Wicklow test for Derry hurlers

Wicklow vs. Derry   |   Echelon Park   |   Sunday, 1pm   |   Ref: Nicky O’Toole

One more win should do it for Johnny McGarvey and his players, who head to Wicklow this weekend with the intention of guaranteeing their place in the league final.

It has all gone as McGarvey would have hoped since the season started, victories over Tyrone and London at Celtic Park either side of a victory over Donegal in Letterkenny helping Derry achieve their primary target of playing in what is set to be a revamped Division 2 next year.

While the Derry boss is still looking for more consistency from his players – feeling they have played well only in patches – he is more than content that his squad are headed in the right direction, a far cry from the situation at county level this time last year, when the Derry boss picked through the chaos of great upheaval within the squad.

All of that noise is ancient history at this stage and McGarvey and his team are looking at a brighter future, taking it one victory at a time, and it is a case of so far, so good for the county’s hurlers. With the top three position all but secured, the league final is the next objective, an ambition that the Derry boss has made no secret of at all.

“We have Wicklow away and Roscommon at home and that’s where our aim is at now. We’re now building towards a league final,” he acknowledged. “We'll see where everything's at, but look, no, we're very happy where we're at just now.”

It hasn’t been perfect by any means as yet. Amidst those three wins, issues have popped up which the manager and his stage are keen to address.

Derry have been dominant at spells in their three league games so far, but have had the tendency to leave the door open for their opponents to come back. While a gale force wind could be acknowledged as the reason for a brief Tyrone fight back at Celtic Park last month, that wasn’t the case against Donegal or London, the latter of which were even gifted a goal right of the start of the second half two weeks ago.

On that occasion, Derry responded well to each of London’s two goals, hitting six points then seven points consecutively, but McGarvey wants more consistency, and is pushing his players to be at full tilt and aware of game management from the first whistle to the last.

“We had that patch in the second half against Tyrone and a wee patch in the first half against Donegal, it’s just trying to put it all together over 70 minutes. It just hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “I mean, we’re getting there. For large spells (against London) we were very, very good and we were totally dominant all over the pitch, and then there was that wee lull after 20 minutes; I think we were eight points up and then we conceded a goal and a point. We have plenty to work on, but we’re just not where we want to be just yet.

“We responded well (to the goals) and we were probably never really in danger. Once we went six or seven points up in the first half we always looked like we had enough firepower to get us over the line, so we we’re happy enough.”

In that last game against London, three Derry players had to pull double duty of sorts, Aimon Duffin, Ruairi O’Mianain and James Friel all turning out for the county’s U20 team just 24 hours before the seniors’ game at Celtic Park.

Derry defeated London at Celtic Park two weeks ago to leave them on the cusp of qualifying for the league final.

That won’t be the case this weekend, with all three sure to be fresh as Derry look to make maintain a 100% record with four wins from four games.

“They're good leaders and although they played a full match, they need to play in games like this, if they're going to come on and they're going to push on,” McGarvey said after the victory over London. “They need to play in tough games against good enough teams.

"Look, their attitude's on the money, they do everything right, no hassle with them three cubs at all and every time they've played for us they've been brilliant, so look, happy days.”