Ulster Minor Football Championship quarter-final
Derry v Down (Celtic Park, 12.15pm)
Referee: James Lewis
BEFORE the senior sides do battle tomorrow afternoon, Derry and Down minors will provide ample entertainment in the Celtic Park curtain raiser as both counties aim to end long waits for provincial silverware.
It is 13 years since captain Gerard OKane, Mark Lynch and Patsy Bradley guided the Oakleafers to Ulster and All-Ireland glory in 2002 while Downs last Father Murray Cup success came back in 1999 when a young flame haired midfielder by the name of Brendan Coulter stole the show against Donegal in a replay.
In his second year as Down minor manager, Shane Mulholland has realised that in order to end their 16-year wait for an Ulster title, the Mourne county must change the way they nurture their underage talent.
Theres a learning curve coming into a Minor job and if I was drawing up a job spec for my replacement for talks sake, I would be saying, and Ive suggested this internally, it has to be like Declan Bonner where you get three years with players coming through the Development squads, Mulholland said.
Aidan Rooney in Sligo has done the same. Three years coming through the Under-16s. The players know him, he knows them, he knows what he has and youve got a pattern and style of play.
When youre coming in around November and youre trying to put together a trial process, you dont know players and youre trying to ensure youve made the right decisions. Then youve got to put a style of play in place.
The Ballyholland mans team enjoyed a decent Ulster Minor League campaign, advancing from the group with wins over Cavan and Monaghan before they were brushed aside in the semi-finals by competition favourites Donegal.
With the emergence of a number of minors into their senior club set-ups including Tiernan Rushe (Ballyholland), CJ Barr (Mayobridge), Mark Harte (Shamrocks) and Pierce Laverty (Saul), Mulholland believes they stand a good chance tomorrow afternoon.
We purposely chose 10 players last year who were underage again this year and weve done the same with a view to next year.
They have been key men in the group, knowing what we want and what is going to be asked of them.
When we looked at it last year, [Ballyhollands] Tiernan Rushe for example, didnt really play senior club football until after the Championship was over. This year, we have maybe eight lads playing senior club football this side of the Championship.
Last years minor campaign brought a few of them on and the likes of Ryan Treanor started to pop up in with Burren and Conor Fitzpatrick in Mayobridge so its good that they are playing club football.
That will hold these boys in good stead and they will be a bit more mature for it.
Derry meanwhile, reached the League decider with victories over Antrim, Tyrone and Armagh but were also outclassed by Bonners side on the day.
They will be backboned by a strong Glen contingent and a large number of Damian McErlains players have a years experience already under their belts. Callum Mullan-Young (Glen) is likely to start in goals with Michael McEvoy (Magherafelt), Niall Keenan (Castledawson) and Oisin Duffin (Ballinderry) marshalling the defence.
Attacking duo Tiernan Flanagan (Glen) and Barry Grant (Ballinascreen) will be expected to carry the scoring burden while minor prodigy Conor Glass (Glen) will be expected to use his athleticism to good effect around the middle third.
Mulholland knows they will be dangerous on their home patch.
Conor Glass is a key man for them and well be very wary of him but they have a number of other decent players that we will need to handle.
Theyre coming from Watty Grahams and from St Pats, Maghera and theres a good culture and a good pedigree there.
This years Derry team will have an opportunity that the previous four or five years havent had as Maghera got knocked out in the quarter-final [of the MacRory Cup] and so theyve had a wee bit longer to work with them, which Im sure is a bonus for Damian McErlain.
At minor level, anything can happen. These games tend to have natural ebb and flow even if managers have tried their best to instil a system or a cautious defensive approach.
Derry will be attack-minded and in front of a home crowd, their firepower could be the difference.
Last year against Tyrone, Down were out of the game after 20 minutes so Mulholland will be aiming to get his squad together at half-time with the game still hanging in the balance.
At minor level, however, Derry are riding on the crest of a wave and a win would see them through to the semi-finals where the seemingly unstoppable Donegal lie in wait.
The journey is just beginning for either side but Conor Glass and Co should have enough to make it across the line.
