Christy Ring adventure begins today for Derry hurlers

Wicklow vs. Derry

Echelon Park

Today, 1pm

This is the one that Johnny McGarvey and Derry have been waiting for as the Christy Ring Cup begins today with a trip to Wicklow.

Having come through a successful league campaign unbeaten as Division 2B champions, Derry now turn their attentions to the main event of their season, a competition that has both inspired them and broken them in equal measure over the years.

Last last summer, in McGarvey’s first season in charge, Derry went all the way to the Christy Ring final at Croke Park, only to lose to Meath, the county’s third such loss in the Christy Ring after final defeats in 2015 and 2021. It is a trophy that has eluded Derry for far too long, always agonisingly just out of reach. In fact, the county hasn’t had a real success at that kind of level since their Ulster win of 2001, with Nicky Rackard victories in 2006 and 2007 scant reward for the effort and the quality from those in the Derry shirt over the years since. There have been plenty of near misses since, but the Christy Ring remains elusive.

“It was always about the Christy Ring,” McGarvey said. “The league was a means to an end. I'm looking forward to getting going now in Championship. The league was important which made it exciting for us. But look, it's done and dusted that it's out of the way now. We're really looking forward to Wicklow at the weekend and moving forward in this competition.”

As well as putting some early points on the board, which they didn’t do last year, this weekend’s game also gives Derry the chance to right the wrongs of their last visit in March. Expected to beat a struggling Wicklow side easily, Derry were held to an 0-18 apiece draw, a result which frustrated McGarvey no end, particularly as his team passed up countless opportunities to win it, a continuous theme throughout the season so far.

“Defensively, we're been very good,” McGarvey continued. “We’ve looked solid and we don’t look like we’re going to concede. Defensively, we’re very experienced. We've really, really good players. Overall, we're happy with where we're at, but I would say defensively, we've been very, very good.”

“(At the other end) I think we're getting a lot of shots away. It's a wee bit more of a concern now because it's happened over three or four games. It hasn't just been a one-off. But look, it's something we're working very hard at just to tidy up on; just take the right options or just steady a wee bit when we're having our shots.

“In wee flashes of the game; it came against Roscommon although the game sort of petered out in the second half and a lot of our scores weren't very competitive. There were training ground scores, putting up the big score against Roscommon. But we've had plenty of chances in the other games that we feel weren't particularly difficult, chances that should have been taken. We've done a lot of work to try and tidy it up so hopefully it will come to fruition at the weekend.”

‘Forgotten’

McGarvey is not one to sit and mull over the past, and he has already consigned the defeat at Croke Park to history, instead focusing on the present, and a talented squad with the right mix od youth and experience.

“It's not something we've ever sat down really and discussed among ourselves,” he explained. “We've six, seven, eight new players into the panel. Some of the teams that are in the Christy Ring weren't there last year. For example, we'll have to play Kildare at some stage. Last year, we've got the experience of it to look back on and try and right the wrongs.

“The first game we go into, we have to be careful, because we dropped points in the first game last year. It's good to have the experience of last year but it won't really have any bearing on how things go this time around.”

It is difficult to countenance that McGarvey ha been in charge for almost 18 months now, during which time so much has happened, from picking up the bare bones of a squad when he came in, to relegation from 2A to the Christy Ring Final, to promotion from SB and now another Christy Ring campaign. The time has flown and Derry’s progress in the last year has been unmissable.

“Our players have been brilliant,” McGarvey said. “They've set the example; they've set the standards and they've lived up to them so far. We've got great leaders in our bunch and some great young players through there who bring a fantastic energy to training. I suppose they are young boys just coming through and not a care in the world. Add that in to guys who have been there a long, long time and have slogged the hard yards for Derry. We've got a really good blend in there.”