Sport

Minor title up for grabs as Derry and Cavan prepare for battle

BIG OCCASION: Cavan&rsquo;s Donal Monahan and Derry&rsquo;s Barry Grant get ready to go head-to-head in tomorrow&rsquo;s Electric Ireland Ulster MFC final in Clones<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">															</span>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
BIG OCCASION: Cavan’s Donal Monahan and Derry’s Barry Grant get ready to go head-to-head in tomorrow’s Electric Ireland Ulster MFC final in Clones     &n BIG OCCASION: Cavan’s Donal Monahan and Derry’s Barry Grant get ready to go head-to-head in tomorrow’s Electric Ireland Ulster MFC final in Clones        

THE Fr Murray Cup is the prize on offer as Cavan and Derry’s young warriors lock horns in tomorrow’s Ulster MFC final in Clones.



Both teams arrive in the final in confident mood after impressive runs through the Championship.



Derry find themselves in their first provincial minor final since 2007 after springing a surprise in their Ulster semi-final clash against last year’s All-Ireland finalists, Donegal. The Oak Leafers survived a late onslaught from Declan Bonner’s men to deservedly prevail 0-11 to 0-10.



Despite experiencing a potentially morale-crushing 14-point defeat to Donegal in an Ulster Minor League match earlier this year, Derry boss Damian McErlain said his side still believed they could turn the form book on its head.



“Everyone said it was an upset but we believed we could win even though they hammered us in the league and beat us again by six points in the league final,” he said.



“A few things went wrong for us in the second match and they were definitely worth a six-point victory but we saw enough in our performance to know we could beat them.



“Don’t get me wrong, they’re a serious team and still are but we felt we could compete with them and we probably should’ve won by more.”



Cavan had a less dramatic route to tomorrow’s decider – a straightforward 2-17 to 1-8 quarter-final victory over Monaghan was followed by a 1-19 to 1-11 win against Antrim in the semi-final.



Cavan manager Danny Brady, in his first year as minor boss, refutes the notion the Breffni Blues haven’t been adequately challenged ahead of tomorrow’s final.



“We expected a tougher challenge from Monaghan but people were writing us up going into the Antrim match and we got a shock – people underestimate how well Antrim played and I keep saying that to various people,” he said.



“We got momentum early in the second half and it kept us going – people might say it was an easy game in the end but for long periods of that game Antrim gave us lots of problems.”



Brady was a smart bet for the minor role after guiding the U16s to success in last year’s Gerry Reilly Cup, putting to the sword a Dublin side going for three-in-a-row in the competition.



Cavan is also home to the MacRory Cup holders, St Patrick’s, and Brady highlighted this underage pedigree as a key factor in the Breffni’s second half resurgence against Antrim.



“While we were coming on and eating into their lead, the Antrim boys’ confidence started dwindling whereas that bit of inner belief that came from the MacRory win and the development squads probably showed for us in the end,” he said.



The Cavan boss has also been able to call upon the experience of his selector former Cavan star Larry Reilly, in rallying the troops.



“The lads look up to Larry, he’s been there and done that and he’s talked about his experience of playing in Ulster finals and playing big games in Ulster.



“So, of course the boys are going to take any bits of advice that he hands out and it’s been great to have him around.”



Derry’s largest contingent comes from a Watty Graham’s, Glen side that won the last four Ulster Minor Club championships. Six players from the Glen are on the minor panel, most notably captain Conor Glass.



While the talismanic 18-year-old tallied seven points against Donegal, corner-forward Shane McGuigan also made a telling contribution with two crucial points from play of his own.



Derry’s midfield partnership of Glass and Patrick Kearney provided the launchpad for that surprise defeat of Donegal but, in Conor and David Brady, Cavan also have an imposing centerfield duo.



As well as performing his midfield duties, David Brady contributed five from play against Monaghan. If he has an off-day, Cavan can rely on Darragh Gannon and the free-scoring Ryan Fitzpatrick to cause the Derry defence problems in what promises to be a fascinating curtain-raiser to the senior final.