Better days postponed as Derry fall just short again

Moments before Amhrán na bhFiann echoed through a desolate Croke Park ahead of the Christy Ring Cup final, Dermot Kennedy’s 2022 single ‘Better Days’ rang out over the PA system.

That, at least, was what Johnny McGarvey and his Derry hurlers were hoping for. In the end, though, Van Morrison’s ‘Days Like This’ might have been the more fitting soundtrack.

Croke Park can feel like the loneliest place in the world on days like these. For McGarvey and his thirty crimson-clad warriors, it wasn’t so much isolation as it was bitter dejection - despite the presence of a vocal and loyal Derry following.

A third final defeat in a row - and a fourth in five years - this one will linger painfully. London’s physicality and intensity were clear from the outset, but Derry met them with no shortage of grit.

The third time's supposed to be the charm. This was meant to be Derry’s year. Or so we thought.

Instead, it was the Exiles who returned home as champions, breaking Oakleaf hearts once again. London bulldozed their way to promotion to the Joe McDonagh Cup for 2026, while Derry are now left to languish in the Christy Ring for yet another season.

As with their two previous agonising final defeats, the tit-for-tat nature of the contest once again failed to break their way.

Captain Cormac O’Doherty had placed particular emphasis on shutting out goals in his pre-game interview, mindful that conceding them was Derry’s Achilles’ heel in last year’s final. So when Seán Glynn sliced through the Derry defence like a hot knife through butter, it felt like a case of déjà vu waiting to happen.

But Derry’s heart shone through. Almost instantly, Thomas Brady charged up the other end and buried a spectacular goal into the roof of the Hill 16 net—a stunning response that should have ignited Derry’s charge.

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Winning the Christy Ring can be transformative for a developing county. Just ask Carlow in 2017, Offaly in 2022, or Kildare—Derry’s conquerors in last year’s final—who now stand on the cusp of the Liam MacCarthy, set to contest next week’s Joe McDonagh final.

Since taking charge in 2023, Johnny McGarvey inherited a panel in rude health and brought some much-needed stability to a setup that had long struggled to consistently get its best players on the pitch.

Devastated Derry players at the final whistle. Pic by Sideline Photography.

Promotion to the Joe McDonagh wouldn’t just reward the team’s progress—it would also give hurling a greater platform in a county still dominated by football. For now, though, many of Derry’s brightest young dual players continue to favour the big ball and the allure of Sam Maguire over the sliotar and the Christy Ring.

Derry had looked every bit the contenders this year, averaging 29 points per game. On paper, they’d timed their run to perfection. Today should have been the crowning jewel. But it wasn’t.

The Foylesiders fell well below the standards they had set throughout the campaign—and that will be the hardest part to stomach when they pick through the wreckage of this defeat in the days and weeks ahead.

London, by contrast, settled into their rhythm immediately. Derry never got the breaks – nor the rub of the green. They’ll also feel rightly aggrieved by some of the officiating decisions. A clear headbutt in the 20th minute somehow produced only a yellow card. An off-the-ball strike in the second half received the same leniency.

Referee Pádraig Dunne was met with a chorus of boos at the final whistle, but in truth, Derry just never found their rhythm – hurling in frustrating fits and starts throughout.

A close-range free – one of the few awarded to the Derrymen in the second half – gave Cormac O’Doherty a final chance to rescue Derry’s fading hopes of glory. With just three points between the sides, the stage was set for a dramatic finish. On the sideline, Johnny McGarvey crouched near the Hogan Stand, head in hands, scarcely able to watch.

O’Doherty struck with purpose, but his effort ricocheted off the wall of London bodies camped on the goal line before going agonisingly wide of the upright.

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A win today would’ve changed the entire climate of Derry hurling. Where there might have been promise and certainty, there are now only question marks. It’s hard for any team to recover from heartbreak like this.

Still, McGarvey has done a phenomenal job in professionalising and steadying a Derry ship that once drifted without direction. While today didn’t go his way, surely that lá is just around the Free Derry Corner.

Perhaps there’s still one last crack of the whip left in this group – before the weight of heartbreak begins to outweigh the hope of glory.