THE championship starts for real this weekend insists Derry minor manager Damian McErlain, stressing how the semi-final was always their initial target.
The Oakleafers face Donegal in Saturday’s repeat of the league final six weeks ago, a game they lost to Eoghan Scott’s late goal.
Derry were 3-12 to 0-6 winners over Donegal in the championship group stages and comfortable winners over Antrim in Saturday’s quarter final, conceding just eighteen points over their five championship games.
McErlain was manager in 2015 when Derry ended the county’s 13-year Ulster minor drought and are bidding for a seventh final appearance in nine seasons.
“We are where we want to be,” McErlain said. “The league final was a really good day out for us in terms of what we learned and the work we have done since.
“The semi-final was always the target because we would see it as the biggest game of the year.”
With the beaten Ulster finalists getting into the All-Ireland series through the back door, a win on Saturday gives Derry or Donegal a safety net and a further chance to develop.
“The standard goes up dramatically now that you get to the last four. Cavan and Donegal are two of the strongest teams in it,” McErlain said before knowing the result of Donegal’s one-point win over Cavan.
“It is a huge game and we have just said that to the lads. It is a totally different area of focus next week; the championship starts for real now.”
Donegal are road-tested after coming from six points down late on with an Oisin Scanlon goal and points from Danny Brown.
Since the league final, Derry’s preparations have ramped up. The team’s shape has changed. There is more organisation and different approach to games. McErlain speaks of a collective improvement.
“There is nothing like a defeat at minor level to learn and for players to see what needs to happen,” he said of the squad’s mentality.
“They were like sponges…more so after the league final in terms of the work you are trying to do and trying to make it stick.”
McErlain was happy with James Sargent’s performance. A “good option” to have, he has pushed to midfield with Cahal McKaigue out injured. The Slaughtneil man could be “a couple of weeks” away from a return, but Conall Spiers is expected to feature this weekend after not being risked on Saturday.
“You don’t learn a lot from the big wins,” McErlain said of a championship campaign in which they won each game by an average of 18 points.
Having so much of the ball, the focus is on improving their attacking play and planting that seed in the squad with the hope they know the difference when intensity ramps up this weekend.
“They know where we are trying to get to,” McErlain sums up. “You still have to go and play the game, get over the line, put a performance in and manage mindset.
“Credit to the lads, they have handled that well over the last couple of weeks. Defensively, we have been very strong and the concentration has been good that way.”
