'We're more excited to get back there this year' - Corey O’Reilly

Corey O’Reilly comfortably fits into the Derry hurling family now.

The Kevin Lynch’s man feels part of the furniture. And he’s adding value. Real value. The 1-24 he has notched this season takes him third in the scoring charts. And it’s all from play.

When Derry beat London to put them on track for Sunday’s final, it was his sideline cut Ruairí Ó Mianáin flicked to the net. Later in the game, when presented with a simple point chance, O’Reilly had the ambition to put a goal on Christy McNaughton’s plate.

There was a bit of football with Drum tucked onto his career, but the small ball is the only man.

His mother, Maire Farren, was steeped in camogie with Drum and encouraged a path into hurling. It's his first love. His cousin Niall Farren will also be on the bus for Dublin having made it back form injury this season.

It’s O’Reilly’s second full season in the senior camp. John McEvoy handed him a debut in Warwickshire in 2019. Coming on for Mark McGuigan, those seven minutes were the sum of his county career until last year.

He has played 18 of the 22 games since Johnny McGarvey gave him the nod.

Seated in Owenbeg’s Johnny Burke suite, ten days ahead of Sunday's Croke Park clash, everything about O'Reilly tells a tale of belonging. The words he offers, how he chooses them and his body language. It’s contentment.

“In terms of last year, there were a lot of boys that came onto the team for their debut,” he began.

There were nerves and that fed into fluctuating levels of confidence.

“As the team came together, we got to know each other that bit more and we've definitely grew as a team,” he said.

“The confidence is sky high at the minute. Boys are able to have confidence in themselves to go on and take their own scores when they want,” he adds, pointing to the greater spread of scorers since last season.

Last year, O’Reilly felt it took time to full bed in with those from other clubs. How would and rivalry manifest itself?

“The more we trained, the more we got to know all the lads and I couldn't say a bad word about any of them,” he said with genuine conviction.

“It was a great bunch that we have for the past two years. It's at a rebuilding stage at the minute the way it is and where it's going.”

There's the range. From last year’s u-20 All-Ireland winners Aimon Duffin, James Friel, Callum O’Kane and Ruairí Ó Mianáin to the experienced heads.

“(Mark) Craig, Paddy (Kelly), Tad (Sean Cassidy)…even Cormac (O‘Doherty) and Meehaul McGrath…those boys have been on the team for a long time,” O’Reilly said,” and it's good to play alongside those kind of boys.”

O’Reilly feels he belongs. The early training sessions opened the lines of communication. A word here, a word there and, all of a sudden, it’s as if you’ve been inside the walls for a decade.

“That's the great thing about it,” O’Reilly points out. “Nobody feels left out when you first join the panel.

“It's the same with any young lad that comes onto a team. You're nervous and maybe don't show your full potential because of the nerves.

Corey O'Reilly is hoping for a better outcome this time around after losing last year's final against Meath.  (Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile)

“All the boys bring you in and take you under their wing and just bring you along with the team.”

If settling in was important, then Derry’s recent win over London was the vital moment to get the show on the road after losing to Kildare in the group stages.

“The Kildare game was a dose of reality for us,” he adds. “Going through the league, beating teams like Roscommon easily, Tyrone and teams like that…. (Kildare) gave us a wake-up call more than anything.

“We knew when London was coming here (Owenbeg) so we had to win it. There was just no other outcome we had to win that match.

“We weren't worrying about the outcome of London or Kildare as long as we beat London.”]

Acceptance

There was an acceptance in the Derry camp they’d account for Sligo if they had their focus tuned in.

With Kildare coming back around the corner on Sunday, Derry have taken a look at last year’s final. Meath raced into a commanding lead before an Oakleaf comeback wasn’t enough.

Looking back at clips, the realism filtered back into Derry minds. Their first-half was a non-event. The footage hit them between the eyes.

“I think it was the nerves maybe of getting to Croke Park,” O’Reilly suggests.

“For a lot of boys, it was their first time there, including myself. Legs were like jelly. You’d make a couple of runs and you were completely gassed…I think it was the nerves.”

Derry ended up 13 points adrift before throwing the kitchen sink at Meath. It was in vain.

“We are definitely a completely different team than we were last year…for all the good reasons,” O’Reilly said, basing his judgement off footage picked out this week from last year’s final.

“It was just wee simple things like our passing and our movement…we had none of that last year.

“I think our backs were killed because they were maybe coming out with the ball and there were no movement from the forwards.

“It just made it a lot harder for them. When you watch it back, it's something that's hard to watch.

“The mood's good at the minute and everybody's excited, especially after the heartbreak last year,” O’Reilly summed up.

“It's really driving us forward this year. I think we're more excited to get back this year.

“Last year, nerves maybe got the best of us. But no, the mood's good. training's going well and definitely looking forward to it.”