Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section A: Derry v Queen’s
(Wednesday, 8pm, Owenbeg)
TWELVE months ago, the calculators were at the ready in Greenlough.
Derry sat in a strong position heading into their final group game against Queen’s. Victory would almost certainly have put them through to a semi-final. But Brian McIver changed his hand and his rookies found themselves beaten by four points, 1-9 to 1-5, to render all the pre-match thinking about permutations a waste.
A year on and Damian Barton’s outlook is not unlike that of his predecessor. Following victory over Antrim and, in parts, a promising display against Tyrone, the Oak Leaf boss said he would ring the changes for the visit of James McCartan’s students to Owenbeg.
He has handed out a handful of debuts already this season, between the Ó Fiaich Cup and the first two games of this competition. There are set to be further chances handed out on Wednesday, with Lavey goalkeeper Ciaron O’Boyle, Claudy midfielder Shane McGahon and forwards Connor Kearns (Magherafelt) and Gavin McWilliams (Coleraine) set to be handed their debuts.
Seasoned campaigners such as Mark Lynch, Dermot McBride and Chrissy McKaigue are also in line to feature against a Queen’s side that continues its own preparations for the Sigerson Cup.
As a result of all the changes, Derry’s performance may not have the slickness or organisation their first-half display against Tyrone had. Then, the key was the pace of their counter-attack. While the team that will face Queen’s has pace, they will, more than likely, lack the cohesion of the more familiar team that took the field on Sunday.
Queen’s, for their part, are trying to find a bit of settlement as they build towards their clash with Maynooth University. McCartan has shuffled his pack slightly across the two games to date, both of which have resulted in defeat, but both of which they will take positives from.
Gerard McGovern has already demonstrated his versatility, pinning together the centre of their defence at full-back against Tyrone before moving to full-forward and scoring 1-3 from play against Antrim.
Equally versatile Derry native Brendan Rogers - who will go up against club-mates Chrissy and Karl McKaigue and will join up with his county once the McKenna Cup ends - could yet find himself in around midfield. He lined out there against Antrim, with Ché Cullen moving to full-back, though the Fermanagh man is likely to return to a more natural berth when it comes to it.
In Marty Clarke (Down), Ruairí Corrigan (Fermanagh), Ryan Murray and Dermot McAleese (both Antrim), they have a decent sprinkling of inter-county experience in the forward line. Arguably their most impressive campaigner so far has been Clann Éireann man Shea Heffron, who seems set for a call from Kieran McGeeney in the near future.
Damian Barton continues to prioritise his team’s fitness and, even though being reduced to 14 men had a huge impact against Tyrone, it will have helped him recognise there is work still to be done.
“We’ve a great group of Derry players. Footballers in Derry are fantastic. We just need a wee bit more conditioning,” he said.
“We aren’t far away. We weren’t too far away [last Sunday]. I’m happy enough we’ve got enough from the McKenna Cup.”
