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Last Sunday was one of my happiest sporting experiences as a long-time Derry football supporter.Undoubtedly all Derry supporters thought likewise.I will never forget, initially the relief, and then the huge, overwhelming euphoria when the referee sounded the final whistle.

To see 15,000 Derry fans then  race onto the pitch was a never - to - be forgotten experience.Happiness was in abundance in every face,in every voice as it dawned on us that we had won,in dramatic fashion, the Anglo Celt Cup for the first time since 1998.  That panaromaic overview of exultant,excited Derry supporters will sustain us into the fading sunset of our lives.

Let us rejoice and give credit, first of all, to all the panel of players who made this historic victory possible. Each and every one of them are innately talented, skill - wise.They possess incredible determination and a  workrate which inevitably separates the ordinary from the extraordinary and leads to such magical outcomes as the result of this year's Ulster final.

  Then it must be quickly added that really it was the tactical genius that is  Rory Gallagher who ensured that each player individually worked totally under his brilliant strategies at all times so that collectively the whole team bonded together to maximise their potential.

There  also has  been a huge sea change in the  amount of people who now follow the County football team.True, everyone loves winners and success but the County Board and all its different stakeholders deserve tremendous credit in promoting Gaelic Games and coaching at club and school levels over the years. Sunday's triumph was the cumulative result of everyone pulling in the same direction.Let us build on that further  until this magnificent group of players become the eternal catalyst for the ultimate Holy Grail someday soon in Croke Park.

Let all Derry supporters, at home and abroad, take a little time out to praise the two tremendous victories over Tyrone and Monaghan which Derry have achieved, in such glorious fashion, over the past few weeks. I have been watching Derry football for a long time and I have to say that the present panel of players have both the all round ability and commitment to create their own unique history in the near future.

So great an impression have they all made within a short time frame that no less than 11 of them have been given national accolades in various media outlets, ie being selected for man of the match awards or selected on teams of the week.I refer,  of course, to Odhran Lynch,Chrissy McKaigue,Brendan Rogers,Conor McCluskey, Conor Doherty,Gareth McKinless,Conor Glass, Ethan Doherty,Benny Heron,Niall Loughlin and Shane McGuigan.The missing four in my opinion were simply not selected because it would not look well if the whole Derry 15 individuals were nationally acclaimed!


We Derry supporters make  no such false assumptions.Sitting beside a good friend last Sunday in Armagh we came to the conclusion that no one covered so much ground for the cause than Padraig McGrogan and no one will ever score two such vital points when required as did Paul Cassidy against Monaghan.That leaves us with just two other unsung heroes,ie Shea Downey and Emmett Bradley.Shea with doubt is Mr Versatile who can and does play everywhere with equal aplomb and with radar alertness and what better secret weapon in the Derry armoury is there  than the tactical use of Emmett Bradley? Just introduced into the game, he went on a 100 yards dash to score a brilliant point which at this early stage has to be a contender for point of the year.Similarly Benny Heron's second goal, for its magical creation and splendid execution has to be goal of the year along with Ethan Doherty's wondrous tackle of course!

Let all of us not get way laid by unimportant side issues and restore the Derry page to highlighting our achievements, even if we have not won anything yet.But remember we have beaten two Division One teams to get to the Ulster final and have the undoubted ability, on and off the field, to lift this year's Anglo Celt cup.

The combined phenomenal work rate and skill of this whole team,brilliantly devised under the astute leadership of one of the best ever managers in Rory Gallagher has to be applauded by all right thinking GAA people. A repeat performance(s) by all concerned can make 2022 a memorable one for Derry football.

In the press over the years successive Monaghan County teams have always  been portrayed as the great overachievers.This simplistic statement  is rather unfair as it hides the undoubted fact that every Monaghan player has always given his utmost for his team on the field of play.The current team and their loyal supporters have always done likewise. Given their size this is a phenomenal achievement.

By the same token, over the same period, Derry have been looked upon as the great under achievers.Again this is not entirely accurate as there were often real mitigating factors which hastened Derry's hasty descent into Division Four of the League. Slaughtneil's outstanding achievements at Provincial and All Ireland club level,in two codes, meant that at least a third of the starting fifteen were missing from the Derry County team for most of the league.An inintended cosequence of their success was that because the County had to field a weakened team especially in defence, they suffered the humiliation of rapid,successive  relegations.

Having watched Derry develop as  a well organised and competitive team very significantly under Rory Gallagher, I have no doubt that the Divisional gap between both teams, for the last seven years,has narrowed to such an extent that Sunday's encounter can be justifiably termed as a a fifty fifty contest.Hopefully, when the final whistle is blown next Sunday in the Athletic grounds Derry's resurrection will be complete and we will all be celebrating a famous victory.

When youngest brother Felix came on as a substitute for Armagh in the 1959 Ulster drawn championship semi final against Cavan at Castleblayney, an unique record was created.When he came on at full back,his brother Michael was on his right and his other brother John was on his left.Thus there were three McKnight brothers on the Armagh full back line! Apparently their other brother James was the best footballer of the quartet but was unavailable as he had joined the priesthood and served most of his ministry in California!
An interesting anecdote re the McKnights!Their sisters, Mary and Bridie, are married to two All Ireland 1960s winners with Down. Mary is married to Kevin O'Neill and Bridie is the wife of P.J. McElroy!

Just heard that, despite rumours from imposters, all last year's starting Championship  fifteen against Donegal, with the exception of Ciaran McFaul, are fit and raring to face the auld enemy next weekend!! Doire Abu.

In the 1955 Ulster Senior football final against Cavan, Derry had four Gribbin brothers on the team. Hugh Francis was right full back,Mickey was right half back and Roddy was full forward.Brother Owen came on as a sub so when the full time whistle went there was a quartet of four Gribbins on the field at the one time!

Regarding Derry's elimination in this year's Ulster U20  championship in my opinion there are three main factors invovled.First of all the GAA itself must stand indicted for the timing of this competition.It is squeezed into a very short time frame between the latter stages of the National League and the beginning of the Provincial championships.Players are expected to play too many games within a four week period.

In Ulster it is a straight knock out unlike Leinster.This does nothing either for the development of players or for the competition itself and is surely at odds with the often stated concept of player burn out.

The second most potent factor was the large injury toll of players.Derry were missing at least seven  players who if fully fit would be serious contenders for starting positions ie Enda Downey,Matthew Downey,Calum Downey,Eoin McEvoy, Odhran McLarnon,Jack Scullion and Ronan McFaul.That is almost half a team and when one factors in that Donncha Gilmore had to go off injured in the early stages of the game the problems for Paddy Bradley and his management team were really insurmountable.

From a Derry internal point of view those two factors were unfortunately unavoidable.What was avoidable and inherently wrong was the fact that Paddy Bradley had not total access to all the available players.I refer of course to Lachlan Murray(who got injured at Senior training) and Mark Doherty.I understand that most counties in Ireland outside the ten larger ones have to dip in to their underage U20 sides to make a Senior panel viable but when it came to releasing them fully for at least a month before the U20 competition started Paddy should have had full access to them. This was clearly a wrong policy and should not have been allowed.

Hopefully, lessons will be learned and taken on board for next year as the vast majority of this year's side are still underage if the same age limit remains in place. Of course if these mistakes are rectified Paddy Bradley and his management team should remain in situ as they had their side playing a splendid blend of defensive and offensive football despite the restrictions of limited preparation and large player unavailability.

 To be fair to the different playing positions in any team, I have decided to use poetic licence to select my SEVEN all time best Derry county players  ie one goalkeeper,two defenders,two midfielders and two forwards. (and I have seen them all!).
Goalkeeper :John Somers
Defenders: Kieran McKeever,Tony Scullion.
Midfielders : Jim McKeever,Anthony Tohill
Forwards : Mickey Niblock,SeanO'Connell.
Honorary Members:Sean Martin Lockhart,Henry Diamond,Henry Downey,Anthony McGurk,Gerry
                             O'Loughlin.Fergal Doherty,Gerry McElhinney,Mark Lynch,Enda Muldoon and Paddy
                             Bradley.

Sorry to hear that Jack Doherty has left the Derry panel.I felt that he should have got more game time, like a few others, but Rory Gallagher decided, as is his right, to go with some of the younger players even though the talented Doherty is ony 24.I do feel, however, that it was also unfair on Doherty's part to make such a late decision just before the start of the Championship.After all every person has responsibilities as well as rights.

 Undoubtedly Ciaran McFaul will be a huge loss for Derry's championship campaign this year as players of his quality,versatility and leadership qualities are extremely rare in any county.

However, even though there is no one on the current panel with a similar skillset, there are at least five players in a rearranged side who could profit  as a result with more game time.
(I am assuming that Oisin McWilliams also will not be fit for the Championship opener.)One would therefore expect a fully fit Padraig Cassidy,Shea Downey,Niall Toner,Jack Doherty and Ben McCarron to be serious contenders either for starting positions or to come on as meaningful replacements.

Since he made his debut for Derry against UUJ, in the McKenna Cup in January 2013, Ciaran McFaul  has been practically an ever - present for Derry in the intervening nine years.During that time he has been consistently very good and for the last three years he has easily been Derry's best player.

Even though he is still very young  it was inevitable,given the huge commitment to play both club and county football nowadays,that Ciaran would step back giving that wholehearted dedication which he put in for so long.Undoubtedly it is a huge blow to the present Derry team and hopefully no other panellists follow the same route.

Perhaps when Ciaran  is away for a while the buzz to return next year will reignite and he will come back to commit himself fully to the fold.In the meantime all Derry supporters will thank him for all that he has done for Derry football.In the process the way is open for the rest of the team to raise their own game in Ciaran's absence and that someone else will also come into the team and play their part in a great Derry revival of their footballing fortunes.Indeed maybe a certain exiled talent will return to these shores to help that comeback!One person's difficulty is certainly another person's opportunity.

 To answer Wildweasel's query re the Downeys.Yes, all three Downeys are injured as are goalkeeper Jack Scullion,Ronan McFaul and Eoin McEvoy.James McGurk is suspended as a result of being sent off in last year's Ulster U20 championship.

With the possible exception of Calum Downey, the other six would be considered definite starters.So, it is going to be an uphill battle for Derry to progress.However, the improvement between the first half performance and the second  half display last night shows that there is potential when the players get to know each other properly on the field of play.Hopefully, that potential will be developed further  during the incoming week, despite the fact that there is a very short time to do so.

 When Derry team management  and players sit down tonight to analyse what went wrong last Sunday against Galway, it should not take either party long to reassess the situation and plot the way forward for a convincing display against Meath next Sunday.

Derry were a good team before last Sunday and they are still a good team.Likewise the management were an excellent combination and they still are. Costly mistakes,admittedly,were made but they can be easily rectified.So, no one should be too despondent as the best way to overcome any obstacle is to face it immediately and the Meath game provides an ideal opportunity to do that.

With the enforced absences of Oisin McWilliams and Gareth McKinless, I would recall Shea Downey who had an excellent match against Offaly to replace McKinless in the half back line and Shane McGuigan to come in instead of Lachlan Murray in the full forward line. Hopefully Jack Doherty and Micael McEvoy who has not appeared so far are fit to take their place in the match day squad instead of the two absent players. Doire Abu

Before commenting on the heavy defeat to Galway yesterday let us get rid of some of the more self inflicted negative characteristics of the woeful performance by Derry yesterday.First and foremost,except sometimes when you are playing a lesser team,no team should EVER give up an advantage if they win the toss to play with a very strong wind as was the case yesterday.

To do so against a side of Galway's calibre and potential was a cardinal error in the extreme.It reminded me of the 2017 All Ireland minor final against Kerry when Derry management decided to mark David Clifford as if he were just an ordinary player. Since that time circumstances have constantly proven the fallacy of that tactic.

So, yesterday's decision to play against the wind was also totally unfair on the whole Derry team,especially the goalkeeper and the defenders.That fateful decision was compounded when two normally reliable defenders made uncharacreistic individual errors which led to two opportunist goals.Admittedly the concession of the third goal was rather fortuitous  but the net result was that the game was over at half time.

Psychologically the team was destroyed because they had not experienced such a first half pummelling in any of the other games and understandably found it difficult, despite their best efforts, to make any real inroads into the deficit during the second half.

Another growing characteristic of this Derry team is the indiscipline amongst some of the more experienced players.Most of the team are very disciplined but the real test of discipline is how you react when you are  losing or beaten fairly to the ball.Sadly two of our best players fell by the wayside in this regard yesterday.Both of them have earned a reputation for getting booked regularly and this is not good for the morale of the vast majority who always adhere to the rules.If Derry is to make meaningful progress all their best players have to be always on the field of play and available at all times.

As Michael Wilson stated accurately in the Derry Journal this indiscipline yesterday had no bearing on the result but it could have in subsequent games if Management do not address this with a sense of immediate urgency as we do not want to see other players being dragged into this mire of unnecessary sideshows.

None of us really expected Derry to win yesterday but most of us expected a Rory Gallager led team to be at the least very competitive, if not able to sneak a victory.However, even if the team had played with the wind in the first half all the evidence is that Galway have a lot more quality footballers than we have at present.Galway in terms of ability have always had a first Division material team but for a variety of reasons they have been very inconsistent.Unfortunately, we came up against a side at their brilliant best yesterday. Admittedly  our "wind" decision helped them considerably to show that undoubted brilliance.

Nevertheless, despite this heavy loss, we must remember that Galway performance set the benchmark for First Division Football and showed that Derry are essentially a mid division Two football side at present.The challenge for Rory and the Management is how to bridge that gap between the top tier and ourselves.Hopefully, when all the promising young players fully develop, Derry will achieve that.In the meantime, it is vitally important that Management and players get together immmediately to learn the lessons of yesterday,both sides admit their mistakes and mutually  plot their future strategy for success.

A good win against Meath would restore any flagging morale and prepare us for the Ulster Championship.If Tyrone can recover from what happened against Kerry in their League game last year by winning the All Ireland, Derry can  at least make their mark in the Ulster Championship!

 To answer Restorepride's  query as to whom I would have on frees the answer is simple.Niall Loughlin would be my choice as he is an excellent free taker from all ranges.

Emmett Bradley and Benny Heron are also capable short range free takers and presumably Ben McCarron and Shane Heavron, who are also accurate place kickers,  will both be on the bench.McCarron might even start. So Derrry are NOT short of good place kickers for Sunday's encounter!