Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[CookieMonster]

Shockingly awful performance against a very poor Cavan side. Too slow in attack, too loose at the back. The amount of overplaying is tedious with meaningless passing going nowhere. If the aim is to bore the opposition then it won't work against better teams. Cavan attack in the first half sliced through repeatedly and if they were any good could have been ahead.

Staying in Division 2 a blessing in disguise. 

[Wildweasel74]

Derry showed Zero bite and workrate among a number of players who were poor.Surely R Mulholland should becoming of the bench, he showed enough to me, last yr thats hes a useful defender. Derry had play Rodgers and McGrogan in the full bck line taking away from around midfield and halfback. Forwards need get their ass in gear, very slack outside Doherty. Not as confident of that Monaghan game, as i was 3/4 weeks bck.

[Ryan O]

A poor showing today, Forbes need to go to Full back until Mc Evoy is at full pace. We lose to much by putting Rogers in there.  Forbes played further out today and looked a little lost at times, I appreciate maybe a new role but thought didn't really suit him.

Clucky made a big difference but when he came on. When Baker comes out with ball he's constantly taking 2/3 solos too many an trying to invite a tackle, needs to move it quick and get back to corner back. He's not the same player as Clucky and doesn't make to the same driving runs through defences. His strength is defending.

CD massive loss obviously so maybe out of back 6 theres 3 starters missing from first 15 line up, maybe some grace can be given there. CD, Mc Evoy and Clucky all not starting.

Up front I agree with Wild Weasel its far too slow. We go forward that slow by the time we get there Murray has no space to work with.
Matthew Downey was very poor in first half and rightly substituted, but he's only coming back from injury.

Niall Toner, Sean Young made good impacts when came on.
Paudie or Gareth Derrys two best players by a fair distance.

[jb77]

Paddy Lynch is a seriously dangerous forward, Rogers done an impeccable job on him forcing him to catch deep on the handful possessions he got. Still you lose a lot with him back there and that's where McEvoy is missed. McGrogan had a serious battle with big McKiernan and again another good defensive display, just 2 from play despite playing around the square. Won't comment on the kickouts considering we started to kill there's in the 2nd half.

Going forward, I'd be a lot less sure, Ethan Doherty is seemingly the only person who can get a defense in rotation and no one showed for him today hardly at all. I had hopes for Conor McAteer and J Doherty for the very reason they can run downhill at a man, kick the ball on and are always moving and cutting. I still hope the former will return

Niall Toner came on with good intensity, Sean Young took a lovely point too, he has been quite impressive in training apparently. Shea McGuckin had a good league campaign all things considered, this time last year he was still an outfield player

[Real Talk]

Derry played at a slow pace throughout.  Cavin had a reason to win.... Derry hadn't

Derry management tried out some of their squad players to give them some game time ... non of them really impressed .. but it was great to watch 'Clucky' bringing a whole lot of energy and pace to the game

By some distance i thought Nial Loughlin was their most effective forward in terms of work rate and his goal was a cracking volley

We certainly need all our players fit and ready to go in the Championship

[Topmarks]

I've held my powder dry until the end of the league to give my take, I was hoping it would have been after a league final but not to be.

Firstly, good to win all our home games. I thought we played well against Tyrone, Offaly and Cork. Today  was not great, it felt at times we went through the motions.

I thought Paudie, Gareth, Ethan and CD had strong performances in most games. Lachlan also played well and we need to find a way to get him involved more often. Hopefully our senior players improve as the year goes on. Meenagh did say today some boys didn't get a full pre season and I thought it showed.

I agree with some posts on here in regards to our play. We play a fairly slow controlled build up when attacking. It really only works when everyone is playing at a high intensity with and without the ball. Too often it's sideways and not hurting the opposition. I felt the Meath and Louth games were quite similar where we didn't look like we could hurt them for long spells with our attack looking quite blunt.

It's far from doom and gloom. Lessons to learn in March is not a bad thing. We can build into the championship and an Ulster final is attainable. After that I'm not so sure.

One thing we do need is for everyone to be available as a part from Forbes I'm not sure anyone new has staked a claim for a starting shirt. There is definitely potential in Sean Young and Conall Higgins and the way they're putting Sargent through his paces would indicate they may use him further down the line.

Let's see what the summer brings. Hopefully we can build steadily, and get involved at the business end of the championship.

[JB3456]

Dissapointing end to the league, the game in ardee did us

Shame as on a bigger pitch in newbridge louth conded 25 pointa, but thats just how it goes

We were in this position in 2022 and kicked on hopefully can do the same, it really would be a disaster if we do not make an ulster final then who knows

[imtommygunn]

What position would Sargent play?

[jb77]

If he comes in this year, somewhere in the back 6 probably a true CHB. Would hope he develops to play anywhere in the middle 8 as time goes on

He was a back in the forwards vs backs yesterday anyway which was good to see.

Marty Bradley, Shea Downey, McEvoy, Patrick McGurk, CD all on the bench.

[Ryan O]

If he comes in this year, somewhere in the back 6 probably a true CHB. Would hope he develops to play anywhere in the middle 8 as time goes on

He was a back in the forwards vs backs yesterday anyway which was good to see.

Marty Bradley, Shea Downey, McEvoy, Patrick McGurk, CD all on the bench.

Not sure we can say a true CHB, the lad has never played senior football so I wouldn't be labeling him with potential positions yet.
Clucky is a superb CHB for Magherafelt but he will never play CHB for Derry.

[HonDerry]

Agreed with that, in my view, young players coming into a county squad need at least a couple of seasons to establish themselves. There are a few exceptions, of course. But even a player as talented as James Sargent will need time before a manager can see where he best fits.

Equally, the older players need to bring them in when they can. I have noticed on our current team a tendency by some of the older, established players not to give or hesitate before giving the pass to the younger, inexperienced teammate.

It happened to Sean Young yesterday, and then 5 minutes later, he got the ball and scored a good point. 

[Wildweasel74]

Sargent needs to be trained up to be McKinless Replacement.

[JoG2]

Derry played at a slow pace throughout.  Cavin had a reason to win.... Derry hadn't

Derry management tried out some of their squad players to give them some game time ... non of them really impressed .. but it was great to watch 'Clucky' bringing a whole lot of energy and pace to the game

By some distance i thought Nial Loughlin was their most effective forward in terms of work rate and his goal was a cracking volley

We certainly need all our players fit and ready to go in the Championship

You gotta feel for Niall...think this is maybe the only post mentioning him. He's been , by a country mile our best forward all campaign. The man is in some form


(Welcome to the board Niall)

[tbrick18]

Niall Loughlin is the most underrated player Derry has had in the last 5 years.
Is work rate is immense and he can score. I think this is the first season he's being used as an out-and-out scoring forward and it's working well. In previous seasons he played more as a link player, tracking back into our defensive unit, but he seems to be more focused on attack now.

A fully fit and functioning full forward line of Murray, Loughlin and Shane will be dangerous against any team.


On Sargent, I agree it's too early to say where he'd be best positioned. But he certainly has the attributes to play CHB - a lot will depend on how he physically develops though too.

We've a few weeks now to get Clucky, McEvoy, CD back to fitness. They don't necessarily need to be starting against Antrim, but it would be good to get a half of playing together again as early as possible.
We're getting a bit of strength on the bench now which is good.

Any updates on Gilmore, Oisin McWilliams and Lynch?

[Rawhide]

Just reading through the Antrim Camogie page who are playing D1 with all their best players available and performing well. Then in Derry we are in D2 and doing very poorly, tanked at the weekend and an embarrassing write up on the game on the Camogie facebook. The vast majority of the best players from the top teams in the county are not playing. What happened from 3 seasons ago when we had most of the best players playing and won the All Ireland intermediate. 2 players from s'neil, one I think from my own club Swatragh and none from Bellaghy who had 7 there over the past 3years. Screen I think has 2 there as well. Something seriously wrong when that is happening