All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Cork 1-8 Derry 1-12
DERRY manager Ciaran Meenagh posed as many questions as reporters did after he watched his side breeze past Cork and into the All-Ireland semi-finals at Croke Park yesterday afternoon.
At this stage last year, Derry hammered Clare in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, but were later dismissed by Galway in the semis.
The big questions surrounding the Oak Leaf camp over the winter centred on their ability to transition from defence to attack and the depth of their panel.
With the ultimate test - Kerry - now awaiting Derry in this year’s All-Ireland semi-finals, Meenagh answered some of those questions with the odd caveat thrown in and hesitated with others.
Asked if Derry were a better version of themselves in 2023 compared to last year, Meenagh gave a candid answer.
“It’s difficult to know. If you looked at the corresponding fixture in the quarter-final against Clare [last year] we were very good,” he said.
“You have to take account of your opponents and all the rest. Are we better? I don’t know. Time will tell. But we’ve had as equally as good a year if not better this year.
“Have we shown some progress in terms of development of certain aspects of our play? I’d like to think so, particularly in terms of how we’re attacking.
“Those are things we looked at over the winter as a management team and that we’re practising. Do I see the players as having improved? I do.
“Have we got a stronger hand, a better bench? I think we have. Is there more confidence in the group because we’ve experience? Yeah, there is. But time will tell.”
Yesterday, Derry were workmanlike in negotiating their semi-final berth.
Four points separated themselves and Cork at the final whistle, but it could have been more had Shane McGuigan converted a late penalty and Conor Doherty nabbed a second major.
Cork were gutsy, brave and enterprising but they squandered a couple of chances that might have hauled them closer to the Ulster champions.
“We knew how dangerous Cork are with momentum,” Meenagh added. “And how good they are on opposition kick-outs, the heavy zonal press. When they turn you over, and get their tails up, they’re a breed of people that are innately very confident, and that’s a dangerous thing.
“So, we talked about when they did get the turnovers. It was about how we reacted. And there you are, straight from their goal, the players dusted themselves down, went up the other end of the field, and stuck the ball into the net.
“From that point on I felt we were well on the road, because that was worth more than three points to us. It was a huge sucker punch for Cork as well.”
Cork, meanwhile, left the All-Ireland stage with plenty of credit in the bank for 2024. The Rebels were one of the major stories of the summer having recovered from their Munster SFC exit to Clare to claim the scalps of Mayo and Roscommon to reach the last eight.
“We were turned over by Clare,” said Cork boss John Cleary, “but since then we beat Louth, went toe-to-toe with Kerry up to the end, beat Mayo and beat Roscommon.
“Today was just a bridge too far. When we look back on it, the learnings should be good. It's up to the lads now if they want to try and get to the next level. But this is the ultimate; the games here in Croke Park.
“They're tactical, they're tough, they're hard and you must have everything going for you. We're probably not at that level yet. That's the test now to see if we're able to get to that level going forward.”
