Allianz National Football League Division Two: Derry 1-11 Dublin 0-13
IT’S been a while since the stand rose as one in Celtic Park - but even before Brendan Rogers’s brilliant, bustling score cleared the bar, the Derry faithful were already rejoicing on a night that will live long in the memory.
The Slaughtneil man’s winning point in the fourth minute of the four added summed up the Oak Leafs’ stubborn determination not to be overshadowed by a Dublin side whose mojo was rediscovered after some unconvincing performances.
With the game all square and the whistle edging closer to Sean Hurson’s lips, a loose pass under pressure saw the Dubs cough up possession beneath the stand.
One last chance – had the Ulster champions the conviction to make it count? For so much of the first half that’s exactly what they lacked as Dublin weaved pretty patterns around an unusually passive press, stage fright taking a toll at the other end too as the wide count built up.
But all of that was long forgotten by the time the game was there to be won.
After working their way up the field, Conor McCluskey found Padraig McGrogan around midfield. A quick glance told Rogers there was space to hit, and a surge of excitement swept around the packed ground when the ball landed in his hands.
They had seen this before. Whether in football or hurling, when the 28-year-old gets a gallop up it takes a small army to stop.
After checking his run to evade the tired tackle of Dublin sub Niall Scully, he buried the head and burst forward. Brian Howard and Daire Newcombe could see what was happening but were too late to stop it, Rogers finding a gap before pulling the horses back in just enough at the last to ease a right-footed shot between the posts.
Derry win it with the last kick of the game! - Brendan Rogers secures victory for Derry with a fantastic point in the dying seconds. pic.twitter.com/HyVxs6uHKm
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 4, 2023
“Ah, he’s just an incredible fella,” said Derry boss Rory Gallagher, shaking his head.
“I’m delighted we got to move him to midfield - whether Eoin McEvoy appeared on the scene or not, we were moving him to the middle of the field… just a phenomenal player and a phenomenal person.”
It was a magic moment that crowned a mad mixed bag of a night against the first real elite opposition Derry have faced this year. It’s all well and good steam-rolling the best of the rest, but when the big boys come to town you have to back it up.
In the end Derry did. But for as good as their second half performance was, the opening 35 showed what happens when Gallagher’s men don’t quite hit their heavy metal stride from the start.
Making the trip to Celtic Park for the first time since 2014, Dublin - determined to push any pre-penned epitaphs a bit further down the track - brought in the experienced trio of Mick Fitzsimons, Davy Byrne and Eoin Murchan from the start.
If that was a sign of how serious business was being taken, it showed on the field too. Pitched against Rogers, Brian Fenton served a swift reminder of why he remains the standard-bearer at midfield, gliding across the slippery surface and effortlessly landing three scores from play as Dublin hit their stride.
Ciaran Kilkenny was always in space, ready to prompt and probe as the Dubs found particular joy down their left side, the clever movement of Cormac Costello and forward bursts of Lee Gannon picking holes in a Derry defence that couldn’t land a glove.
Niall Loughlin passed up a glorious goal chance 26 minutes in, but that was the one moment anything meaningful was created. Instead, the edginess proved hard to shake. Niall Toner sent one free wide and another into David O’Hanlon’s arms. The normally imperturbable Shane McGuigan screwed one wide of the posts during a problem patch when the Oak Leafs couldn’t buy a score.
Trailing by five, 0-7 to 0-2, there can’t have been much paint left on the changing room wall by the time Rory Gallagher delivered his rallying cry at half-time. Missing out on promotion last year was a hammer blow because these are the games Derry need to be playing week in, week out.
There is no time for shell shock.
“We were passive against Galway last year, in both League and Championship,” he said.
“We’ve got to experience playing against bigger teams, that’s the bottom line. We’ve had everything our own way, we’ve played 18 or 19 League games since we came back from Covid and lost one. We’ve won them all pulling up, bar Galway, Roscommon and Dublin.
“Dublin are measured, they’ve been through every facet of the game, winning, losing, coming from behind, not playing well.
“We have to be like that.”
The second half showed they are made of the right stuff – with the introduction of Gareth McKinless helping kick-start the comeback. It was his trademark burst from deep that caused havoc in the Dublin defence on 45 minutes, first finding McGuigan before the ball eventually fell to the feet of Toner, who made no mistake.
If not quite one-way traffic, it was Derry’s tails that were up as they nipped away at the scoreboard, giving the crowd something to shout about as the lead was whittled down. Having played second fiddle to Fenton in the first half, Rogers was now running the show.
Paul Cassidy, so often the unsung hero, was brilliant as the pendulum swung, with substitutes Oisin McWilliams and Lachlan Murray both landing crucial scores to heap pressure on the Dubs – the latter edging Derry ahead for the first time in the 68th minute.
Just when it appeared the Oak Leafs had timed their run perfectly, a soft free was given against Conor Glass in added time. When Costello converted it looked like being a dramatic evening’s final act, both counties left to rue what might have been.
Rogers, though, had other ideas – the last kick of the game, the last action hero whose late winner leaves Derry requiring just one more point from remaining games against Clare and Cork as the transition from 2019 Division Four dwellers to top table talent nears completion.
The Oak Leafs are ready to raise the bar again.
Derry: O Lynch; C McKaigue, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty (0-1), P McGrogan, P Cassidy; C Glass, B Rogers (0-1); N Toner (1-0), P Cassidy (0-2), E Doherty (0-1), N Loughlin (0-1, free); B Heron, S McGuigan (0-3, frees). Subs: G McKinless for P Cassidy (HT), O McWilliams (0-1) for Heron (50), L Murray (0-1) for Toner (59), S Downey for McEvoy (65), N Toner for Loughlin (70+2)
Yellow card: G McKinless (45)
Dublin: D O'Hanlon; D Newcombe, M Fitzsimons, L Gannon (0-2); T Lahiff (0-1), J Small (0-1), D Byrne; B Fenton (0-3), J McCarthy; C Kilkenny (0-2), E Murchan, L O'Dell, C O'Callaghan (0-1); D Rock, C Costello (0-2, 0-1 free). Subs: N Scully for O'Dell (42), C Basquel (0-1) for Lahiff (53), S Lowry for Rock (57), B Howard for McCarthy (64)
Yellow cards: T Lahiff (45), M Fitzsimons 60, 70+4)
Red card: M Fitzsimons (70+4)
Referee: S Hurson (Tyrone)
