Football

Pride not enough to see us past Tyrone says Derry boss Damian Barton

Derry manager Damian Barton says quality will decide the outcome at Healy Park on May 28
Derry manager Damian Barton says quality will decide the outcome at Healy Park on May 28 Derry manager Damian Barton says quality will decide the outcome at Healy Park on May 28

PRIDE matters, but it won’t be enough to see Derry past Tyrone says Oak Leaf manager Damian Barton.

The Newbridge clubman, now in his second season at the helm of his native county, says he and his players are determined to give everything in the Ulster quarter-final on May 28. The 1993 All-Ireland winner recognises that “nobody gives us a chance” but admits that a blood-and-thunder team-talk will not be enough to see his side overhaul the 11-point margin Tyrone won by when these neighbours met last year.

“Pride will not be enough,” said Barton.

“You need quality and if our quality is not good enough we will not win the match, it’s as simple as that.

“Quality shines through all the time but you’ve got to compensate, if somebody’s faster than me, I maybe have to slow them down some way…

“That is what this game is about. Our boys need to manage it on the pitch, and unfortunately, with the changes in personnel, we haven’t had a steady, constant team.

“We have a few boys who have been constantly on the pitch and they have performed constantly well. We have a bit more quality available and that quality has to perform as well.”

That extra quality has come from the return of the Slaughtneil contingent that includes the McKaigue brothers, Karl and Chrissy, and Brendan Rogers. All three played last May when two goals from Ronan O’Neill and another from Peter Harte allowed Tyrone to canter to a 3-14 to 0-12 win Celtic Park.

To reverse that, Barton says his side have to keep the red Hands within touching distance.

“We have a chance, but we can’t let the game go away,” he said.

“Good teams will put three points on you, you look and the scoreboard and you see five, after that, you see six or seven and the game is gone. Four or five points against a team like Tyrone, it’s gone.”

Barton predicts that Derry will have the same amount of attacks as Tyrone on May 28 – he says his side’s problems stem from “being turned over too much”.

“We will go through the middle third as often as them but the big difference is what happens when either team get into the opposition defence,” he said.

“We are being turned over too much.

“It’s well-known, statistically if you look at it – turnover ball normally results in a scores because you have committed too many people up the pitch.

“It’s Russian roulette, we are going out to play football, we’re not going out to defend from the half-way line, which is what Tyrone ironically did at the start of the game last year. They opened up when the game opened up.”

With the exception of the injured Connor McAliskey, Tyrone could be at full strength for the game. Barton says Mickey Harte’s side will “have to turn up” to win.

“We are going to concentrate on us,” he said.

“We know what Tyrone are like – they are a Division One side, they are recognised as one of the top teams in the country and (have been tipped) possibly to retain the Ulster title.

“They have challenges as well, they’ll have to turn up and we’ll have to turn up. If we are good enough we’ll win the match. In terms of our application, in terms of our ability to break tackles – to stop people, which is a massive issue for us at the minute and that’ll be the defining difference.

“There is no doubt about the fact that we are second favourite, but it is the Ulster Championship, it is the hardest of all the provincial Championships, but we are in it to give it a lash.”