Biggest test so far for Derry hurlers

Kildare vs. Derry   |   Manguard Park   |   Saturday, 1pm

Johnny McGarvey knows his team will meet their biggest challenge to date when they face Kildare at Manguard Park this Saturday.

It is a case of ‘so far, so good’ for the Oakleafers who have maximum points after two games in the Christy Ring Cup. But if Derry are to make it to the final once again, this weekend’s game will go a long way to ensuring that, with Kildare favourites to top the group.

“It’s the acid taste,” McGarvey admitted. “Look, Kildare are the favourites and that's fair enough, no problem. We're going to go there, all guns blazing, and they're going to be the one that have to beat us.”

‘All guns blazing’ Derry certainly are, with a good win at Wicklow followed by a dominant display against Tyrone at Owenbeg last Saturday. In a completely one-sided contest, Derry went in 16 points clear at the break, and ended up winning by 19 on a 2-26, 0-13 score line. It was as emphatic as the results suggested, with McGarvey even able to take some of his big hitters off long before the final whistle.

“Very, very impressive,” he agreed afterwards. “I'm really happy with that. We felt probably over the last couple of weeks that performance was in us. The weather dried up, the pitch was good, conditions were good. Maybe you look at it the last few weeks, it's just winter hurling. Conditions have been awful, but we really did, we thought that performance was in us. We talked about it all week, and there it was.”

All season long, the Derry boss has looked for consistency from his team, and he feels it finally arrived in a performance he believes was easily the best of the season to date.

“I think so, I think over the whole game, yes,” he agreed. “You know, probably got a wee bit messy in the second half that we wouldn't really like. We did a few silly things, a few hand passes which didn't go to hand, and we over-carried the ball maybe a couple of times. Overall, there were probably ten changes there in the second half between the two teams and I think that sort of happens in matches, but I think overall, no question, the best performance this season.”

McGarvey now feels that two wins in the next three games will be enough for his team, but with Kildare and then London coming up in successive games, Derry will have to step it up again if they are to reach this year’s final.

“It's no disrespect to Tyrone or to Wicklow, but I always felt that the two toughest games certainly were going to be Kildare and London, and that's the next two,” he stated.

“London have cracking forwards. They are a different animal when it comes to the Christy Ring. I think the league matches won't be forgot about. There's three or four new players in there who are real good players, and then Kildare are the favourites, so look, those two games are crucial. There's three left, and you'll have to win two to get a place in the final. We’ll go to Kildare next week, and worry about them.”

Surprise

McGarvey sprung a surprise against Tyrone by shifting U20 star Ruairi O’Mianain to full forward in a tactical switch that paid real dividends, the Slaughtneil player scoring 0-3 but also at the heart of every Derry attack throughout. Whether he remains in the same position his week remains to be seen.

“It's probably getting the spread, especially in the big games and the tight games,” McGarvey explained. “Even last year in the Christy Ring, our spread of scorers was brilliant, but against Meath, in the two games, it wasn't. It's probably something that we've looked at. It's about getting everybody chipping in and putting scores on the board. It doesn't even have to be putting scores on the board, even if that's winning the frees that we're knocking over the bar.

Derry manager Johnny McGarvey takes his team to Kildare this weekend.

“It was just a decision that was made this week, it's not something that's been looked at. Whether it happens next week again, we'll wait and see. But it gives us options, and I think that probably we didn't have them a lot of times.

“We've changed our full forward quite a few times. We went with three inside and the teams were playing with sweepers against us. There's just a lot of things to take into consideration. I think nearly every game this season, somebody's played a sweeper against us. I don't think Kildare will. It'd be a totally different dynamic, so whether we play with that next week or not, we'll wait and see.”

“Defensively, we're only conceding 12, 13 points. If we go to Kildare next week and concede 14 points, we'll win. You know, I can't see it, but that's, you know, our defence has been so good. We're happy where we're at.”