The Hinphey name is synonymous with hurling across the island of Ireland, namely Derry and the Kevin Lynch’s club in Dungiven.
Brother’s Kevin and Liam Og represented the county with distinction and will go down as two of the greatest to represent the Oakleafers on the playing field and as part of a family with transcended the game in the county to new levels.
Inspired by their father Liam, who hails from the small ball stronghold of Kilkenny, playing for one of Ireland’s most successful clubs in the esteemed James Stephen’s club.
Nowadays, Kevin no longer dawns the red and white of his beloved Derry on the field but continues to represent his club, inspiring the next generation and continuing to ensure that the game strives from strength to strength in the county.
You can be sure that he will be there supporting his clubmates, former team-mates, family members and the new breed of talent coming through, hoping they can reach the levels of success he did in his county career, one of his final actions bringing the Nicky Rackard back to the Oakleaf County in 2017.
The success in the county has been propelled to new levels in recent years as, Slaughtneil became the first club to win the Ulster Senior title from the county before going on to represent Derry on the national stage.
For the first time in a few years, the inter-county management will have access to a rested and rejuvenated representation from the six in a row county champions, this is something that Kevin Hinphey perceives as a massive boost to the county.
“Absolutely, that will be a huge boost for the county hurling team. Especially when you are picking from such a small number of clubs and your county champions are obviously going to provide a lot of players.
“For the past two years with Slaughtneil going so well on the club scene, they just haven’t had access to those players until late on in the county hurling season. It is a massive advantage to this year’s management compared to the last couple of years.
“It has always been the case in Derry, Derry clubs have a great record in the Ulster minor tournament. Slaughtneil have gone on and won a few Ulster senior titles, Maghera school are always there at Ulster College’s level.
“So, there has always been that tradition of underage success, there is a lot of talented players and a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes.
“The clubs that are hurling, even if there mightn’t be a lot of clubs hurling, the ones that are there are putting massive work into it and they are producing quality players, as a result.”
Derry are now under new management for the 2019 season under the stewardship of former Dublin Under-21 manager, John McEvoy.
The teacher led the ‘boys in blue’ to the All-Ireland U21 Final, showing that the county are making waves to attract men of his calibre.
“He has obviously seen that potential that is there, and I suppose that everyone knows all about the amount of potential that is on the Derry hurling scene.
“The problem has been getting all the top players out at the same time, which is not always easy.”
McEvoy’s new charges face down the barrel of a tough National Hurling league 2B campaign before entering a ‘group of death’ of sorts for the Christy Ring.
“Donegal beat Derry last year and all the teams at that level are fairly even. There are eight teams in the Christy Ring and another two or three in the Nicky Rackard where there isn’t an awful lot between all of them.
“Wicklow, Derry, Down, Kildare, Mayo to name a few, are all evenly matched which is the beauty of the structuring of the hurling, league and championship, teams are all at their competitive level.
“There definitely isn’t much between any of those teams so, there is nothing easy but at the same time nobody should be expecting anything easy against Derry either,” Hinphey concluded.
VERDICT
Expectations will be fairly high in the Oakleaf County after reaching last year’s Christy Ring semi-final. League preparations were a little hap-hazard as they were forced to field without the Slaughtneil representatives after their prolonged run in the All-Ireland club series.
Now the six in a row county champions will be available from the outset namely, Cormac O’Doherty who finished as the Christy Ring top scorer in 2018 hitting 1-28 including a personal haul of 1-17 in the crucial last gasp free against Down to book his counties spot in the last four by a single point.
The experienced duo of Alan Grant and Liam Óg Hinphey have committed for another year which will prove to be a major boost to the Oakleaf preparations for the 2019 season as the perfect mix of youth an experience seems to be blending towards the perfect combination.
With the potential of a few dual players returning for championship, there is no reason why John McEvoy and his team cannot challenge for a place in Division 2A and for the Christy Ring title.
However, it will not be easy as they find themselves in what many perceive as the Christy Ring ‘Group of Death’ with Down, last year’s semi-finalist’s Wicklow and Nicky Rackard holders, Donegal who are on the crest of a wave.
One advantage is that they have Donegal and Wicklow at home which is crucial to their hopes of advancing if they can once again, make their Derry venues a fortress.
All in all, a promotion push and at least a last four appearance in the Christy Ring will be deemed a good starting point for the new management but by no means should anyone be surprised if these expectations are succeeded.
YOUNG PLAYERS TO WATCH
There is no shortage of new blood coming through the ranks in the Oakleaf county. The profits of the 2017 Ulster U-21 winning side who went on to face Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final will start to bear fruit in the coming months.
The captain of that aforementioned team was Kevin Lynch’s clubman, Ciaran Steele and he is expected to play a starring role for his county in the coming years.
His clubmates Richie Mullan and Tiernan McHugh instrumental in their club’s two in a row Ulster minor club winning sides have come onto the panel. Their talent knows no bounds as they seamlessly slotted into starring roles on their senior club side this year.
McHugh continues to balance numerous commitments as he prepares for his A-Level examinations but, if called upon he is a serious option to have within your ranks.
Star forward, Cormac O’Doherty, Brian Cassidy and Darragh Cartin also played a significant role on that famous underage side that claimed the provincial title. These are the players that John McEvoy and the Oakleaf supporters will look to lead the county for the foreseeable future which is a prospect that can rightfully allow supporters to get carried away.
The growth of hurling the city of Derry can be emphasised by the emergence of new talent from the Na Magha club. Tim Rankin has been pivotal to his senior club team now for years after captaining the last Derry minor side to compete at that level.
Now he has grown from strength to strength and with the experience of last year behind him, there can be no doubt that he will gone on to represent the county with the distinction, his club member, Alan Grant has done for the last number of years.
DERRY
2019 Fixtures
Allianz Hurling League Division 2B
Sat Jan 26 (Newry, 5pm): Down
Sun Feb 3 (Owenbeg, 2.30pm): Donegal
Sun Feb 17 (Newbridge, 2pm): Kildare
Sun Feb 24 (Birmingham, 2pm): Warwickshire
Sun March 3 (Ballinascreen, 1pm): Wicklow
Christy Ring Cup Group 1
May 11/12 (Ballycran, TBC): Down v Derry
May 18/19 (Owenbeg, TBC): Derry v Donegal
June 1/2 (Owenbeg, TBC): Derry v Wicklow
Recent Allianz Hurling League record
2018: Division 2B; Points tally: 0; Finished: bottom, beat Armagh 2-22 to 0-10 in relegation play-off
2017: Division 2B; Points tally: 4; Finished: fourth of six
2016: Division 2A; Points tally: 0; Finished: bottom of six, relegated to 2B
2015: Division 2A; Points tally: 5; Finished: fourth of six
2014: Division 2A; Points tally: 5; Finished: third of six
2018 results
2018 Allianz Hurling League Division 2B
Derry 1-14 Down 2-17
Donegal 4-17 Derry 2-9
Derry 0-10 Mayo 0-13
Derry 1-15 Armagh 2-18
Wicklow 3-15 Derry 2-13
Relegation play-off (Ballyshannon): Armagh 0-10 Derry 2-22
2018 Allianz Hurling League Division 2B table
P W D L F A SD Pts
Down 5 4 0 1 9-90 1-74 40 8
Mayo 5 4 0 1 6-80 8-67 7 8
Wicklow 5 3 0 2 11-88 5-93 13 6
Donegal 5 3 0 2 7-81 7-77 4 6
Armagh 5 1 0 4 6-73 13-82-30 2
Derry 5 0 0 5 6-61 11-80-34 0
2018 Christy Ring Cup Group 2:
Derry 1-18 London 1-20
Armagh 1-14 Derry 2-30
Derry 1-29 Down 2-19
2018 Christy Ring Cup semi-final: Kildare 3-18 Derry 2-13
2018 Christy Ring Cup Group 2 table:
Pld W D L F A Diff Pts
1 London (Q) 3 2 0 1 88 60 28 4
2 Derry (Q) 3 2 0 1 89 65 24 4
3 Down 3 2 0 1 92 69 23 4
4 Armagh (R) 3 0 0 3 39 114 -75 0
