O’Neills Derry SFC final: Magherafelt v Slaughtneil (tomorrow, 4.30pm, Bellaghy)
THE sense that the walls are closing in on football again seems inescapable, but tomorrow it will be Slaughtneil trying to find a way around the red wall and win back the Derry title.
For a team that looked unstoppable as they charged towards an historic five-in-a-row, something which has never been done in the county, the fact that Slaughtneil are in their first final for three years tells some of the story.
Getting used to life without Mickey Moran has been something of an adjustment period for them. In former attacking pivot Paul Bradley and Tyrone assistant Gavin Devlin, they seem to have something that works again.
Bradley spent his playing days carrying the club’s forward line as they tried to manufacture ways to win. He and Jim Kelly formed the attacking spearhead that brought a first ever county title in 2004, but Kelly was gone and Bradley was in his twilight years by the time they won again ten years later.
Now, they have an embarrassment of attacking riches. Never was it more evident than in the semi-final, when all the talk was about Shane McGuigan and how he could be stopped.
Ballinderry put two men on him from the throw-in, so he just went out of the road and created space for others. Brian Cassidy had a field day inside, Christopher Bradley is tormenting every defence he meets and they have runners from everywhere.
But everything about tomorrow feels like a day for defenders. The game is in Bellaghy rather than Celtic Park, with the Covid outbreak in the Derry-Strabane area forcing the hand.
The tail of Storm Alex is due to whip round Páirc Sean de Brún, and Magherafelt’s defensive choreography will create a problem that Slaughtneil have yet to face this year.
All the space they’ve kicked into will be occupied by red shirts. Both teams will have spent the week preparing to run the ball, but springing Shane Heavron with an odd kick is something the holders will need to do.
His battle with Brendan Rogers will be one of the key match-ups in personnel and if he snatch even a couple from play, it might be enough to squeeze Magherafelt over the line.
That is what they do. They won’t come out and blitz Slaughtneil, but that is no criticism. Adrian Cush, Paul Quinn and James Slater have taken a team that was used to losing and made them used to winning.
Explosions of joy and colour have become familiar sights to both in recent years. There will be little of that upon tomorrow’s final whistle, but for Magherafelt to retain their title would push them past the team of ’78, who lost four other finals in the decade either side.
Slaughtneil famined for its entire history before 2004, yet they’re at the point where the last three years nearly seems longer than their first 51.
Only a few hundred will be allowed in to dot the terraces tomorrow, which is more than will be allowed into the intermediate final at 1pm.
It will be played behind closed doors due to Steelstown's involvement and the new restrictions placed on the Derry city Council area, which also affects Craigbane's junior semi-final with Magilligan today.
The stands may be deserted but within the 11,500 square metres of grass beneath them, there won’t be an inch to move or a half-second to breathe.
It will not be for the purists, but it will be breathless and intense. Every shred of evidence points to a game decided by the thinnest of margins.
