Damian McErlain hails team's resolve with All-Ireland final on the horizon

Derry minor manager Damian McErlain hit out at the stewarding of Sunday evening’s All-Ireland semi-final and paid tribute to his team for coming out on the right side of the result. 

The Ulster champions were reduced to 14-men after half-time when goalkeeper Jack McCloy was sent off for a strike in the tunnel as players made their way into the dressing rooms before the interval. 

“We knew going in at half-time there was the issue with Jack,” revealed McErlain, with the Derry management team replacing attacker John Boyle with sub ‘keeper Karl Campbell. Before the ball was thrown in for the second half, referee Sean Laverty issued McCloy with a red card. 

“He (McCloy) was jostled as he went into the tunnel with Dublin players and officials, and he reacted.” McErlain said of the incident. 

“It is a real stewarding issue to be quite honest, the thing wasn’t well stewarded. They are supposed to hold one team back and they didn't do that.” 

It was Karl Campbell’s first game since the Ulster league final when his late kick-out was intercepted in the leadup to Donegal’s winning goal but he was calmness personified in Sunday’s pressure cooker. 

“Fair play to Karl,” McErlain said. “That was some level of maturity to step in. He nailed pretty much every kick out he had.  

“We keep telling him all year, 'You have to be ready; you have to be ready' and he would say, 'aye, aye' but he showed today he's worth his weight in gold. He was brilliant. Fair play to him.” 

Derry led 0-7 to 0-4 at the break but Dublin were level within six minutes when Shane Mullarkey finished to the net. 

If anything, it poked the bear even more and Derry outscored the Dubs 3-3 to 0-3 for the remainder of the game with goals from Luke Grant, Cahir Spiers and a penalty from Man of the Match James Sargent. 

"We upped the ante big time in terms of our level of aggression in the tackle and the turnover,” McErlain said of the turning of the game. 

“We were angry about the whole Jack situation. We thought we had been wronged there and the boys were talking about coming out and doing it for Jack.  

“Dublin had targeted him in their eyes and that's one of their team-mates, so we were going to make sure we were coming off the pitch winning. 

"And the boys brought that level of intensity. Maybe it is a wee lesson for them. That's what you need to win championship matches at this level and going forward when they play senior.” 

It takes Derry into a second All-Ireland final in three seasons and one better than last year’s semi-final defeat at the hands of Galway. 

"It means the county is doing something right,” McErlain said of the progress he jumpstarted with the county’s 2015 Ulster win after a 13-years absence. 

“Clubs are producing the right level of player; the houses and homes are producing the right level of player. It means the structures are right in the clubs,” McErlain added on how the players arrive at county minor level ready for the next step in their development. 

"You can see the level of quality we have there and it's great, the momentum and that. One minor final (2020) isn't enough to keep producing for a senior team, we need to keep the lads coming through.”