Football

Old forces and new worth looking at

Glen begin the defence of their title against Claudy today, while Slaughtneil face All-Ireland intermediate champions Steelstown without the injured Brendan Rogers. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Glen begin the defence of their title against Claudy today, while Slaughtneil face All-Ireland intermediate champions Steelstown without the injured Brendan Rogers. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin Glen begin the defence of their title against Claudy today, while Slaughtneil face All-Ireland intermediate champions Steelstown without the injured Brendan Rogers. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

WHEREAS the regenerating forces of old take centre stage in Derry this weekend, there will be plenty of interest in its newest champion as they begin the defence of their title.

Old rivals Bellaghy and Lavey meet in a game that under almost any championship circumstances would be hotly anticipated, but the fact that the group stages in Derry are used only for seeding purposes takes a lot of the sting out of it.

They’ll still attract a healthy crowd for the Sunday evening billing in Owenbeg, but while Glen are certain to win this afternoon’s opener against a Claudy side that’s just been out of its depth in senior football the past few seasons, it will be as much about seeing what is different and what’s the same for Malachy O’Rourke’s side.

The absence of their county men through the league and several defections to America didn’t affect their ability to top Division One.

Central to that has been the response of Alex Doherty to losing his place in last year’s championship-winning side. He’s come in to lead the line at full-forward as he always ought to have been, and with Marc Dixon making a home in the attack as well, they might even have a bit more up top than last autumn.

With the emergence of players like Conor Gallagher and Tiernan Higgins in defence, do they push Ethan Doherty into the half-forward line as they did in the league game against the Loup two weeks ago?

And does the epicentre of their attacking game, which was their half-back line of Doherty, Ciaran McFaul and Tiarnan Flanagan last year, move higher up the field in the absence of McFaul?

Claudy struggled badly last year and then, out of the blue, won a relegation playoff against Newbridge that kept them in senior football. A reshuffle of things meant Newbridge got to stay up too, and they were better equipped, whereas Claudy finished bottom with 14 defeats from 14 this spring.

Glen won their league meeting by 3-17 to 0-4 but Paul Devlin’s side have tightened up considerably and become more difficult to get past in recent weeks.

Beaten finalists and serial winners of recent times Slaughtneil will feel well positioned. Again with the group stages the way they are, they’ll just hope that Brendan Rogers and Cormac O’Doherty are both fit by the time the knockout games come around, as hurling boss Michael McShane last week suggested they will be.

They start off at home to All-Ireland intermediate champions Steelstown, whose approach to the league was tailored around the absence of relegation. They took a good break after their historic run to Croke Park at the turn of the year.

Their only win of the league was an early-season game against Banagher and they’ve shipped a few beatings that suggest they’ll struggle to turn their form into any kind of cut at the championship.

This is the third year running Newbridge and Ballinderry have met in championship, with Ballinderry’s comeback snatching an extra-time victory two years ago before the Bridge’s fresh legs and strong running saw them to victory in Shamrock Park last year.

They’re back in Newbridge tomorrow, and in against one of their own again. It was Killian Conlan in charge of the ‘Bridge the last two years, and now it’s Niall Conway having to face his native club.

Gareth McKinless hasn’t played in the league since Derry finished up and his need for a knee operation at some stage in the very near future could hamper the Shamrocks.

Sunday evening will be all about Bellaghy-Lavey though.

The neighbours have a long history of significant championship meetings but while this won’t fit in that category, it’ll be interesting to see how they’re both shaping up.

Lavey took Slaughtneil to extra-time last year but the result in the end was the right one, with a last-gasp goal securing Jude Donnelly’s side the extra 20 minutes that night. They’ve had injury troubles all year and aren’t expected to have a full hand this weekend.

Damian Cassidy is back in charge of Bellaghy having guided them to their last championship success some 17 years ago, and he’s in it for the long haul. He’ll have been trying to manufacture badly-needed attacking support for Eoghan Brown, one of the great torch-bearers of Derry club football in the last 15 years.

Ballinascreen and Kilrea will be underdogs today against Eoghan Rua and Dungiven respectively, but victory for either side wouldn’t be a huge shock. Dungiven had a fine league campaign under Geoffrey McGonagle, sitting second, but they’re down a few men this weekend.

Eoghan Rua’s tame exit at the hands of a misfiring Magherafelt last year might have been the first sign of a dip as a number of their experienced players run out of road, but you can’t discount them from the race.