Derry boss Damien McErlain has faith in his players ahead of today's Ulster Minor final

Ulster GAA Minor Football Championship Final

Derry vs. Monaghan

Armagh Athletics Ground

Today, 6pm

Last week’s win over Donegal could prove to the best possible preparation for today's Ulster final for Damian McErlain and his players.

Derry Minors head into their seventh Ulster final in nine years this evening on the back of a bruising encounter which was everything that has been missing from the Oakleafers’ campaign so far.

Ever since that painful league final defeat at the hands of Donegal, McErlain’s team have plowed their way through opponent after opponent, striking up nine straight wins. But the wins were straightforward for the most part, the performances good and comfortable. They were far from hard pushed for most of that run, but that all changed last Saturday, and it could well have been exactly what Derry needed at the right time.

“We had two tough group matches against Monaghan and Donegal,” McErlain reflected. “I know we beat Donegal well in the group but it was still a hard-fought day as such. We had two weeks where we had wins over Fermanagh and Antrim. They were big wins for us but they were not really good for preparing you for what’s ahead.

“We’re very well aware of that, particularly when Donegal have ourselves then Monaghan and then Cavan, which are three really tough games three weeks in a row coming into our match. We had to cope with that and I suppose it’s good to get over the line and under the belt now at this stage, so hopefully it will bring us on a bit.”

A low scoring semi-final ended 0-9, 0-4 in Derry’s favour, a result very much against the norm for a high-scoring team. For once it was Derry’s defence getting all the plaudits.

“It just shows how tight it was, how hard-fought every ball was,” McErlain said. “It was a proper Championship match, strange physical and no one taking a backward step. Semi-finals are about winning and it’s hard to beat playing a tough semi-final to be quite honest in terms of getting you into gear so you can understand what you need to work on the next day. There’s so much we need to work on coming out of it.”

“The game has changed hasn’t it, in terms of defences only, whereas now the whole team is part of your make up and how you go about defending. We have been very strong defensively, there’s no denying that. Having said that, Monaghan do provide a serious attacking threat all over the pitch and they are not afraid to go at you and take you on at pace, and we are very aware of that. We have played a couple of tough games against them already so we’ll get another defensive test this weekend, no question.”

Derry have played this week’s opponent twice already in recent times and won on both occasions, but if anything, McErlain believes that will give Monaghan more incentive to make it third time a charm.

“No, I don’t think it does matter on Sunday,” he explained. “When it comes to the ball thrown in, it’s on the day and the teams have to perform, so it certainly doesn’t matter psychologically when it comes to us, but it probably puts the bit between the teeth for Monaghan because they probably understand that they will have to work to get one up on us.

“Part of the development is about showing up on the day and having the temperament for the big games. I suppose that’s all part of it. The boys who are playing week in and week out just have to treat this as another game.”

History

While Derry have a strong record at this level, McErlain can also hold his head high, after leading the Minors to three successive finals between 2015-2017 in his first spell as manager. He is no stranger to a big day out in Ulster.

“It’s good to get there,” he agreed. “There’s been a lot of football played to get to this point so it’s really good to get over the line in a tough semi-final.  

“It’s good to be back. It’s a nice place to be. It’s really good to get this far. It’s been a long winter with the group and it’s good for everybody, so it’s a nice place to be and hopefully we can perform.”

McErlain himself admits he won’t have much to say to his players come 5:30pm this evening, and he is keeping faith that the talent that has brought them this far will take them the extra step in Armagh.

“Because the games are coming thick and fast, they are set up as a team and they are organised as a team and you just keep refreshing the key points,” he explained.

“You’re working on whatever Monaghan’s strengths are and paying a wee bit of attention to that, but it’s mainly about tweaking anything we want to work on ourselves. In the sense of the occasion, we don’t have to explain how big this is. We just need to go out and enjoy it and play with a bit of freedom.”