Electric Ireland Ulster MFC final
Derry v Monaghan (Sunday, the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, 6pm)
DERRY are gearing up for their seventh Ulster Minor Football Championship final in nine years, and their manager Damian McErlain says that his side are battle-hardened after their semi-final win over Donegal.
The Oak Leaf County had been free-flowing, high-scoring entertainers throughout the championship, but they had to show their dogged nature to overcome the Tír Chonaill in a low-scoring 0-9 to 0-4 win, where Conall Higgins and James Sargent did the heavy lifting on the scoreboard, combining for seven points.
“We were delighted to get over the line against Donegal, because we were expecting it to be very tough,” said McErlain.
“We had beaten them in the group stages of the championship, but everybody knows that knockout football is a different ball game. They came in off the back of three very tough championship matches, and we had come in after two soft ones, which leaves you in a tricky situation.
“But we won a tight game; every ball was fought for like there was no tomorrow and hopefully that will stand to us.”
Facing Derry this Sunday are Monaghan, who will be on a high after they stunned reigning champions Tyrone in a penalty shootout last week.
That result surprised many, but not McErlain, who was full of praise for Dermot Malone’s team.
“Monaghan have been playing to a high standard, and they’re similar to Donegal in that they have had good proper championship matches pretty much throughout,” he said.
“Monaghan have a really strong attacking threat and to beat Tyrone you have to have something about you.
“We always knew that they had the quality (to defeat Tyrone); I actually said to the management team not to be surprised if Monaghan come through it.
“Again, it comes back to them having been tested, and they definitely had an edge over Tyrone in that regard, because they had been road-tested in our group which was tough.
“They showed tremendous character and no lack of ability to come back from five points down with three minutes left. That showed serious belief and a willingness to keep going.”
Derry and Monaghan have met twice already this year, with Derry edging a tight league encounter by two points, before they defeated the Farney side by 11 points in the group stage.
However, McErlain says that finals are different and everything that has come in the past will count for nothing once the game gets underway.
“Once the ball is thrown in on Sunday any past encounters will go out the window,” he said.
“We learned last week of the difference between round-robin football and knock-out football.
“In every match you’re trying to make sure that they’re mentally prepared for it and keeping their feet on the ground for the final shouldn’t be any problem, because Donegal did that for us on the last day out, in terms of showing us what championship football looks like.
“The occasion won’t be a problem for either side, because they have a routine going after 13 games in 15 weeks. In fairness to the group, they’re a humble bunch, they’ve been really coachable all year, and they listen every week, which they have shown.”
