Derry U20 hurling manager Ryan O'Neill looking ahead to Tyrone challenge

The Derry U20 inter-county hurlers get their Ulster campaign under way this Friday evening when they welcome Tyrone to the Owenbeg Centre of Excellence in the Ulster U20 Cup.

This season marks a significant change in the structure of the Ulster Hurling Cup, which has expanded from three teams to six. Wicklow, Tyrone and Donegal now join the traditional Ulster hurling strongholds of Antrim, Derry and Down, creating a far more competitive and demanding championship.

Last year proved a disappointing one for Ryan O’Neill’s side. Derry suffered a heavy defeat to Antrim before drawing with Down in a pulsating encounter, a result that saw the Mourne men advance to the provincial final against the Saffrons on scoring difference.

Under the revised format, the top two teams will contest the Ulster final, with the winner progressing to the Leinster Championship. The remaining sides will enter either the newly formed Leinster B competition or the All-Ireland B Championship, a competition Derry lifted in 2023.

U20 manager Ryan O’Neill has welcomed the changes, stressing that regular, competitive games are vital to the development of young players. The Kevin Lynch’s clubman believes the new structure will allow his squad to grow as the championship progresses.

READ NEXT: St Patrick's Maghera capture first Mageean Cup since 2017

“The competition is way better this year because Tyrone and Donegal have come up, and Wicklow are in it; that’s five games,” O’Neill said. “The top two go into the final, third goes into Leinster B, and the rest go into the All-Ireland B, which is a brilliant competition. We won it in 2023, and it gave us a foothold for the following year, when we won Ulster.

“We’ve been training for a good while now with those extra games in mind. Instead of just playing Down and Antrim, you’re now going week on week with five games against teams you might not have played before. It sets it up well for these lads to get valuable game time.”

“The lads are bouncing to be playing every week, and it’s a different opponent each time, which is great for their development.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s opener, O’Neill is under no illusions about the challenge posed by the Red Hand County. Tyrone contested last year’s second-tier Ulster competition, defeating Donegal in the decider last March. They also reached the 2025 All-Ireland B final, narrowly losing out to Down in a thrilling encounter that finished 1-22 to 4-11.

“Tyrone have come up into our grade this year,” O’Neill added. “We played them in a friendly last season, and they were also involved in the U20 B competition, so they’re doing a lot of good work. There are some very good hurlers coming through, and we’re expecting a really tough game in Owenbeg for the opening round of the Ulster Championship.”

Derry’s preparations have been somewhat impacted by the growing strength of underage hurling within the county. O’Neill’s own club, Kevin Lynch’s, reached the Ulster Minor quarter-final, while St Patrick’s Maghera recently secured their 15th Mageean Cup title, dumping out reigning champions Cross and Passion College in the process.

Despite those commitments, O’Neill is delighted to now have a full panel at his disposal and has been encouraged by the development of both returning players and those who have been competing at schools level.

“We’ve been hampered a wee bit by schools,” he explained. “My own club, Kevin Lynch’s, were tied up until the end of December, so we lost 10 or 12 players who are only back in now.

“We’re back with a full complement at this stage. They weren’t hurling with us, but they were hurling elsewhere, which is always good.

“We’re really excited to get going and see if we can bring what we’ve been doing on the training field into proper championship games. We’re very excited to get up and running.”