SELF-BELIEF has been the key to Derry’s surprise run through the All-Ireland Qualifiers this season, according to attacker Emmett McGuckin.
The Magherafelt target man was to the fore in the Oak Leafs’ round 3A win over Cavan last weekend that sets up an intriguing clash with beaten Munster finalists Tipperary in Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday. Nobody gave Derry a hope of putting together a string of wins in the Qualifiers following their spectacular collapse to Tyrone in their Ulster Championship meeting in May.
But wins over Louth, Meath and Cavan have rejuvenated Derry, who are now just 70 minutes away from an All-Ireland quarter-final berth: “It’s a far-cry from Tyrone,” admitted McGuckin.
“Everybody knows how disappointed we were that day against Tyrone, things just didn’t go our way. But the last three games have been quite special and now everybody is sitting up and taking notice, as we know there is potential in this team, but it’s situations like this [against Cavan] you have to go out and show it. There is no point in having that ability and not showing it. We kept fighting to the end against Cavan and we got our reward.”
Derry trailed from the seventh minute to the 64th minute last Saturday and managed to out-score their hosts 0-8 to 0-3 in the final 10 minutes: “Belief - that was the key,” insisted McGuckin.
“We always believed. No matter what you’re down or how long’s left, we just keep going and going and our attitude over the last three games has just been excellent. It can’t always go for you, but we had belief, we had belief in ourselves, belief in our management, belief in our system. Anything can happen. You saw against Cavan, we came back. We could have won by more with the chances we created, but who cares if you win by one point or 30 points - we’re in the next round."
Derry also mounted a dramatic comeback to see off Meath in the previous round - a day McGuckin will remember with frustration as he was harshly substituted after 28 minutes. He was also taken off before half-time against Tyrone at Celtic Park - but McGuckin showed impressive resolve in grabbing Derry’s all-important goal against Cavan after 10 minutes and his 70th minute point edged the visitors ahead.
“Talent can only get you so far and you see what a wee bit of belief can do,” he said.
“We showed it the last day against Meath. I was taken off after 25 minutes in that game, but that was up to the management and it worked the last day. It’s not about one or two players, it’s about 25 or 26 players.”
The 25-year-old forward admitted losing to Tyrone by a landslide was one of the lowest points in his career: “When we lost to Tyrone, it was disappointing for the management and disappointing for the county as a whole, but we fought back and we’re still there. But we’ve won or done nothing yet, it’s about keeping this momentum going.
“It was difficult to lift ourselves after the Tyrone defeat. When you lose the way we did to Tyrone, it’s hard to get yourself back up and going again. But we kept believing in ourselves and our management and we’ll just keep going.”
