'Must win' game for Derry this weekend

All-Ireland SFC Round 2   |   Derry v Armagh   |   Sunday, Celtic Park, 4pm   |   Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)

The championship gets very real for Derry this weekend with the visit of Armagh to Celtic Park.

Back-to-back Ulster titles and a dramatic penalty shootout win over Dublin to land NFL Division One glory are in the history books.

Front and centre is the championship crash. Hit by four goals against Donegal. A month of reflection. An injury crisis. A red card for Gareth McKinless in Galway. Nearly getting something out of it. Coming up the road with nothing to show for it. It has been five weeks of ifs and buts.

If Derry have any aspirations of clinging on to any hope of top spot, victory on Sunday is an absolute must. Defeat, or even a draw, will heap the pressure on the Westmeath game.

The loss of Padraig McGrogan was a major blow. Derry’s success has been based around consistency of selection and men like McGrogan.

Cormac Murphy’s pace gave Derry fans a genuine hope the management had a different ingredient up their sleeve. Niall Loughlin’s value becomes apparent now that’s he gone. Add in Benny Heron’s retirement from last year.

That’s before Eoin McEvoy and Conor Doherty’s names come into the equation. Alongside McGrogan and the suspended McKinless, the attacking punch from Derry’s overlapping defenders was looking from down the seats in the stand rather that stretching opposition the width of the pitch.

That’s the challenge this week. And they face an Armagh team who have become difficult to break down. They may have coughed up another chance to end their silverware famine, but Kieran McGeeney’s side have been difficult to break down.

With Greg McCabe shifting right and left, just outside the 21 metre line, any avenue for a kick turns into a channel with danger.

Just look at how Donegal and Shaun Patton exploited Armagh when he went off. When Jemar Hall was sucked narrow - to McCabe’s zone - in the dying embers of the Ulster final, Patton picked out Odhrán Doherty for the score that took their blockbuster all the way to penalties.

Armagh have their own question marks. Conor O’Neill is out with a serious injury. Paddy Burns didn’t feature against Westmeath and Rian O’Neill wasn’t listed after being replaced in the final moments of the Ulster final.

What the Orchard County have are forwards needing looked after. Oisín Conaty, Conor Turbitt, Andrew Murnin, Stefan Campbell and Rory Grugan all have scores in them. Add in the O’Neill brothers - Oisin and Rian.

Aidan Nugent’s impact in Clones will be a card Derry need to watch for when Sunday’s game goes down the stretch.

Another aspect Derry won’t have been taken in by was Blaine Hughes’ long kick-out late in the game that created a goal chance for Oisín Conaty. It was shades of Shaun Patton from the Ulster Championship giving Derry food for thought on any decision to push up.

The Derry story this week will surround Conor Doherty, Eoin McEvoy and Cormac Murphy to see if any are deemed fit to start. Speaking after the Galway game, Mickey Harte revealed none were ready. Two weeks later, he’ll hope for a fuller hand.

"It's a must win game and even that doesn't guarantee you anything," Harte admitted after the most recent loss, "Any game in the championship you really want to win it and no less that one.

Mickey Harte knows it's now time for his team to perform. (Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile)

"I'm sure Armagh will take stock of how we performed and come to Derry in good confidence because all for the throw of a dice they would be Ulster champions. They are no bad team."

Derry are now be reliant on other results in terms of topping the group and whilst the recent run of form was not expected by anyone, the manager is confident his team can adjust.

"Everybody wants to go the direct route in a championship scenario. To do that you have to top the group and when you don't top the group it adds pressure. It puts you in a place you would chose not to be if you had the choice.

"But sometimes you have to go the road you are sent as fate would have it and I have been down a few of those roads before and we managed rightly."

Sunday isn’t knock-out but, just as winning is a habit, so it losing. Derry can’t afford to take another step back. For Armagh, they’re coming in on the back of winning against Westmeath. Derry’s championship is leading for the last chance saloon. Sunday is massive.