Football

Martin Boyle experiencing the highs and lows with Derry minors

Derry minor manager Martin Boyle and team after beating Tyrone during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final 2020 at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh last June Picture Margaret McLaughlin.
Derry minor manager Martin Boyle and team after beating Tyrone during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final 2020 at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh last June Picture Margaret McLaughlin. Derry minor manager Martin Boyle and team after beating Tyrone during the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-final 2020 at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh last June Picture Margaret McLaughlin.

Eirgrid Ulster Minor Football Championship

FROM All-Ireland triumph to first round Ulster exit in the space of a week and a half, Martin Boyle has experienced the highs and lows of management with the Derry minor footballers.

The Covid-delayed Markham Cup final of 2020 wasn’t played until July last year, when the young Oaks got the better of Kerry.

But just 10 days later, the 2021 campaign swung into action, with Armagh swooping late for a narrow victory at Owenbeg.

An opportunity to reverse that outcome awaits at the Athletic Grounds on tomorrow when the Orchard once again stand in the way in the provincial opener.

Unlike the last couple of disrupted seasons, adequate preparation has been possible, thanks to the reinstatement of the Minor League.

“The good thing is that we've had a League campaign. We didn't have that last summer,” said Boyle.

“You play League football and don't know how strong the opposition is in terms of what men are missing, and you're trying to find players as such.

“Coming up against Tyrone (in the MFL final), we didn't really know where we were at. We'd seen their results and thought this is going to be a test, but it was a good competitive game and you can't beat that for bringing men on.”

Boyle, now in his third season in the role, can call on a handful of survivors from last year’s team, including Ryan McNicholl, Ruairi Forbes and Ciaran Chambers.

McNicholl captains the team, with St Mary’s Magherafelt MacRory Cup winner Forbes as vice-captain.

Armagh manager Brendan Hughes has useful insight into this weekend’s opponents, mainly due to the fact that he lives in Derry and is deeply involved in the GAA scene in the county, but Boyle and his backroom team will have their homework done as well.

“He probably knows more about Derry football than most. They beat us by a point in last year's Championship, there's a bit of familiarity there as we've played each other the last two years, but it was in Owenbeg and we're away to the Athletic Grounds now, it's a change of scenery.”

While his focus is firmly fixed on Saturday’s trip to Armagh city, the Derry boss is somewhat irritated by the GAA’s hesitancy in arriving at a decision over the age grouping for Minor football, which he believes should revert to U18.

“I think U17 is a bit young to be honest, I really do. I just wish the GAA would make up their minds about what they're doing instead of putting it off to October for another Special Congress,” Boyle said.

“For a county planning ahead, that's no good at all. Any county that's serious about their football will be planning way beyond that so it's disappointing they haven't made a decision.

“To be honest the team that won the All-Ireland was effectively U18 as that was delayed and when you were with them, and then going to train the 2021 Minors there was a massive difference, maturity, physicality, every way.”

Meanwhile, the Antrim minor footballers journey to Inniskeen to take on Monaghan this evening (8pm) in their Round One clash. The Farney men have been one of the leading lights at minor level in recent years, winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 before losing to Derry in the 2020 decider.