DERRY GAA: Watt an opener

M&L Contracts SFC Preliminary Round - Glen v Swatragh Sunday 7.30 - Owenbeg THIS is what the Gaels of the county have been calling for -knockout football.  With no second chances Glen and Swatragh will go at it hammer and tongs on Sunday evening. The prize is a first round clash with Dungiven, with defeat spelling the unthinkable – a summer gone before it has even got going. Both neighbouring teams have rebuilt with a spell in the intermediate ranks and are back in the top flight to stay.  Swatragh took a championship title from their spell down in division two but Glen fell at the final hurdle. They certainly weren’t found wanting at underage level with a plethora of championships to their name.  During their domination Slaughtneil pushed them every step of the way but, lost to the majority of the county was the fact that Swatragh were sitting quietly beneath the surface. The Davitts, without raising any headlines were churning out players with the Kearneys and McAtamneys coming along to complement what was already an established backbone.

Central to that Glen underage production line was former Derry star Enda Gormley and he is back for a second spell at the helm. The word coming out at the start of the year was the craving to become an ‘established senior club’, a goal that has long passed.  Wins over recent championship specialists Ballinderry and Slaughtneil spell the start of the next phase. Like Swatragh, Glen have had limited time with access to their county contingent but wins over Lavey and Slaughtneil respectively will have provided the perfect breeding ground for a championship performance. Swatragh are managed by Peter McKeever, an Armagh native now living in Cookstown.  McKeever won an Antrim intermediate championship in charge of St Teresa’s with a brand of counterattacking football. With a different array of players at his disposal, Swatragh are playing more direct football – it was the winning ticket recently against Lavey. Swatragh will have noted the free kicking ability of Emmett Bradley so their tackling will need to be measured and disciplined. Glen’s pace has caused teams trouble this season.  Ciaran McFaul’s runs through the centre combined with the pace of Danny Tallon and Ryan Winton in attack. Against Slaughtneil, it was evident that Glen were planning for Swatragh’s threat with Jack Doherty and Johnny McCamley dropping back to help Connor Carville cover the space. Doherty and fellow speed merchant Tiarnan Flanagan limped out of the game but Gormley expects both to be available. “JD’s (Doherty) is a knock rather than a twist so we’d be hopeful,” indicated Glen manager Enda Gormley.  In the case of Tiarnan Flanagan, his manager also expects him to be available. Reports are that Winton picked up an ankle knock against Claudy last Sunday and is a major doubt for Sunday's Owenbeg showdown. Stevie O’Hara has enjoyed getting a few games under his belt after injury and like Emmett Bradley, his long range kicking will be a useful string in Glen’s bow. Also back from a layoff is Ryan Dougan and Glen used him to exploit the height advantage over Ronan Bradley against Slaughtneil. With Swatragh’s middle third littered with skyscrapers the strategy to use the wings could prove useful. The debate will be who actually wears the Glen number one jersey.  Andrew Warnock, Ciaran McCloy and Callum Mullan-Young all have county experience at some level.  The latter two have been rotated regularly during the league. Swatragh have moved swiftly to solve their goalkeeping situation.  With regular Mick O’Kane side-lined, McKeever has drafted in outfield Seamus McFlynn to fill the void.  O’Kane was on the county panel earlier in the season but picked up an injury making a save against Newbridge earlier in the season. McFlynn scored 6-3 in a Corn nA nÓg final over a decade ago, giving you an inkling of his football ability.  An age when your goalkeeper is very much an ace card, the Swa defence will be confident in the man behind them. Over the years Swatragh have never been short of midfielders. Tohill, Poni McAtamney, Joe McCullagh, Mickey Friel and Ruairi Convery.  Then the younger brigade of Niall and Conor McAtamney, Patrick and James Kearney – the tradition continues. “Conor McAtamney is not 6’ 4” but he can jump 6’ 4”, if you know what I mean and James Kearney is the same,” explained McKeever. A possible permutation across the middle could be James Kearney, Niall McAtamney, Ruairi Convery and Patrick Kearney.  This will linger in Glen’s train of thought this week. “They (Swatragh) have to be the biggest team in Derry even their forward line has a lot of big men,” indicated Gormley. It means midfield will have a huge bearing with Paul McAtamney always good for a point or two in attack and Francis Kearney tearing defences apart during the league. Peter McKeever could put Conor McAtamney in direct opposition to Ciaran McFaul.  Perhaps a negative step but if McFaul’s influence can be curbed it will take away the main component of Glen’s engine room. Oisin Hegarty is Glen’s designated man marker, he is quick and a good tackler so Gormley will likely hand him the responsibility of picking up Francis Kearney. Arguments can be made for either side to win this game, showing the attraction of the straight knockout factor. The vast spaces of Owenbeg (5m wider and 3m shorter than Croke Park) could suit Glen’s pacey attack but they will need Ciaran McFaul, Emmett Bradley and captain Cathal Mulholland to come forward and get on the end of moves. Swatragh should fair better in the aerial exchanges in the middle and will need to in order to support and attack that thrives on early ball.  If Glen can use the width of the pitch and break even at midfield, the Wattys could just edge it.  Don’t rule out a replay – it would be another attractive fixture. VERDICT: Glen Swatragh View: Peter McKeever The Magherafelt game was our catalyst for the rest of the year, to put in a big performance and don’t let our performance levels drop. By and large we have kept the performance levels up and I am happy where we are after the first six months. Glen are coming from a more sturdy background with success at minor and U21s it’s their time.  They have Enda Gormley there, he has been there, done that and he’s seen it all and a more experienced man you wouldn’t want. The cards are stacked in their favour.  We have put in decent league campaign, so we’re just hoping we can put up a decent showing in the championship. Glen View: Enda Gormley Swatragh has had a good league campaign, I’ve saw them a few times and they are very well improved.  They beat us in the league.  There was only a point in it in the end, at half-time there was two or three in it but there should’ve been ten. Francis Kearney is their main scorer but others chip in regularly and when you have four or five scorers, you’re not in a bad place. I know it’s innuendo but we’ve not looked ahead.  Swatragh has been our target all year.  You can’t be arrogant.  All the top sports people have a degree of humility and we cannot look past this Swatragh game. KEY BATTLE – Francis Kearney v Oisin Hegarty Just out of the minor grade Kearney has been grabbing the headlines all season with his scoring exploits.  Hegarty is a sticky customer and will almost certainly be tasked with keeping tabs on him and it will have a bearing on the result of the game.