McGarvey expecting more difficult test for Derry against Donegal

Allianz Hurling League Roinn 2B   |   Donegal v. Derry
Letterkenny   |   Saturday, 2:30pm

Johnny McGarvey believes Donegal will be 'a big step up' for his team when they meet in Letterkenny this weekend.

The Derry boss led his team to an opening day win in against Tyrone at Celtic Park on Sunday in the opening game of the new 2B season. But it was far from comfortable for Derry, even though it looked as if they were headed to an easy victory at one stage, having gone into the half time break 0-17, 0-5 up.

But the gale force wind swirling around Celtic Park was undoubtedly a factor, but just in the sizeable Derry lead, but also the second half Tyrone fightback, with seven successive scores taking them to within just five points of Derry.

A Corey O'Reilly goal arrived at the perfect time for Derry, and two red cards for Tyrone meant that their attempt at a fightback ended at that five point difference. In the end, Derry came away with a 2-20, 0-16 win, and getting that win was the most important factor for the Derry boss.

"I'm delighted with the win, I really am but I'm just really disappointed with the way we played for the first 15 minutes of the second half," he said, "Everything we talked about at half-time we didn't do. We didn't control the ball, we lost the breaks.

"To be fair to Tyrone we fully expected them to pull it back, it was probably worth 10 points that breeze and when they got seven in a row at the start of the second half, we were under pressure.

"Corey stepped up with a massive goal for us and it made a big difference. It turned the game and at that stage I thought we controlled the game until the red card. Then there was the second red and the game was over after that.

"I'm over the moon to get a win. It's some difference from this time last year when we were beat out the gate by Kerry so I'm happy to get off with a win."

Turbulent

Last year was turbulent to say the least for McGarvey, whose team struggled in the league amidst turmoil off the pitch. To get off and running with a win this time around delighted the manager, who admits that anything could have happened on the day due to the weather.

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Dún na nGall
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️ O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny
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"We talked about it at half-time but I don't think we underestimated the wind, it's just the type of game that it was," he continued, "When you had it you had to make hay and when you didn't you had to dig deep. To be fair we dug deep.

"The first 15 minutes of the match was probably when we won it. I think it went 0-14 to 0-1 and I felt at that stage we would have to do something really stupid to mess it up. I felt 12 or 13 points was where it had to be at half-time but when it came back to five then definitely the sweat was coming on then.

The Oakleafers defeated Tyrone at Celtic Park on Sunday past. (Pic: Cathal McOscar)

"Eoin made two really good saves; the penalty save was a big one. I think that would have brought it back to eight or nine at that stage and all of a sudden it is a different game with the wind to come for them, but you need that. That's what he's in there to do, he's in there to keep the ball out of the net and we got a clean sheet today so I'm over the moon with that."

Next season's league restructuring means that Derry a top three finish to ensure they are playing in a revamped Division Two in 2025, but McGarvey wants promotion full stop and another win at Donegal this weekend would be a great step in the right direction.

"Performances do matter. If you want to improve then performances do matter so we will work on what we did wrong, try to continue to do what we did right and roll on to Letterkenny next Saturday. No question about it Donegal will be a big step up. They've won the McGurk Cup and they are going fairly well at this stage."