“It’s coming home, it’s coming home, football’s coming home.”
YOU could be forgiven for spotting the similarities in the noise around Derry and the England soccer teams in the past in terms of getting carried away with mediocre progress.
Just when England might get an early win over Germany in the World Cup group stages, Argentina would come along and teach them a lesson to bring them crashing back down to earth.
Derry have fallen victim to being overhyped on various occasions over the past 24 years, since their last Ulster title. The Three Lions or the Oak Leafs, both could be two cheeks from the same backside.
So when Derry beat Tyrone a couple of weeks ago, for once I sensed more of a cautious optimism among the Oak Leaf support.
Nobody was getting carried away as people have experienced one too many false dawns. This was something new, but then again so is the way this Derry team are playing. Unlike previous set-ups, the organisation, spirit, and togetherness is evident, as is the 100 per cent buy-in to the gameplan.
The old cliche that goals win games isn’t going out of fashion any time soon, as the three majors from Derry put daylight between them and Monaghan yesterday. Their first goal was a brilliant move, taken straight off the training ground. A superb kick-out from Odhran Lynch to the on-running Shea Downey was the catalyst.
But the key was how Gareth McKinless managed to get goalside of Shane Carey to make his bursting run in the first instance. Darren Hughes was sweeping, but a double sidestep from the Ballinderry ace left the flat-footed Monaghan man for dead. It was incredible pace, balance and trickery from McKinless to engineer and finish the goal.
It was a bad match-up from a Monaghan perspective as not only was McKinless causing damage, but he also played a very effective sweeping roll which gave great protection to Brendan Rogers and Chrissy McKaigue.
The whole first half was played on McKinless’s terms as he was able to sweep and attack at will while not having to worry about Carey. Ryan McAnespie did a better job in the second half but the damage was already done.
Derry, on the other hands, got their match-ups spot on as McKaigue kept tabs on Jack McCarron and Padraig McGrogan on Conor McManus. Gary Mohan was never going to ask enough questions of Rogers and spent most of his day running after the Derry full-back. But the thing that impressed me most about the Derry defensive game was the speed and aggression with which they closed down any potential shooters coming into range.
With 15 men planted behind the ball, Monaghan struggled to get quality shots away and their conversion rate of around 30 per cent in the first half was testament to just how organised Derry were.
The speed of their transition and ability to then get people ahead of the ball was top notch as they found the gaps much easier to come by. If Derry were water-tight at the back, Monaghan were evidently porous.
The second goal came from an incredible pass from Lynch in the Derry goal, but equal to that was the anticipation of Niall Toner to realise the ball was beating both himself and his marker.
The presence of mind to move behind the defender and take the ball on the full was top class. Then his composure to play the right pass to Benny Heron was the ultimate team decision when the chance of glory was there in front of him.
Although he might not have been as prominent as other players during the game, the contribution of Heron was massive as, once again, he underlined his value to the team as an out-and-out finisher of the highest order. Being in the right place at the right time and doing his job is the Ballinascreen man’s trademark.
The chemistry in this Derry team, and in particular between certain players, is very clear to see. At times in the second half when they were under pressure on their own kick-out, Conor McCluskey made serious runs, both towards Lynch and out the back door of the Monaghan press to take the heat off. McCluskey’s performance yesterday will probably go under the radar a bit, but then again there were so many top performers in the Derry side that it hard single out just one.
The contributions on the scoreboard of Heron and Shane McGuigan were immeasurable, for example. Rory Gallagher’s fingerprints are all over this Derry team in terms of how they play and how they row in behind one another.
He is the only manager in the history of the game to take three different counties to Ulster finals. The Derry boss will be hoping it is third time lucky for him, as he seeks to guide the Oak Leafs to their first Ulster title since 1998.
For the first time in a very long time, they have backed up a serious victory with another statement of intent.
Questions lingered after the Tyrone game around just how out of sorts the All-Ireland champions were, and whether or not Derry could take two scalps on the bounce.
Their talent wasn’t being questioned but the mentality and lack of experience in winning big games was. Now they have answered pretty much all of the questions and silenced the doubters, but there is just one left for me.
How do Derry cope if they go three or four points behind against Donegal? In their two victories to date they have been in control, dictating terms from the off, and they have been much better than both Tyrone and Monaghan.
Should they have to chase the game, can they deviate from a deep defensive plan to go and hunt Donegal down further away from their own goal?
If necessary, can they also adapt their offensive game to play a little more direct?
Those are questions that may need to be answered the next day. But for now Derry can enjoy the moment and savour their first Ulster final appearance in 12 years. But they can’t get too carried away just yet.
For David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, read Rory Gallagher and Ciaran Meenagh.
Football might just be coming home
