Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[Squareball71]

On Ciaran Hendry of Lavey, Derry aren't short of half backs so it would be hard to force your way onto the team. But definitely a good footballer. If the new rules are adopted Derry will need some added size and two-point scorers in the team / squad. Maybe our new management with a longer prep time will adapt better than last year when we only seemed to get a grip on things as the curtain came down.

Would agree with this on Ciaran Hendry. He plays in a line that Derry seem to be fairly well equipped as it stands but still think he could add something. I think we all realise that the forward areas are where we need the reinforcements and apart from the players named already in the forum ( Kearney, McMonagle and Moore ) no one else has stood out. Anyone showing any potential in Intermediate or even Junior that might be worth a punt on?

Watched Galbally and Donaghmore last night and the scoring and forward play was miles ahead of anything on show in the Derry championship so far.

[JE23]

On Ciaran Hendry of Lavey, Derry aren't short of half backs so it would be hard to force your way onto the team. But definitely a good footballer. If the new rules are adopted Derry will need some added size and two-point scorers in the team / squad. Maybe our new management with a longer prep time will adapt better than last year when we only seemed to get a grip on things as the curtain came down.

Would agree with this on Ciaran Hendry. He plays in a line that Derry seem to be fairly well equipped as it stands but still think he could add something. I think we all realise that the forward areas are where we need the reinforcements and apart from the players named already in the forum ( Kearney, McMonagle and Moore ) no one else has stood out. Anyone showing any potential in Intermediate or even Junior that might be worth a punt on?

Watched Galbally and Derrylaughan last night and the scoring and forward play was miles ahead of anything on show in the Derry championship so far.

Agree with that Sqaureball, watched a lot of the Tyrone and Derry club games over the weekend. The standard of club football in Derry after the top 2 or 3 is miles behind Tyrone.

[Ryan O]

Has anyone seen a player who they think should/ could push for county spot, Niall Toner sometimes got criticism along with Dec Cassidy but when you see them in a club game they are streets ahead of the majority.

I don't hear too many criticising Niall Toner the last couple of years. Has performed very well for Derry in the last couple of years when others have faltered. Works his socks off and gives his all in my opinion.

I totally agree but there are some who think hes just holding his place and perhaps Lachlan is better option albeit injured too much.
Toner in my starting 15 every week.

[Ryan O]

Dungannon vs Trillick best club games I've seen in years.
Noah Grimes for Donaghmore was was absolute joy to watch last night.
The commitment level for majority games I watched are all way ahead of Derry. Lads absolutely throwing themselves into tackles proper hits going in.

Derry championship this year is borderline non contact, we seem a county thats obsessed with systems and styles of play, but missing that bite that used to be there.

[DuffleKing]

Looking in from Armagh and watching games from across the country via the old firestick I think the refereeing in Derry is very poor. Comparing Armagh - not saying our refs are tremendous - the amount of contact allowed in comparison is significant. Derry is powderpuff stuff - not quite as bad as Down. Tyrone somewhere in the middle.

[Ryan O]

I watch an unhealthy amount of Derry club football and whats very obvious is the premonitions about some clubs and without doubt certain players within the Derry referring circle.
There are some players who play the game on the edge, most clubs have at least one, which I think is a good thing but they then struggle to start games on a blank slate.
There are a core group of players that seem to see cards either very early or get sent off by same ref on more than one occasion.
Compared to Tyrone at the weekend were there were some dubious tackles but refs seemed more reluctant to hard out cards.

I'm not having a ref pile on and I'm fully aware how thankless a task it is but perhaps it might help our football flow slightly better.

[Mario]

Cahair isn't far off the mark with his latest article, a quarter full owenbeg does nothing for the atmosphere. There shouldn't be a game played there before the SF stage.

[Brendan]

Pitch getting some tramping to, 4 matches at the weekend, 4 hurling this weekend coming, 4 football quarter finals the week after that and so on

[Derry Man]

I don't understand it especially considering we have some great club grounds, definitely adds to the Tyrone championship

[theticklemister]

Likely to do with weather. For years we have complained (rightly so), about poor facilities at games. Owenbeg has excellent facilities but souless.

[theticklemister]

Forbes and Bourke set for AFL Combine
Gaelic Games

Derry's Ruairi Forbes and Offaly's Cillian Bourke are being given the opportunity to make pitches to Australian rules clubs with an invitation to the AFL Combine early next month, writes Colm Keys.
Forbes and Bourke (below) have been selected from a panel of players that had been gathering under the AFL Ireland talent development banner in Dublin in recent weeks for practice sessions and testing.
They will travel to Australia next week and be guests of honour of the AFL at the Grand Final which takes place on the following weekend.
That Grand Final is guaranteed to have Irish interest in it with Geelong, for whom Kerry's Mark O'Connor and Mayo's Oisín Mullin have been regulars all season, playing Hawthorn, who have Meath's Conor Nash, contesting one of the preliminary finals this weekend.
In the other preliminary final, Collingwood play reigning champions Brisbane Lions who still have former Tyrone All-Ireland winner Conor McKenna and Kilkenny's Darragh Joyce on the books but neither were part of the squad for last week's semi-final.
Forbes and Bourke will also visit a number of clubs in the days after the Grand Final and then take part in the Combine to further platform their capacity to potentially adapt to AFL. Both did well in the 20-metre sprint and 2km run at recent trials that are among the indicators scouts and clubs tend to look at intensely when assessing prospective recruits.
Forbes is a three-year Derry U-20 who was part of the Ballinderry intermediate team that lost an All-Ireland final in January to Crossmolina Deel Rovers.
He joined the Derry senior squad and started against Armagh in the round-robin game before coming off the bench against Galway and Dublin. He is seen as one of Derry's brightest prospects.
Bourke is just 19 but graduated to the Offaly attack this summer and played against Kildare as they lost a Tailteann Cup quarter-final by a point against the eventual winners.

[Uncle Phil]

Every club has the same issue, that's crap, I seen Kilrea Reserve game one nite with 25+ players. Drumsurn a small place, they were never strong enough to play senior football. Derry football only strong enough for a top 12 club system but teams at the lower end of the league wouldnt go for that. What's Ballinascreen excuse for bottom of the league/championship more times than enough. Takes in 3 places, massive townland and always near the bottom.

The old "huge parish/massive townland" argument doesn't stack up in my book. I would contend the opposite is true. Look at the likes of Kilcoo, Slaughtneil, Trillick, Errigal in recent years and historically Ballinderry. All relatively small parishes (I haven't researched the square mileage) and have been hugely successful. These are places where the GAA club is the absolute heart of the community. Most children's past times are GAA. Larger towns/townlands have other activities like soccer, rallying, bars etc which definitely impacts interest in GAA. There is hurling too, but that's a whole different argument.....

[Onthe40]

Errigal is not a small parish.....massive catchment area

[Uncle Phil]

Errigal is not a small parish.....massive catchment area

I stand corrected. Been through it once in my life and didn't even see a shop. 123 acres according to google, seems small but I'm not a farmer or Ordnance Survey Man!

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Bit of a "debate" on errigal currently in the Trone thread, I dare you to go on there and say it's a small area 😆😆