Huge test for Derry minors as they face Kerry

Derry’s defence of their All-Ireland minor title cranks up another notch this weekend when Damian McErlain’s side lock horns with 16-time winners Kerry.

Both teams had contrasting fortunes in the last eight. Derry were tested three times by Dublin before they stood tall to finish with a flourish.

Like Mayo and Armagh, who face in the other semi-final, Kerry were rampant in victory in their quarter-final. Roscommon all but on the bus home by half-time.

The main Derry narrative has been their five starters back from last year’s winning team. Jack McCloy returns between the posts with Luke Grant a key player driving from defence.

James Sargent is now captain with Eamon Young and Ger Dillon prominent scorers.

Dara McGuckin has forced himself into half back berth with Caomhan McNally having played in defence before losing out when Padraig O’Kane returned from injury. An eighth, Gabhan McIvor, is still underage.

Their win over Dublin demonstrated they’ve got depth. With Dillon’s knee injury reducing him to a cameo appearance, Turlough McHugh came in.

The Drumsurn youngster kicked four points from play at midfield and it allowed the management to push Sargent closer to goal.

Derry increased their credentials by winning the league titles and running in some impressive championship tallies along the way.

On the other side of the coin, their grind to see off Armagh was another pleasing point that also stood them in good stead when Dublin hit two goals and later edged back into the lead.

Derry needed calm and some good old fashioned heart fused into their mix. And they’ll need it again.

There is the mental side of the game. Manager Damian McErlain highlighted how the very name Dublin would’ve helped focus his side.

Now is has been ramped up. Kerry have won three of the last four minor championship games against Derry, all under McErlain’s watch. The last was Derry’s 2020 final win under Martin Boyle.

There is also the immediate past in the form of a challenge game during the season when both teams fielded as strong as they could for the first half. It was an even encounter before both managers mixed up their selections in the second-half.

Since then, the Kingdom accounted for Cork twice in Munster either side of hammering Tipperary.

Against Roscommon, in the All-Ireland quarter-final, they had the Connacht side closed out by half-time, 1-11 to 0-1.

A brace of 2-1 from substitute Ryan O’Driscoll shot Kerry to a comfortable 18-point win in his only championship minutes.

Derry are favourites, but only slight favourites, against Kerry.

It will leave Damian McErlain thinking about how Kerry might use O’Driscoll this weekend.

Selection thoughts

Manager Wayne Quillinan has a core of 14 players to start all four championship outings with Éanna Murphy, Ruairi O’Connell and Oisin Fleming competing for one spot in attack.

Will O’Driscoll come into the selection thoughts? That remains to be seen.

At midfield, Ben Murphy is an important player, with Ronan Carroll, Joe McCarthy, Jack Joy and Gearoid White the main Kerry marksmen.

For Derry, they’ll need to arrive switched on a ready to play. The stakes have now gone up and that will be the message this week.

Derry should have Ger Dillon from the start. A scan revealed no knee ligament damage and hr was back in full training days after victory over Dublin. It will leave competition for places in this weekend’s selection.

McHugh and Cathair McBride were the midfield duo and will be interesting to see how Kerry cope with Jack McCloy’s kick-outs. Dublin made it a scrap before then getting a grip on their game via own short restarts.

Before a ball was kicked, Mayo were heavily in the chatter about taking the Tom Markham Cup for the winter. Derry and Kerry were in that same sentence. For now, they’ll be locked into one another.

Derry axis has been Sargent, Grant, Dillon and Young. It’s a quartet Kerry won’t fancy taking on.

The Oakleafers have the experience but while it’s a small factor, this year is about this game for Derry. It has taken the guts of a half to come to terms of their last four games before they turned on the style.

Derry go into this one as favourites. Slight favourites, on the basis of having a few faces back. With four teams left, it comes down to margins.

Having eight boys - and a management team - who have walked the walk might tip the scales. Kerry are Kerry and they’ll be keen to turn the tables. This is the test of tests for Derry.