Football

Relegation not the Enda the world says Derry skipper Lynn ahead of Donegal Championship clash

Derry captain Enda Lynn is confident that if the Oak Leafers perform at their best they can beat Donegal tomorrow. Picture Margaret McLaughlin 15-5-18.
Derry captain Enda Lynn is confident that if the Oak Leafers perform at their best they can beat Donegal tomorrow. Picture Margaret McLaughlin 15-5-18. Derry captain Enda Lynn is confident that if the Oak Leafers perform at their best they can beat Donegal tomorrow. Picture Margaret McLaughlin 15-5-18.

ENDA Lynn says “it’s easier when you’re winning” but he hasn’t seen that much success since he got his first taste of Championship action with Derry back in 2009.

Since then managers John Brennan, Brian McIver and Damian Barton have followed Damian Cassidy out through the gates at Owenbeg and scores of players have come and gone.

Throughout Lynn’s nine years in the red and white jersey occasional success has never been built upon. One good result could be followed by three bad ones and since Derry reached the Division One final in 2014 a steady decline has set culminating in relegation to Division Four this year.

The county cannot sink any lower in the League and desperately needs a Championship run to restore faith. Skipper Lynn still believes and, for him, anything is possible if Derry produce their best.

“If we perform on the day we can beat anybody in the Championship,” said the Greenlough clubman.

“Going down to Mayo last year we were totally underdogs and we were within a kick of the ball of beating them. They went on the All-Ireland final.

“It’s the same going in against Donegal. We’re totally underdogs, not expected to get within two or three points of them. It’s at Celtic Park and we have nothing to lose and we feel that, if we perform, we can take them.”

The performance against Mayo last year came on the back of a humiliating loss to Tyrone in Ulster and a routine Qualifier win in Waterford.

It was almost forgotten that Derry had previous form through the ‘dackdoor’. In 2016, under Barton, the Oak Leafers were on the verge of the All-Ireland quarter-finals but lost to eventual semi-finalists Tipperary in a round four Qualifier thriller in Cavan.

“I don’t think Derry gets the credit (for good performances),” said Lynn.

“Last year it was ‘Mayo played poorly’ not ‘Derry played very well’. The year before it was the same against Tipperary. We could have won that game too and probably should have won it.

“We don’t get as much credit as we should be getting. We know what we can do and what we can give to the team – on the day is the real problem, we don’t do it often enough.

“It’s doing it two or three games in-a-row, but we know we’ll be ready to do whatever has to be done against Donegal to get a victory.

“Donegal are in the same boat as ourselves – they have brought a lot of young players in and Declan Bonner has belief in them.

“They kicked some great points against Cavan and hopefully our young players have the same impact as they had.

“It was a good, high-scoring game and it was very open. Donegal kicked a lot of very good scores from distance and that’s something we have to stop. Ulster gets slated sometimes for the quality, there have been games that have been tight and low-scoring but very good games, but Donegal v Cavan was one for supporters to enjoy.”

Derry go into tomorrow’s game as underdogs and anyone who watched the way Donegal disposed of Cavan in the preliminary round will know why. The Tir Chonaill men have a range of scoring options from distance with Paddy McBrearty waiting inside if the Derry defence pushes too far out.

“You have to be careful against them,” said Lynn.

“You can’t give them too much time on the ball because they’re able to kick 45-50-yard points. They have five or six boys who are capable of putting the ball over the bar from 50 yards and that’s something that we need to address.”

He adds: “I don’t think Derry has performed on the day in Ulster.

“2015 was our last victory in Ulster and that’s something in the back of our minds as well, that we need to perform. If we get past Donegal there’s certainly a chance to get to an Ulster final because we play the winners of Down and Antrim so it’s something we’ll put a lot of work into and hopefully we’ll come out the right side of it.”

For all the talk of player-turnover, there are three other survivors from Lynn’s early days with his county. James Kielt, Mark Lynch and Sean Leo McGoldrick are all still in harness, but Lynn admits that a more stable squad set-up would help Derry progress.

“I think we have used 90 players in four or five years and that’s a lot of players in and out,” he said.

“It’s getting worse because it’s very easy for players to go to America. The game has become more serious – it involves five or six nights-a-week training and it’s very hard for young people’s social life.

“It’s only going to get worse, I think. It’s very hard for players if they’re not playing and missing club football. Some players can walk away from the game if they’re getting put under pressure by their club managers.

“Derry has been reasonable this year trying to work with club and county football so players on the fringe of the squad can play with their club all the time now.

“Success is massive for holding on to players and getting your best players out. It’s easier when you’re winning, everybody gels together better and the players stick it out for longer.”

Relegation to Division Four created a ready-made excuse for want-away players to pull the plug on the county squad. Encouragingly, none did and Lynn says his team-mates intend to roll their sleeves up and fight their way out of the basement.

“We took a couple of weeks off (after relegation) and refreshed our minds,” he said.

“It has gelled us tighter together as a group, training has been going very well, we’ve been getting everybody out and everybody is fighting for places on the team. Nobody walked away.

“A lot of people would have thought players would have walked away but everybody has knuckled down.

“Listen, Derry has nothing to lose.

“This is the first time this year that we’ll be at full strength. People outside Derry think it’s just a matter of Donegal turning up, but this is something we’re looking forward to.

“As a group we’re in this situation because of ourselves and it’s up to us to get ourselves out of it. Getting to an Ulster final or the Super8s would lift the whole county.”

He knows Derry need a break but, in football, you’re guaranteed a kicking when you’re down.

Clones in June and the Super8s in July seem a long way away. But you have to believe.