MIGHTY oaks from little acorns grow, as they say, and as Derry look forward to Sunday’s All-Ireland minor football championship semi-final against Dublin, manager Damian McErlain reflected on the development work that is being done in the county’s clubs.
After a 13-year gap without making an Ulster final, the Oak Leaf county has appeared in the last three for the first time ever. There were wins in 2015 and this year, and Derry also reached this season’s provincial U21 decider.
While that progress hasn’t translated into senior success yet, a number of youngsters – including Ben McKinless, Niall Keenan and Danny Tallon – were prominent in the Derry side that held Mayo to a draw in the All-Ireland Qualifiers before they bowed out in extra-time.
More are sure to follow and the emergence of Derry as an underage force in recent years has come about through the hard work and dedication of unseen mentors in the county’s clubs, rural and urban. Magherafelt clubman McErlain is confident that the “future is certainly bright” if the development continues.
“The clubs are doing the work, there’s no question about that,” said McErlain, now in his third season as Derry minor manager.
“My own club in Magherafelt and the likes of Lavey, Bellaghy, Ballinascreen, Glen…
“There’s serious work going on in clubs like that and all over the county, including the city – I’ve had players from Steelstown in all the minor teams that I’ve been involved with and that’s absolutely massive.”
McErlain explains that the underage success has come as a result of a strategy conceived by committed Derry gaels who realised that change was needed from the bottom up.
“There was a realisation of where the county was and that the work had to start at underage level and you are starting to see that coming through now,” he said.
“The development squads at Owenbeg are improving all the time. Of course there’s always room for further improvement but they definitely are in a decent place.
“Derry is a small county and we have small playing numbers. But we’ve always produced good footballers and the future is certainly bright enough at any level, it’s just a matter of getting the whole thing driving in the right direction.”
