brennan has serious work to do with his defence and also in devising and implementing some sort of defensive strategy that can limit the damage done when we don't have the ball. 1-16 against Louth and 1-15 against Westmeath? These teams are far from world-beaters.

The presence of Michael Friel would also have been missed in Mullingar. The Swatragh player was man of the match against Louth and the midfield appears to function more effectively when he's in there. Brennan has plenty of options in this area: Friel, PJ McCloskey, Patsy Bradley, Joe Diver and James Conway (and possibly John McCamley if he regains fitness), but following this league campaign, the Derry manager is likely no closer to knowing what his preferred midfield line-up is.

All in all, this is an NFL campaign best forgotten. It started badly and finished even worse. With 10 weeks until we play in the Ulster SFC, there is time to put things right. The players will be able to play for their clubs now for a few weeks and hopefully come back to the county setup fresh for the tough challenges that lie ahead. John Brennan will also hope his squad gets fitter in that time period, because he needs a full selection to choose from. At the moment Derry are throwing their chips onto the Championship table without really knowing their hand.

Some other thoughts:

• On a different day things might have ended up with Derry sitting in Division Three next season, but following relegation from Division One in 2010 by a solitary point scored, and missing out on promotion last year on scoring average, perhaps we were due a bit of luck.
• It was Monaghan who benefited from our relegation in 2010, two years later they're in Division Three. What goes around...
• Derry's only two victories came against Monaghan and Meath, who were both relegated. Both sides are far from their best of a few years ago. The Oak Leaf form line is very worrying indeed. 
• Another aside to the Monaghan/Meath thing - both team's scoring average was better than Derry's. Looks like that point against Louth (as predicted) turned out to be a very valuable one.
• We should have known Westmeath would win on Sunday as all historical pointers would have suggested. The last time the sides met on Easter Sunday it was 1994 and the Oak Leafers were current All-Ireland champions. The Lakemen won an NFL quarter-final against us that day having come from Division Four! 
• Division Two next season: Armagh, Laois, Galway, Derry, Louth, Westmeath, Longford and Wexford. Once bitten and all that, but the very notion of relegation from that lot shouldn't even be on the agenda. Division Two and Division Three look quite evenly matched for 2013.
• A bad week all round for Derry, with the Under-21s losing their Ulster semi-final against Cavan. It's an excellent Breffni side, who went on to capture the title, but on top of our problems at senior level our lack of underage success is another (possibly more significant) worry.

Derry Sink Lakemen

It was Valentine's weekend and following a 14-point victory over Westmeath at Ballinascreen yesterday, the Derry players were certainly feeling the love. They entered the dressing-room at both half-time and full-time with heavy applause ringing in their ears. There was no doubt, the Oakleaf following liked what they saw.

And rightly so; because this was an excellent Derry performance. We'll not rush to package things up and place it in a box labelled 'Perfect', and God knows, February is not even close to being the time for waxing lyrical over a team's performance, but Derry are certainly on the right track. Oakleaf manager Damian Cassidy described the win as "encouraging", and this is probably the correct view to take after only the second league game.

The spread of scorers was a particularly pleasing facet of the Derry performance. Eight separate scorers overall. The full-forward line did all that was asked of them. Eoin Bradley led the line well, with himself and Paul Bradley both notching five points. Eoghan Brown's hard-working performance was rewarded when he grabbed the game's only goal. The industrious wing forward duo of Brian Mullan and Enda Lynn both got their names on the scoresheet. Lynn totalled three points and is proving extremely effective as a runner from deep, while Brian Mullan showed constantly to help Derry quickly release possession from defence. Paul Carton and Gerard O'Kane (two points) also added scores from their defensive positions. Put simply, Derry were not relying on one or two men to win a game.

The majority of Derry's scores came from close range. This is something Tyrone have perfected in recent times, and the 30 yard radius in front of goal was a hotbed of activity for Derry throughout yesterday's match. This is a clear part of Derry's new system of play; with the full-forward line leaving space for the half-forwards and attacking half-backs (who, at times, attacked in droves). Sounds simple enough, but the players must show the energy and intelligence to carry it out effectively.

A major talking point before the game was the inclusion of Barry McGoldrick at centre half back. The Coleraine man was outstanding yesterday in what has been a problem position for Derry in recent seasons. He made some telling interceptions, showed power and poise on the ball, and displayed his excellent range of distribution. He will be tried at centre-back again, when other sides may display more attacking intent, pushing him onto the back-foot and asking questions of his defensive abilities; but if yesterday's showing is an indicator, he has the potential to make this berth his own.

In praising Derry though, we must judge the performance against that of their opponents. Westmeath are a tough resilient outfit, but they effectively collapsed in the second period yesterday after putting it up to Derry in the first-half. Denis Glennon was their key threat, scoring three classy points, but his move out the field in the second-half symbolised the problems the Lakemen were experiencing. And it did little to ameliorate them. Derry continued to dominate possession and were able to match this with some clinical score-taking during a final quarter that resembled a training match.

Damian Cassidy will be content with the performance, but Derry's next outing won't resemble a training match. Kerry will be in town. They've had an impressive enough NFL start themselves, and after last year's Final they have a score to settle. That game might provide a more accurate reflection of how far Derry have really progressed so far this season.

DERRY: B Gillis; B Óg McAlary, S M Lockhart, G O’Kane (0-2); P Carton (0-1), B McGoldrick, C McKaigue; F Doherty, J Diver; E Lynn (0-3), J Kielt, B Mullan (0-1); E Brown (1-0), E Bradley (0-5), Paul Bradley (0-5, three frees). Subs: Paddy Bradley (0-1) for Kielt (43 mins), Patsy Bradley for Diver (49 mins), S L McGoldrick for Lynn (56 mins), Paul Young for Brown (59 mins), K McGuckin for B McGoldrick (62 mins, blood sub)

Experimentation Continues

The following is the Derry team to face Westmeath on Sunday at Ballinascreen: B Gillis, B Óg McAlary, SM Lockhart, G O'Kane, P Cartin, B McGoldrick, C McKaigue, F Doherty, J Diver, E Lynn, J Kielt, B Mullan, E Brown, E Bradley, P Bradley

Despite this line-up showing seven changes from the side that started in Ballina, it is by no means an eye-brow raising fifteen. One standout selection however, is that of Barry McGoldrick at centre-half back. It remains to be seen whether this particular experiment is designed to cope specifically with Westmeath's two-man full-forward line, or if the Derry management have long term plans to play the Coleraine man in this pivotal position. McGoldrick certainly has the intelligence and footballing ability to play a sweeper-like role, but Sunday will provide a stern test of his credentials.

Damian Cassidy's NFL experimentation continues unabated. Brian Mullan gets a deserved start in the half-forward line, while James Kielt will open at centre-forward. In the full-forward line, Eoghan Brown and Paul Bradley will get the opportunity to show-off their scoring prowess. These changes don't come as any real surprise. Speaking this week in the Irish News, Cassidy was extolling the virtues of using the league to "take a few chances":

“I could play safe and go out and pick as many of our established players as possible to try and squeeze a win. We could do that. But what would we learn that we don’t already know? We will have learned nothing at all. This year it’s very important that our emerging players be given a chance to develop their experience."

The Bellaghy man is clearly intent on increasing the size of Derry's squad; an absolute necessity if we are to compete with the likes of Kerry and Tyrone, who have a vast personnel ready to be used at will. With players of the calibre of Kevin McGuckin, Paddy Bradley, Patsy Bradley, Joe O'Kane and Barry McGuigan sitting on the Derry bench on Sunday, a clear depth is emerging.

But Westmeath, who go in as underdogs on Sunday, will present Derry with an extremely tough challenge. They sit deep, defend in packs, and try and create space for the dangerous forward duo of Denis Glennon and Dessie Dolan. They are probably the closest thing to Monaghan in terms of their tactics (and Derry could certainly do with practice in that regard!). The Midlanders show two changes from the side defeated by Galway in Round 1, and manager Tómas O'Flaharta expects a difficult challenge:

"I think Derry are one of the teams who everyone will have to keep an eye on for this year. We’re going to be up against it, but we just to keep improving ourselves. We only started four or five weeks ago and Galway showed a few weaknesses in us the last day and we’re trying to work on those.”

O'Flaharta was talking the Westmeath Independent. It's always nice to get a perspective from the opposition county, but in doing so it may be best to ignore the Westmeath Examiner. Their meagre NFL coverage is buried deep beneath headlines about 'Lakeside Wheelers' cycling club, and an U13 soccer blitz that was called off due to snow! Maybe they just don't fancy their county's chances.

Neither do I. With the quality available throughout the Derry squad, I fully envisage an Oakleaf win on Sunday. However, Westmeath have shown in the past how difficult they are to beat, so don't expect it to be comfortable.

A Tale of Two Counties

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This may be a memorable opening line from a famous novel by Charles Dickens, but it acts as a rather apt description of Derry's recent record against Westmeath. A record that, in many respects, perfectly encapsulates the inconsistencies that have choked Derry's footballing fortunes in this period.

Following an NFL Round 1 victory over Mayo, Derry will face Tomás O'Flaharta's Leinster side this Sunday at Ballinascreen. The Oakleafers have a mixed record against the Lakemen; the high point was Croke Park in 2004, but there have been forgettable clashes besides.

It's been two years (to the day) since Derry last played Westmeath in an NFL encounter at Celtic Park. It's a game that most Derry followers have probably forgotten; not because it was a particularly unmemorable game of football, but because they'll have wanted to erase the memory of what was an especially inept Derry performance. The epoch of incredulity, perhaps.

2007 was the year when the the top four in Division 1A and Division 1B would group to form a new Division 1 for 2008, and when looking back on this particular match it's hard to believe Derry finished in the top four that season. Dessie Dolan was at his playmaking best, while Denis Glennon showed a sharpness in attack that constantly hurt the Derry defence. Trailing by nine points at one stage in the first half, Derry fell to defeat on a scoreline of 3-10 to 1-09. Derry are not often beaten so comfortably on their home turf, but this game should serve as a timely reminder ahead of Sunday's game when most Derry followers will expect their team to overcome the Midlanders.

I wouldn't want to be accused of dampening spirits ahead of this weekend's clash, so I'll cast the mind back a few years earlier to a much more pleasant experience for the Oakleafers against Westmeath. It was an All-Ireland quarter-final clash in August 2004 where Mickey Moran's Derry, fresh from one of those 'Discover Ireland' back-door campaigns, met Páidi Ó'Sé's newly-crowned Leinster champions. Derry hit form in the second half of the opening period; sublime goals from Paddy Bradley and Enda Muldoon helping them to a four-point interval lead. Despite Westmeath challenging back to hold the lead themselves with ten minutes remaining, Derry finished strongly to secure a Semi-Final place (against Kerry) on a scoreline of 2-09 to 0-13. The epoch of belief, maybe; if belief wasn't "too vague" of a word!

Derry may have also played against Westmeath in Croke Park in September 1995... but I'm staying well clear of that one!