Football

Eoghan Rua's Paul Daly hoping to get one up on brother-in-law Darren Hughes

The Daly clan pictured celebrating Eoghan Rua's Derry SFC success, with baby Ava Hughes in the arms of her mother Orlagh. Her brothers (L-R) Barry, Eoghan and Paul will go up against Orlagh's husband Darren in the Ulster Club SFC this weekend. Picture by Mary K Burke
The Daly clan pictured celebrating Eoghan Rua's Derry SFC success, with baby Ava Hughes in the arms of her mother Orlagh. Her brothers (L-R) Barry, Eoghan and Paul will go up against Orlagh's husband Darren in the Ulster Club SFC this weekend. Pic The Daly clan pictured celebrating Eoghan Rua's Derry SFC success, with baby Ava Hughes in the arms of her mother Orlagh. Her brothers (L-R) Barry, Eoghan and Paul will go up against Orlagh's husband Darren in the Ulster Club SFC this weekend. Picture by Mary K Burke

WHEN Eoghan Rua claimed the Derry title a few weeks back, playing brothers Paul, Eoghan and Barry Daly were joined by arguably the club’s youngest supporter that day, their five-month-old niece Ava.

She’s the first child of their sister Orlagh, and her husband Darren Hughes - he of Monaghan and Scotstown fame, and their brother-in-law. The one they’ll be facing on a football pitch for, unsurprisingly, the first time when the Coleraine men take on Scotstown in Sunday’s Ulster Club SFC semi-final.

There’s a fair chance that the eldest Daly, Paul, will be in particularly close quarters given his station at midfield and Darren’s roving role, alternating between the full-forward line and the middle of the park.

So far efforts to find some maroon and green in a bid to neutralise Ava’s dress-code in Omagh have fallen short, and Daly admits he isn’t hopeful.

“Orlagh would be torn the most,” smiles Paul.

“She’s saying Ava can support Scotstown and she’ll support Coleraine for her brothers, but I’m still convinced she’s fully on our side. Mum [Eithne] and Dad [Brian] certainly would be, but they’ve had their loyalties tested the last few weeks.

“Orlagh would try and get to all the games, but Ava has probably the smallest Scotstown jersey you’ll ever see on her at them.

”We’re frantically trying to get her an Eoghan Rua hat or scarf to wear, to show her neutral support, but I think she’ll be fully supporting her Daddy. Hopefully Orlagh and Mum and Dad can support the Eoghan Rua side.”

When Darren and Orlagh started going out, the hope among the Daly boys was that they could convince him to transfer to the north coast.

“But Orlagh’s always been into animals, she has horses down there, and with Darren and the farm, we realised after a couple of years he wasn’t transferring.”

And so little Ava, pictured in the arms of her mother savouring Eoghan Rua’s county final win over Lavey, is destined to be a disciple of An Bhoth.

There has been chat that the Dalys will join the Hughes’s for their first Christmas in their new home, and the Eoghan Rua midfielder is hopeful of hitting the bars around Scotstown carrying the bragging rights.

“It’d be nice to go down if we’ve beaten them in the Ulster Championship and have those bragging rights around the bars with the boys.”

The Dalys have gotten to know the Scotstown team well, and were present at a couple of thrillers in recent years when the Monaghan men lost an epic Ulster final to Crossmaglen three years ago, as well as when they hit 2-2 in stoppage time last year to rescue a replay against Ballybay.

Darren Hughes has been a regular at Eoghan Rua’s games, and saw a fair bit of their championship action this year.

He did miss their county final win over Lavey as Scotstown were busy disposing of Derrygonnelly in the Ulster preliminary round that day, having earlier seen off Ballybay to win their fourth consecutive Monaghan title.

No doubt the respective managers Kieran Donnelly and Sean McGoldrick will be looking to glean whatever info they can out of those unlikely scouting missions.

“I’ll certainly get a tackle on him and a few words at some point,” said Daly.

“I’d be more quiet on the pitch but Baz has been sending a few pictures and threats through the family WhatsApp joking.

“Whoever’s in the final the following fortnight, I’m sure the rest will all be down in support.”

Paul’s solid form alongside Niall Holly at midfield has been one of the crucial aspects in Eoghan Rua’s success. Ever since Sean Paul Henry disappeared off the scene they’ve struggled for a consistent partner to Holly, with Daly’s own career hampered by injuries.

Indeed, he looked like a doubt for this game when he picked up a bang on the shoulder in their quarter-final win over Castlerahan, but he’s since fully recovered and will be ready to go in Omagh.

As will Coleraine. When they won their first title in 2010 – in which he played during the early part before injuries took over again – the players celebrated for the full week after the final.

This time they were back at training on the Wednesday night, and in the absence of floodlight availability this week, the players have been taking time off work to train in the afternoon.

“It’s one thing Sean [McGoldrick] has really reinforced. It’s eight years since the last time, and it could be the last time we’re ever in this position, so whether you have to make that sacrifice at work and take days off, work from home or work different days, let the boss know it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says the Actuarial Analyst, who works between home and Belfast.

“We didn’t really make the most of it the last time around, so this time we’re focussed on giving it everything we can.

“With the bookies odds, we’re the outsiders and we only have two county titles compared to the 78 combined for the other three clubs (Crossmaglen 44, Scotstown 19, Gaoth Dobhair 15).

“So they certainly have that pedigree within their county and that experience in Ulster. But we’ll be thinking it’s 50-50 and it’s who performs on the day and gets that bit of luck, really.”

Pedigree can bring pressure. Scotstown’s great three-in-a-row Ulster winning side from 1978 to ’80, and the follow-up album in ’89, are largely still about.

Eoghan Rua, with all but one of their starting players being a first generation north coast native of parents from further afield, are a different entity.

“That’s maybe helped us in a way, that you don’t have that history breathing down you. Darren’s mentioned a few times about the men around Scotstown with three or four Ulster medals saying ‘we have these in the bag’, whereas we’re the ones breaking the ground for Coleraine and making the history and the name for ourselves.

“They’ve been there the last four years and they maybe have that burning desire to replicate what happened in the past, whereas we don’t have that pressure.”