Football

Goals could swing it for young Lavey against the experience of Slaughtneil

Slaughtneil and Lavey will lock horns again in the Derry SFC semi-final tonight.<br />Picture Margaret McLaughlin&nbsp;
Slaughtneil and Lavey will lock horns again in the Derry SFC semi-final tonight.
Picture Margaret McLaughlin 
Slaughtneil and Lavey will lock horns again in the Derry SFC semi-final tonight.
Picture Margaret McLaughlin 

O'Neills Derry SFC semi-final: Lavey v Slaughtneil (tonight, 6.45pm, Owenbeg)

PART of being on the throne is quelling rebellions. Slaughtneil are well used to teams coming for their crown by now.

Yet in Jude Donnelly, there exists a leader of these uprisings that seems to know what makes the champions tick.

Of the Emmets' four Derry championship defeats in the last seven years. Donnelly was in charge of the opposition for three of them.

The first-round victory with Lavey in 2015 was ultimately rendered meaningless, but there was much greater significance attached to Glen's 2019 epic semi-final victory.

He's back in Lavey now for a third attempt at winning a county title that's proved so elusive. Glen lost that final, while in his first spell with the Erin's Own they lost an unforgettable semi-final to Ballinderry in 2010, conceding two goals in stoppage time.

Whether Lavey's group-stage win just over four weeks ago bears any significance in this year's championship we won't know until half 8 tonight.

What it did was accelerate the hype that is building around them. An Ulster minor club title from the 2019 season was the highlight of a run of underage successes, and the club's contribution to Derry's resurgence at minor level has been clear to see.

A lot of them are new to this, but there's something about the orange and black. Now that their raw materials are of greater substance, they will be hard stopped in the next decade.

Yet there are distinct similarities between this evening's game with Slaughtneil's 2017 semi-final against Glen.

Not a seat was left to be had in Celtic Park an hour before throw-in four years ago when the neighbours brought a heavy level of expectation. Slaughtneil had the game too well thought out and had it all but won by half-time.

Paul Bradley's side have yet to find fifth gear this autumn. They had no trouble finding it last year, blitzing all in front of them. Had there been Ulster and All-Ireland clubs to contest, they looked better placed than ever.

It just hasn't quite happened yet in 2021. They will be enjoying the growing chatter around Lavey but there in the back of their minds, it will nag at them that Lavey have the right weapons to take a swipe at their Achilles' heel.

Goals. Lavey have always been a goal-scoring team and the two they got were basically the winning of the game a month ago. The three they got in 2015 were the winning of that game too.

What the holders will have learned last month is when they squeezed right up after half-time, Lavey struggled for the physicality to break the press.

In a more lax first half, the pace of Donnelly's side troubled Slaughtneil and threatened to cut them more often than it did. Hugh McGurk was a big feature in the game from wing-back, just as Keelan Feeney was on the opposite end.

Enda, Matthew, Shea and Calum Downey coming on to the ball from deep, the rotation of Cailean O'Boyle and Declan Hughes in the full-forward line, there are elements of their game that will bring fire and fury to Owenbeg tonight.

Slaughtneil kept them to 1-1 in the second half and in Shane McGuigan, they presented an enormous problem. He took home eight points, four from play, off Conor Mulholland. Lavey are likely to renew that meeting but will need it to go better.

Cormac O'Doherty's injury means Sé McGuigan will come back in to the side and Christopher Bradley will move out. Lavey struggled with him the last night too, moving Oran Downey off him at half-time and putting Aidan Toner across.

The fact that Lavey's experienced goalkeeper, Ciaron O'Boyle, is suspended and will be replaced by talented rookie Jack Scullion is something the Emmet's will go hard after.

It's a hard game to predict. Keep it tight and avoid the goals, Slaughtneil will win it. If Lavey get in for green flags, there could be an upset on the cards.