Donegal v Derry: Brennan names team

At the annual Club Derry event tonight, held in the Oakleaf Restaurant, John Brennan announced his starting team for Derry's USFC quarter-final contest with Donegal at Ballybofey on Saturday:

Barry Gillis, John McCamley, Chris McKaigue, Sean Leo McGoldrick, Barry McGoldrick, Mark Craig, Eugene Scullion, Joe Diver, Michael Friel, Gerard O’Kane, Mark Lynch, Enda Lynn, Conleith Gilligan, Paddy Bradley, Emmett McGuckin

Such was the manager's reduced options - especially in defence - and the fact that Derry haven't played competitively in ten weeks, it was always likely that this side would contain one or two surprises.

Two debutants are included, Eugene Scullion and John McCamley. Scullion has been touted as a possible starter in recent weeks after it became apparent that Dermot McBride would be injured, while McCamley's inclusion is the strongest indication yet that Derry will deploy a more defensive strategy against Donegal. Unlikely to actually play as a corner-back, the Watty Graham's man will probably play a sweeping role in front of the Donegal full-forward line (reprising the role that was cut short against Down in this year's McKenna Cup). The Tír Chonaill men do not play with six conventional forwards, so the positions of the Oak Leafers starting fifteen, and the numbers on their respective backs is of little relevance.

For six games in the league, the Derry full-back line contained Brian McCallion, Chris McKaigue and Aidan McAlynn. Only McKaigue will start in Ballybofey. Barry Gillis - called in as an emergency goalkeeper back in February - will start his first Championship game since 2010.

Mark Craig also returns after missing part of Derry's fractious NFL campaign and will take up the centre-half back berth, while Barry McGoldrick will add some Championship experience to the half-back line. The Coleraine man has not been a first choice regular this season, but he has the footballing ability to help the Oak Leafers move the ball out of defence, which could be an important part of Derry's approach if they plan on playing in a counter-attacking style. The most obvious omission from the half-back line is Charlie Kielt.

Michael Friel was Derry's most consistent midfielder during the league and his inclusion is not surprising. The other midfield spot was up for grabs however and perhaps the experience of Joe Diver and his strong running ability has given the Bellaghy man the nod over the likes of PJ McCloskey, Patsy Bradley and Niall Holly.

John Brennan will be boosted by the availability of Gerard O'Kane. The fitness of the Glenullin man has been a matter of some conjecture over the past few weeks, but his presence will add some valuable experience to the Derry line-up, not to mention pace and guile and an ability to carry possession.

O'Kane's return is tempered somewhat by the absence of his clubmate Eoin Bradley; news that is likely to be the headline story from this Derry lineup in tomorrow's papers. Brennan must feel that Bradley is not 100% fit to start the game. If this is the case, then it is pointless throwing him in from the start and hoping for the best. The ability to spring him from the bench at anytime might be a more valuable alternative.

Emmett McGuckin is the man to benefit and he could well form a two-man full forward line with Paddy Bradley, while Conleith Gilligan is used in a deeper role. Enda Lynn has been rewarded for his excellent NFL campaign with a start in the half-forward line. It's a forward division that is fairly dynamic with pace and scoring ability, but against such a strong Donegal defence, it must show patience and creativity.

All in all it's a physical Derry team and one of the more interesting starting fifteens of recent seasons. The Oak Leafers are out to avenge last year's Ulster Final defeat, and whilst the bookmakers odds suggest that might not happen, John Brennan has at least picked a side that suggests Derry are trying to learn from the mistakes made last July.

We'll find out just how much the Oak Leafers have learned on Saturday.

Burn after reading

Derry's recent Championship record against Donegal is far from impressive. A quick trawl through our ten most recent encounters with the Tír Chonaill men shows seven defeats and just three wins. The record goes back as far as the late 1980's when Donegal started the first of three consecutive victories against the Oak Leafers with a narrow Ulster semi-final win in 1989. They recorded a more facile victory in another semi-final one year later at a sparsely populated Clones. In the four Ulster semi-finals the sides have contested in this time, Donegal have won all of them.

The sides have met in four Ulster Finals in their last ten championship meetings, with the spoils being shared at two apiece. The two counties famously enjoying Anglo-Celt victories over each other en route to their All-Ireland successes in the early 1990s.

If there is a glimmer of light for Derry in this rather unfavourable recent rivalry, it's that in the one Ulster SFC quarter-final clash between the sides, it was the Oak Leafers who came out on top - in Ballybofey in 2008. That is pretty much in keeping with Derry's excellent first-round record: 20 wins in 25 years.

This Saturday's latest renewal against our neighbours will also be a quarter-final at Ballybofey, so don't write us off just yet.

2011 Ulster Final: Donegal 1-11 Derry 0-8
2009 All-Ireland qualifier Rd 3: Donegal 2-13 Derry 0-18 (aet)
2008 Ulster SFC quarter-final: Donegal 1-12 Derry 1-14
2006 Ulster SFC semi-final: Donegal 1-13 Derry 0-11
2002 Ulster SFC semi-final: Donegal 1-9 Derry 0-10
1998 Ulster Final: Derry 1-7 Donegal 0-8
1993 Ulster Final: Derry 0-8 Donegal 0-6
1992 Ulster Final: Donegal 0-14 Derry 1-9
1990 Ulster SFC semi-final: Donegal 1-15 Derry 0-8
1989 Ulster SFC semi-final: Donegal 2-8 Derry 1-9

Somebody wins, somebody loses

"The most valuable commodity I know of is information..."

One of the great movie villains of the 1980s, Gordon Gekko, uttered these words in the 1987 film Wall Street. Many others will have said them over the course of human existence, but Gekko (played brilliantly by Michael Douglas) was relating it specifically to market trading and how he could gain an edge over his opponents in the corporate broking world. The general concept however can apply to a range of subject matters, not least sports betting, but also to the world of sports preparation and indeed Gaelic football. Leading up to this Saturday's meeting with Donegal, Derry carry at least one edge over their opponents: information. Put simply, we know more about them than they do about us.

This is not just because the Derry management have been able to watch Donegal already in this year's Ulster Championship, it's based more on the general fact that we know exactly how Jim McGuinness' side are going to play. We watched them throughout last summer, including two intense games against Kildare and Dublin, as well as having seen them in that championship match against Cavan back in May.

Anyone who thinks Donegal might deploy a more attacking system this season can think again. McGuinness is still in charge and nothing will change.

As the manager, he is the person most responsible for the performance of his football team. Forget about any nonsense analysis that suggests the players are ultimately responsible for a team's results - just because they're the ones actually playing on the pitch. The manager is the person who creates the environment for their team to play to their strengths, stifle opponents and try and put a system in place that will win football matches. If the manager has a strong enough voice and can get his players believing in his preferred method of play, that team will go further than a manager whose message is incoherent or who doesn't have the respect of his players.

When judging the results of their previous few seasons, Donegal are a brilliant example as to how the manager is the key difference maker in any team (as was Joe Kernan's influence in Armagh and Mickey Harte's in Tyrone). Using - by and large - the same group of players his predecessor John Joe Doherty had at his disposal, McGuinness transformed Donegal from a team who were knocked out in the first round of the qualifiers in 2010, to the verge of an All-Ireland Final in 2011, as Ulster champions. A remarkable turnaround. He dilligently put a system together that would give his group of players the best possible chance of winning football matches. A system that leaves very little to chance, avoids risk and uncertainty and will be almost equally effective despite the quality of opponent. As far as he possibly can, McGuinness will be drumming this same method into his players in 2012. He told us as much following their victory over Cavan in May.

Most of the time, pre-match and post-match interviews from players and managers gleans little other than clichéd soundbites, but the best managers generally speak honestly about their team's performances and their contentment (or lack of it) can often tell us a lot about what to expect from their team the next day out.

After the preliminary game at Breffni Park the Donegal manager had this to say:

“When you’re working on things you want to execute it. A lot of things in the second half weren't ruthless and for 20 minutes there was a feel of a challenge match. We weren’t clinical. If we were professional from the first minute until the last we wouldn’t have gone down that road.”

In other words, during the second half when his players were wandering forward, McGuinness was not happy. They were veering from their predetermined system of play. As mentioned above, it's a system that pays little regard to differences in opposition. Whether they are playing Cavan, Derry, Kerry or Dublin, McGuinness will set his side up to execute in the exact same way.

“It’s irrelevant who we play and we gauge ourselves against what we want to do. It was Cavan today and it’ll be Derry the next day and then it’ll be Tyrone or Armagh, if we get through, the game after that. What we need to do is get our own house in order. It really is about ourselves, how we see the opposition and how we see it unfold.”

It appears the fact that Donegal won't really know what to expect from the Oak Leafers is of little consequence. Donegal's is an approach built to withstand whatever or whoever is thrown at it. Derry have struggled with defensive gameplans throughout the last decade, but few of the teams we have faced in that period are as well drilled or organised as this Donegal side (as we found out to our cost in last year's Ulster Final). What have the Derry management and players learned from these defeats? Can we counteract these teams with a defensive system of our own? Will we apply a more patient style of play in order to control possession?

Recent history goes against us, as does an ever-lengthening injury list. So in order to break the mould Brennan must come up with a plan that will negate Donegal's strengths and take their key men out of the game. Derry took pragmatic approaches against Monaghan in 2009 and Tyrone in 2006. Fire was met with fire and the Oak Leafers came out on top. As those games - and indeed Donegal's performances last season - proved, aesthetics don't matter, nor does the margin of victory. The one objective is to win the football match. As Gekko himself said: "It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses."

McGuinness has been kind enough to show us his hand; we have all the information we need. John Brennan and his Derry players know exactly what to expect from the opposition this weekend in Ballybofey. That's the good news. The question now is, what are they going to do about it?

Major victory for Derry's Minors

Before Derry's victory over Donegal in Omagh last night, we hadn't won a game in the Minor Championship since 2008 (which ironically also came against Donegal). To put it another way, that's one Championship victory at minor level since Derry's win over Laois in that entertaining All-Ireland semi-final replay at Navan in 2007. For a county with such a strong tradition at minor level over the last 30 years, a four-year gap without a single win represented something of a famine.

Derry's inability to make an impact on the Ulster MFC in that time has drawn criticism from many quarters within the county and has once again raised questions about fundamental problems that exist within our footballing structures. Never was this more evident than in last year's humiliating defeat to Fermanagh at Celtic Park. A disjointed performance from what looked on paper like a very strong Oak Leaf team.

That was all forgotten about at Healy Park on Sunday evening however as Derry, under the tutelage of Paul McIvor, recorded a comfortable 2-9 to 1-7 win over Donegal in the first round. Whilst the result is the only important thing at this stage of the competition, what was most impressive was the way Derry performed. From the moment Terence O'Brien struck to an empty net in the second minute of the game, this young side grew in confidence and composure and the result was rarely in doubt.

Donegal lined out in a defensive manner, but Derry were ready for such a tactic. Their passing - and ability to keep possession - was at times exceptional, and off-the-ball running to create space for men running from deep allowed the Oak Leafs to create chances and more importantly take the scores that put them in control. Conor McAtamney was listed at centre back but played a starring role in midfield alongside Peter Cassidy who scored two excellent first half points. Ryan Bell played at centre half-forward and had the power and pace to continually put the Donegal defence on the back foot. He scored a fantastic first-half point following a solo run from his own half.

James Kearney was another creative source in the Derry forward line and Gerald Bradley is an excellent finisher - tallying four points. O'Brien's second goal, which put the result beyond doubt was also a brilliant finish, a bullet shot to the far top corner of the net. Ciaran McFaul was playing in a deeper role, but he was very composed and controlled in possession and helped his side see out the game in the closing stages. At the other end of the field, Derry defended very well. Some mistakes crept into the play when the game looked won, but overall every individual defender tackled excellently and the defence as a whole kept Donegal out of their scoring zone. Having said that, the Tír Chonaill attack was very anemic for the most part and this Derry defence will be judged on how they perform in the matches ahead.

It was surprising in some respects to see Donegal play in a system similar to their senior counterparts. We've seen Donegal perform in a defensive style at Under-21 level, but it doesn't seem right to restrict 16 and 17 year olds in such a manner, and it was a tactic that backfired for the Tír Chonaill youngsters last night. Whenever Derry won possession, the three Donegal half-forwards turned to go deep into their own defence, meaning that for large parts of the game they had 12 or 13 men in their own half. The net result of this was that when the Donegal full-forward line got on the ball they were totally isolated, and in the absence of any support they where left to try long-range shots with a limited degree of success.

Derry's tactics however were spot on. Paul McIvor deserves a lot of credit for putting such a strong side together that not only has a nice mix of physicality and creativity, but also that plays to its strengths. The team's key men were constantly in the game and bar some sloppy play when Derry were ten points to the good - that brought Donegal to within five points - on no sector of the field did we look like getting exposed. It's also refreshing to see a Derry team showing some variety on their own kickouts. Why kick percentage ball to the opposition when you're in control of the game?

It's probably a bit early to draw comparisons with the 2002 and 2007 vintage but Paul McIvor will be very pleased with what he saw. He's unlikely to dwell on it too much however, knowing that either Tyrone or Armagh will be awaiting his side in the semi-final at the end of June. There will be plenty at stake in that game. Win it and not only will Derry appear in an Ulster Final, but they will be guaranteed a spot in the All-Ireland quarter-final. History has taught us that minor teams tend to improve as the season goes on, so hopefully there's even more to come from this promising Derry side.

Alternative Ulster

With the Ulster Senior Football Championship starting this weekend, we look ahead to a competition that may have lost some of its lustre but still holds plenty of appeal for Derry...

It used to be that thoughts of the Ulster Championship had us longing for the beginning of the summer. Feelings of optimism, hope and anticipation would come sharply into focus around about the start of May. But the overriding emotion was that of excitement. Just cast your minds back to the halcyon days of the early 90's, when Derry were preparing for do-or-die battles with the likes of Tyrone and Down in the first round. The hype was massive and tickets scarce as the excitement in the county reached fever pitch. The start of the Championship was one of the high points of the year.

But not now. Now, the start of the Ulster SFC is more likely to be met with groans of despair as opposed to shrieks of joy. Cavan versus Donegal in Breffni Park certainly doesn't whet the appetite. It was a horrible fixture last year and should be the same again in 2012. At least the TV companies have the good sense not to show it live. Fermanagh against Down and Monaghan versus Antrim won't be much fun either. They would have been interesting enough matches if the Ulster Championship still had the knockout element, but it doesn't. It's hard for the football-watching public to get excited about a match in May - three months removed from the business-end of the season - when both participants will have their Championship fate decided in another place and time. The truth is, the Ulster Championship does not sparkle like it used to, no matter how the media try to dress it up. And that's a shame, because derby matches against our nearest and dearest, with Championship survival at stake is part of what makes the GAA so special. It made the Ulster title worth winning.

Despite all that, we Derry folk cannot afford to just dismiss the Ulster Championship as a secondary competition, regardless of our recent abysmal record in it (which, by the way, has a direct correlation with the introduction of the qualifier format). We'd jump at the chance to lift the Anglo Celt Cup in July - players and supporters alike - but how can this season be the exception to the 13-year rule?

One thing we have going in our favour is that our opposition doesn't really know what kind of shape we are in, so they will struggle to prepare effectively for the challenge we throw at them. The only problem with that, is that we are none the wiser ourselves. Such was the level of injuries sustained at the start of the year and the paucity of performance throughout the NFL, John Brennan's team selection on June 16 will be a best-guess. Not ideal preparation for a Championship campaign, but we've tried virtually everything else in recent years, so what's the worst that can happen?

Another issue facing us, although it might actually turn out to be an advantage, is that we don't yet know who we will be playing. The good thing about this is that we won't have spent the past six months preparing for just one team. In 2008 and 2009 we were guilty of placing all our focus on the Donegal and Monaghan first round games. Fair enough, we won both matches, but when it came to the semi-finals we were clueless. Couldn't adapt to a different challenge in a short space of time.

Of course probability and logic suggests we will be playing Donegal come June 16th, but no guarantee. This could well be a very difficult summer for Jim McGuinness' side and it is highly unlikely that they will retain their Ulster crown. Not only do they have the preliminary round obstacle to overcome for another year, but they must deal with the potential onset of second-season syndrome. Last year the Donegal players and especially management received a high level of unwarranted abuse for not playing the game the way in which the so-called experts wanted them to. It wouldn't have been an issue had they been knocked out in the early stages, but they won Ulster and made a pretty good stab at the All-Ireland. The ultra-defensive system that yielded so much success was built on hard-work, high energy levels and ferocious concentration. When they went three and four points behind in games, the players were willing to spill every last ounce in order to take their team to victory. If they find themselves in a similar position in this year's Championship, will the same desire be there? Will they continue down the same self-sacrificial path that exudes full belief in their manager's system? Probably not. With Kevin Cassidy gone and Michael Murphy a fitness doubt, the Tír Chonaill men will struggle in Ulster, although they should get past Cavan and have enough about them to at least make the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.

All of which should be good news for Derry. If we can get our key men on the pitch by June, we should be the fresher outfit, and playing in Ballybofey won't be too much of a concern as we have plenty of recent experience there. Perhaps the biggest thing in our favour though is our first-round record in the Ulster Championship. In the last 25 years, we have reached 20 semi-finals. That's pretty formidable form. So don't be writing off our chances in the first round just yet.

And if we end up playing Cavan in Celtic Park, then so much the better. The Breffni-men may be re-energised following the arrival of Terry Hyland as manager on the back of underage success, but beating both Donegal and Derry is too tall an order for them.

Managing to get out of the first round would represent something of a success for the Oak Leafers considering the way 2012 has started, but how far we go beyond that - either in Ulster or the All-Ireland Championship - is more of a concern. Not to mention nigh on impossible to predict, as we obviously don't know yet who the potential Ulster semi-final opponents might be either. What we do know, is that it would be one of Tyrone or Armagh. All known form and conventional wisdom points to Tyrone emerging from their game with the Orchard-men in the Athletic Grounds, but it won't be easy for them. They will miss Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan, Kevin Hughes and Philip Jordan. Seasoned championship campaigners. Whilst young talent is there, it is yet unproven, and it will be up to the old guard like Sean Cavanagh and Stephen O'Neill to navigate the Red Hands to further success. Armagh have a high-profile retiree themselves in Steven McDonnell. His absence makes Jamie Clarke look like a lonely figure in the Armagh full-forward line, but expect Paddy O'Rourke to take the nearest midfielder, slap a number 14 jersey on his back and ask his side to rain high balls on a susceptible Tyrone full-back line. It might just work, but don't hold your breath. This is the key match in the 2012 Ulster SFC. If Tyrone come through they will be massive favourites to win the title, but if Armagh win, then the competition is blown wide open.

The other side of the draw is altogether more straight-forward. Despite the absence of Benny Coulter, Marty Clarke and Dan Gordon, Down should ease their way to the Ulster Final (at 11/2 they probably represent best value to win Ulster). James McCartan's side have been playing at a high level now for a few years and are too well developed as a squad to be troubled by Fermanagh, Antrim or Monaghan (three Division 3 teams in 2013). In fact, the loss of some of their key players should help focus them and guard against complacency. If Derry were to go on a run and reach the Final, the Mourne-men certainly wouldn't be the worst opposition for us. They play an open brand of football that would test our defence, but would also allow for plenty of scoring opportunities at the other end. And at this stage, the Oak Leafers look like they have a better set of forwards.

As always however, the problem with Derry lies in actually reaching the Final. 2011 made a refreshing change, but one year on, the path to repeating that feat looks much more treacherous. How much of it we negotiate depends on the fitness of the squad and the opposition that lands before us. Form suggests that we could be underdogs in every game, but the Ulster Championship has a habit of throwing up a surprise result. Hopefully we will be on the right side of it for once.

Derry's best 15 of the past 50 years

The Irish Independent has an excellent supplement in today's paper, where it picks every county's best Championship 15 of the last 50 years. With players being picked from the fairly arbitrary period of 1962-2012 (although no more arbitrary than the 'post-war' timeframe that people randomly add to certain statistics), it means that selectors of the Derry football team didn't have to concern themselves with the All-Ireland Final side of 1958.

That makes this exercise seem pretty irrelevant, especially when the team is picked by southern journalists who would not have seen as many Derry performances over the last 50 years than some closer to home. However, nothing gets a bit of debate going like the selection of a greatest ever team, so here is the Oak Leaf side that was picked:

Damien McCusker
Kieran McKeever, Tony Scullion, Sean Martin Lockhart
Anthony McGurk, Henry Downey, Gary Coleman
Anthony Tohill, Brian McGilligan
Sean O'Connell, Mickey Niblock, Dermot McNicholl
Enda Muldoon, Enda Gormley, Paddy Bradley

Not a bad effort from the Independent's selectors there, and certainly a good case can be made for all fifteen.

Damian McCusker's main competition for the goalkeeper spot would have come from John Somers, but McCusker has an All-Ireland medal, which generally holds some sway during the picking of these types of teams.

Not a bad full back line. The opposing forward line certainly wouldn't get much change out of them. According to the accompanying article, Hugh Francis Gribben was also considered for the full-back berth.

Some contention over the half-back line in that Anthony McGurk - who won All-Stars at both corner forward (1973) and centre half-back (1975) - was selected at right half-back. Jim McKeever (in the article) reckons McGurk played his best football there. Fair enough, but younger brother Johnny might feel hard done by. Downey and Coleman were probably the first names on the sheet. Joe Irwin and Gerry O'Loughlin might have been considered.

No controversy over the midfield partnership either. Between McGilligan and Tohill that pairing had it all. And they delivered Sam. Jim McKeever was at his best before 1962, while Tom McGuiness could have been another option. A more recent possibility is Fergal Doherty, who had ten exellent years in an Oak Leaf shirt.

The half-forward line has always been our achilles heel. Even in 1993. But the Irish Independent journalists have done a good job in finally finding us a good one. O'Connell, Niblock and McNicholl? What a strong, powerful and athletic half-forward line that would have been. They would have taken a score or two as well. There would have been no arguments if Gerry McElhinney, who won an All-Star award at right half-forward in 1975, was named in the fifteen. At 19 years old, he was then the youngest ever recipient of an All-Star award. Ironically, Dermot McNicholl then became the youngest recipient in 1984.

There was always going to be some debate over the full-forward line. Enda Gormley was a simply brilliant forward and we haven't yet replaced him, so it's good to see him selected (although maybe him and Enda Muldoon could swap). It's at the expense of Joe Brolly however, who'll never write for the Independent now. Bradley and Muldoon simply couldn't be left out. Great forward line.

And a great team all-round. But we'd likely still lose in the Ulster semi-final.

Sean O'Connell goal v Dublin (1975)

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across one of those homemade, local sports highlights programmes from yesteryear on BBC NI. 'Glory Days' apparently. Charting local sporting "success" from the 1970s. You know the drill: Jackie Fullerton, lots of motorsport and Billy Bingham as a talking head. Missable stuff. 

But a diamond in the rough was the appearance of Sean O'Connell bursting into the Dublin square in Croke Park to volley to the net during Derry's All-Ireland semi-final defeat in 1975. A great Derry move and a fantastic goal. (This was recorded on my phone camera, so please excuse the ropey sound and picture quality!)

Showing my age here, but it was a score I hadn't seen before and it highlighted what appeared to be a decent showing from the Oak Leafers, eventually going down to a 3-13 to 3-8 defeat. 

Indeed, I don't recall having ever seeing any footage from that Dublin game, (although the 1976 semi-final against Kerry - in which the Derry players wear a jersey that somehow sports a horizontal red stripe - gets aired from time to time; see YouTube clip below) and it got me thinking about how performances from the likes of O'Connell, Jim McKeever, Eamon Coleman, the Gribbens and McGurks and a host of other legends from Derry and all around the country have probably been lost to the archives. And in many cases probably never seen tape at all.

The late Sean O'Connell also scored a goal in the 1958 All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry. It is one of the greatest scores in Derry's football history, both in terms of aesthetics and significance. A brilliant individual effort by all accounts, that helped the Oak Leafers beat the Kingdom by a single point and reach their first ever All-Ireland Final. Yet I, like most Derry fans have never even seen it. 

As that BBC programme proves, there are still bits and pieces of tape lying about, but it's a shame that most of us haven't seen any footage from great Derry performances of the past.

Maybe the GAA, along with the likes of RTÉ, will someday task a group or body to carry out the painstaking job of trawling the archives and remastering them. If such a thing could even be done. Although some YouTube members are doing a pretty good job of it already. Nowadays we are used to total saturation of Gaelic Games coverage, and we take these things for granted, but it would be nice if we could produce a digital archive of the great matches, great scores and great performances of the past, before they are lost forever.