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Shamrock Shore you have a very accurate recall of the statistics of that far-off Saturday night. Being a really serious religious practitioner I vividly remember arriving just in time for the Easter Saturday ceremonies at a church on the way home! That is a diplomatic way of saying that the matches took place on a Saturday evening! By the way after your good provincial minor success of two years ago Longford should have a strong, competitive side at U 21 level this year. You could say we Longford and Derry GAA supporters are truly inclusive and non partisan!

Longford , if I remember correctly, played Galway in a double header Centenary Cup match on Easter Saturday night in 1984, in Tuam. The reason I remember is that Derry played Kerry in the second game and they emerged victorious after extra tme.

If  Derry have all their injured players fully fit and if Fergal Doherty and Joe O'Kane commit themselves to playing for the Oakleaf county this year I have no doubt but that Derry can win this year's Ulster championship, regardless of whom they play. When you add Paddy Bradley, Eoin Bradley ,Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley, Brian Mc Callion and Joe O'Kane, amongst others, to last season's Provincial final side the world is Derry's football oyster. I  think John Brennan should give more serious consideration to a new no 3 and a new no 6 instead of only the numbers he mentioned in the Irish News. I believe Niall Holly and Fergal Doherty, respectively, should man these central positions. Chris Mc Kaigue and a rejuvenated Joe O'Kane would add both class, versatility and steel to a defence which was left exposed by the system of play employed last year. Over to you John and your management team.

As far as I know the one and only Paddy Heaney, our esteemed Sports Journalist of the year, is a grand nephew of the legendary Matt "Sonny" McCann. Let the famous spirit of Sonny imbue the Derry team when they face the Orchard county on Sunday week! Forget about the wrongly selected venue . Just play like Sonny did .Doire Abu.

I want to congratulate John Brennan , our new county football manager, on a very positive press release to derrygaa.ie.It is very commendable to see him express such honest and correct views as to the way forward for Derry football. It is imperative that clubs, prospective county players, officials and supporters are singing from the one hymn sheet.Every player worthy of the name should WANT to play for Derry.Look how a positive attitude from all stake holders enabled Down to have such a successful year.Let 2011 be the year of
the great Derry comeback. Doire Abu!

P.S. Are the members of the backroom team definitely confirmed yet?

I enjoyed the many contributions on this thread particularly those of Lynchboy and  Shawshank who certainly know and understand Derry football. However of all the necessary characteristics that they have mentioned for a successful  county team the most importantant one is -have we a sufficient number of top class players who could make us more competitive ,at least, at All Ireland level? At the very minimum we require a commanding full back, a dominant and intelligent centre half back and at least one tall,fast and strong attacking midfiellder who can run at a defence and who can also score freely.In the forward line we need a playmaker as well as two hard-working and incisive men up front who can score goals and points when the opportunity presents itself. Furthermore we require, at the minimun, one very influential leader in every line of the team. Based on what they have seen during this year's club championship can anyone select a Derry team for 2011 that will fulfil all the criteria I have mentioned above?

There has been an over analysis on Tyrone's defeat to Dublin. In many major contests the winning team gets the rub of the green. Thanks to a whole-hearted and brilliant defensive display Dublin were able to take advantage of Tyrone's misfortunes. If Martin Penrose had scored  a goal Tyrone would have won. Uncharacteristically the O'Neill County shot 17 wides. Normally at least ten of these would have been scored.A mis-directed attempt at a point was directly responsible for the Dublin goal. As this was scored too near the end there was no time for Tyrone to regain their momentum. So an over emphasis on poor individual performances and bad managerial decisions is totally wrong. In possession terms Tyrone were the superior team. On another day that advantage would have been reflected in the scoreline.

In response to Mike Sheehy's question about the number of All Senior All Ireland medals that Cavan have won I think I should leave my answer to the real Mike Sheehy! Mike who was a terrific forward in  the greatest team that I have ever seen once gave a very succinct answer to a journalist who asked him why had Kerry won so many Senior All Irelands. His paraphrased retort stated that if the Kingdom had been in Leinster or Ulster they might have won only a small fraction of what they had accomplished. Conversely he also said that if Dublin or Cavan had been in Munster, in all probability , their All Ireland Senior medal tally would have been cosiderably greater. Like all brilliant forwards he was not only a wonderful player inside the box but a broad-minded thinker ouside it as well! His answer, given over twenty five years ago,  showed that he realised the unfairness of the provincial championhip system even then. So Mike eile keep the faith. We are all heading for the same destination. The one difference is that there are many equally valid ways of getting there.

The current All Ireland championship is full of inequalities for example;
(1) It is much easier for Connacht and Munster provincial winners to reach the present All Ireland quarter finals simply because they have less matches to play.
(2) 1992 was the only year since 1935 that either Kerry or Cork did not win the provincial title.
(3) Sligo and Leitrim have only won five provincial titles between them since 1892.
(4) Counties like Carlow, Longford, Antrim and Waterford have also won very few provincial championships. Indeed others like Fermanagh and Wicklow have won none.
(5) A propgressive side like Limerick have to  always beat one if not (Kerry and Cork) of the best counties in Ireland if they are ever to win a Munster title. Clearly any system which tolerates these anomalies and inbuilt inequities is totall unfair. The cornerstone of our championship should be equality for all counties. A champions league format would give every county( on the same dates) the same chance of success.

Ballyhaiseman's post regarding a new football championship format forms the basis of the only fair and equitable way forward. The current system is totally loaded in favour of the two smaller and often the two least competitive provinces of Connacht and Munster. Both Mickey Harte and Jack O'Connor have made valid comments about the unfairness of the present system with regards to provincial winners. However if they are really concerned about inequality and injustice  for all counties they would come to only one conclusion. This would mean that the current provincial championship would be abolished and that a league championship format would be created along the lines of my good Cavan friend.