Ulster U21 Hurling Final
Derry v Down
Wednesday - Corrigan Park Belfast - 7.30pm.
by Orlagh Mullan
Derry Under 21 captain Ciaran Steele believes his team have what it takes to become Ulster champions as they prepare to face Down on Wednesday night.
Collie McGurk’s side were dominant against Antrim in the semi-final meeting a week ago, despite two late Saffrons goals taking a shine off the 2-11 to 3-6 scoreline.
It’s a victory that skipper Steele was pleased with against a county renowned for their hurling ability.
“It was a good win for us because they have a lot of good hurlers, but we’ve got hurlers of our own too and physical players who can do a job,” he told the County Derry Post.
“There was high pressure from them on our backs but we tried to play the best hurling we could and we were able to come away with a good result in the end.”
A glance at Down’s semi-final result would certainly be enough to make the Oak Leafers wary about tomorrow’ meeting, as they came away with an 8-19 to 1-15 success over an Armagh side who were massive underdogs going into the meeting.
“Down have a lot of good hurlers too,” insisted the Kevin Lynch’s man.
“I’ve played with and against some of them and there’s some classy forwards who can really do a job. Our game against Antrim shows what we can do. They played Armagh who might be considered weaker opposition but the score that they were able to amass over the game shows that they have the ability to hurt you if you’re not on it.”
Steele insists that the aim for the squad has always been to reach the provincial final, and he believes that the major overlap of players from the squad that won the Nicky Rackard Cup in Croke Park earlier in the summer will stand them in good stead.
“The aim was always just to get into the final for us. I’m not sure if many of us boys on that team have ever beat Antrim, in their full capacity, in hurling so plenty of us were up for a good game against them and that’s what it turned out to be,” he recalled.
“The past couple of months that we’ve had adds a bit of belief into the camp that a Derry team can go on to win something. In the Nicky Rackard we didn’t really have a lot of tough opposition in it, and most of the games we won convincingly so it shows what a Derry team can do and we have a lot of boys carried over from that squad into the Under 21 panel so that will stand us in good stead,” he added.
Tomorrow’s final now means that the Oak Leaf county have appeared in the Ulster showpiece in both codes at both U21 and minor level. Steele agrees that it is a positive development for Derry.
“It’s great to see,” he admitted.
“I suppose it shows that the county board and everyone must be doing something right to have that level of underage success and consistent Ulster finals across the board.”
He continued: “Young teams coming through at minor and Under 21 are obviously what we’ll be looking to in the future so the success this year is really positive and hopefully it can continue on Wednesday.”
With a huge year ahead of the senior hurlers in 2018, and manager Collie McGurk at the helm of the U21 side, Steele agreed that this was a chance to impress the boss and prove that they have the ability to go on and lead the Oak Leafers in the coming months and years.
“It’s a great chance to get Derry on the map and that’s obviously what our main is as a team,” insisted the skipper.
“Having Collie there is a massive help and hopefully we can bring a bit of Under 21 success now looking ahead to next year and how important that is going to be at senior level as well.”
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