Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[Boghopper]

Derry U20s are in a great position to win Ulster and indeed the big one.

[Wildweasel74]

Judge better after the Donegal game, then need be getting game time into Sargent. Why Doherty pull out this year, he be one of the better forwards.

[jb77]

There's value in being the no 1 or 2 option on the back to back Derry champions as well, club pride and all

[JoG2]

Sargent wasn't listed in the 24 in the match program on the Ulster GAA website. And not mentioned in the twitter commentary.
Good wins for both the minors and the under 20s.
Minor team and squad seems to be a secret. haven't seen any information about them except scores.

The minors got out of jail yesterday. A poor enough game with not much quality on both sides. A howler from the Donegal keeper gifting us a goal near the end. Could have won by more if we had been more efficient and taken better options but have to remember most of these lads are still only 16. Some big units in the squad though for the age of them.

Indeed

[p3427977]

Why are the u20 games in Celtic Park?

[oakleaflad]

MATCH SQUAD
U20 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
vs. DONEGAL
01.04.26 | 7:30 PM
FIND INSURANCE CELTIC PARK

1. JACK McCLOY
2. RORY SMALL
3. PADRAIG HARAN
4. FIONN McELDOWNEY
5. LUKE GRANT
6. CAHAL McKAIGUE
7. BLAIN McDAID
8. TOMMY ROGERS
9. MICHAEL HIGGINS
10. EAMON YOUNG
11. CAHIR SPIERS
12. JOHNNY McGUCKIAN
13. CAOIMHIN HARGAN
14. CONALL HIGGINS
15. GER DILLON

SUBSTITUTES:
CAHIR HAMPSON, JOHN BOYLE, JUDE BRYSON, RONAN CANAVAN, COEN CASSIDY, DARA DOHERTY, CHRIS McCULLAGH, DARA McGUCKIN, DYLAN ROCKS, CODY ROCKS, FINBAR MURRAY, CAOLAN HIGGINS, DARRAGH O'NEILL, CONRAD MULLAN, TURLOUGH McHUGH, RIAN COLLINS, PADRAIG O'KANE, JAMES SARGENT, CATHAL Ó MIANÁIN, CATHAIR McBRIDE

[HonDerry]

Should be a good game, some talented players on show who are/will be county seniors.
Good to see Luke Grant back. I hear Sargent is doubtful for this campaign.
 

[Newbridge Exile]

All level at half time, both teams having periods of dominance Max Campbell started and got a goal 30 seconds into the game  Cody Rocks started in place of Eamon Young

[Ryan O]

We'll move on from that U20 performance albeit both teams were very poor but Donegal won't care.

Thought we were very poor up front, didn't seem to have any ideas.

[Rawhide]

Pure crap, a team playing with fear of Donegal, and that message had to have delivered by the manager in whatever what they communicated to the squad. No body taking anyone on except McGuckin, slow laborious play with no purpose. Higgins is a quality player. A coached team that took one of the best u20 forwards in Ulster out of game in any threatening way. Hopefully this is a wake up call about how not to play

[screenexile]

We'll move on from that U20 performance albeit both teams were very poor but Donegal won't care.

Thought we were very poor up front, didn't seem to have any ideas.

Totally agree some poor passing and decision making at times. Our defence was very good and we had loads of ball but we were poor in front of goal Eamon Young definitely a miss with his direct running. Thought Higgins could have been more direct tonight as well he didn't influence the game much.

[Ryan O]

We're going to end up developing a generation of half backs.

I get there's a system and the group need to be in sync but I'd love to see a real maverick of a young lad coming through who just has a go.

This isn't just a Derry thing, very few counties seem to be prepared to find a spot for these type of players.

[Topmarks]

I agree we probably need a few more boys who are willing to take there man on and have a shot. Donegal were very organised and don't give much space for tap over scores but we should still be able to work shots from 35m out but never seemed able or willing to have a go. For all our minor team success he also barely used a sub so not sure what that says.

Just hoping we learn a few lessons and improve from that. We will need to bring more intensity and better forward play if we are to beat the better teams.

[HonDerry]

So last night

First thing, Donegal are beatable. They're the favourites based on big names, but there isn't a gap between those teams. That should give us confidence. We were missing Young, they were missing McCahill

They are well organised defensively, actually similar to the Donegal senior setup.
Their keeper pushes out, and they set themselves up well around the arc, which makes them very hard to break down.

What didn't work
Slow lateral kicking
It didn't shift them. Their defence  gets across quickly and we never created the gap we were hoping for.
Sending non-shooters inside and we didn't deliver a ball in. Their keeper is out, so no one is actually free
1v1 breaking from the arc, even top players will get bottled up. It's not a reflection on individuals, it's how well they defend. Previous posts asking for this but it won't work on its own.

What might work
Attack in numbers
Not individuals, waves. Force them to make decisions.
Decoy and hard running - Eamonn, Young, Spiers and McGuckin will be good at this
We need runners dragging defenders out of shape to create real space, not hopeful space.
Quicker, more direct play, before they're set. That's when they're vulnerable.
Be willing to take risks - if we play safe, they will do the same as last night

Game management
We only needed a draw, we should have held onto the ball in extra time

The positives
They struggled to break us down too.
That tells us we're in a good place.
Just need a change in how we attack and when we take control of the game.  That needs to start now not waiting to try it against them. We will have Antrim and a quarter-final to improve.

[Ryan O]

So last night

First thing, Donegal are beatable. They're the favourites based on big names, but there isn't a gap between those teams. That should give us confidence. We were missing Young, they were missing McCahill

They are well organised defensively, actually similar to the Donegal senior setup.
Their keeper pushes out, and they set themselves up well around the arc, which makes them very hard to break down.

What didn't work
Slow lateral kicking
It didn't shift them. Their defence  gets across quickly and we never created the gap we were hoping for.
Sending non-shooters inside and we didn't deliver a ball in. Their keeper is out, so no one is actually free
1v1 breaking from the arc, even top players will get bottled up. It's not a reflection on individuals, it's how well they defend. Previous posts asking for this but it won't work on its own.

What might work
Attack in numbers
Not individuals, waves. Force them to make decisions.
Decoy and hard running - Eamonn, Young, Spiers and McGuckin will be good at this
We need runners dragging defenders out of shape to create real space, not hopeful space.
Quicker, more direct play, before they're set. That's when they're vulnerable.
Be willing to take risks - if we play safe, they will do the same as last night

Game management
We only needed a draw, we should have held onto the ball in extra time

The positives
They struggled to break us down too.
That tells us we're in a good place.
Just need a change in how we attack and when we take control of the game.  That needs to start now not waiting to try it against them. We will have Antrim and a quarter-final to improve.

Damian you've put the message in the wrong group.