GAA - 'Derry/Tyrone rivalry is what makes the GAA': Scullion

‘Derry/Tyrone rivalry is what makes the GAA’: Scullion Steven Doherty reports from the Athletic Grounds DERRY coach Tony Scullion drew the short straw when asked to confront the assembled press after the game, hungry for a headline or a killer soundbite. It was game that Derry should have won and while the disappointment was written all over the county legend, he played each and every question with a straight bat. "Aye, first of all it was a great game of football and both counties will have got a lot out of it” said Scullion. “I know Derry got a lot out of it so it is great preparation for the start of the National League next week. "We are delighted with the performance of the team. They showed great character and, yes, the game was there and we could have had it but that's Tyrone. Tyrone are brilliant at that. They play to the final whistle and in fairness they were the better team in extra-time. Scullion admitted that with the extra twenty minutes of intense football, and with two players hospitalised, that while the McKenna Cup had been good to Derry it had come at some cost. "Yes. That's the roll of the dice you have to take at times. We have two guys hospitalised. Brendan Rogers has a very bad cut on his cheek. It happened right at throw-in at the start of the game. He is away to hospital and with Enda, it looks like a broken bone.” On a night that ultimately brought defeat and disappointment, there were a number of positives for Derry, not least the performance of Conor McAtamney. The red haired midfielder produced a stunning impression of Fergal Doherty that augers well for the talented young Swatragh man’s future berth at centre-field. "Conor McAtamney was absolutely superb, absolutely superb. But that's what you need to have in the modern game, you need to have replacements who can come in. It is not a 15 man game any longer. You need 21, you need 31 or 41 players all ready to step up to the plate and Conor was brilliant. But I am disappointed for Brendan Rogers. He is a great young lad, a great player from Slaughtneil and it is disappointing about Enda Lynn as well because Enda has been a great servant over the last few years for Derry and he was having a great game out there. "The two lads will be an awful loss to us in the National League.” Scullion maintained that you simply can’t beat games in terms of preparation for the upcoming national league. "You can train seven days a week but that level of intensity you saw in that game will beat any training session ten times over. Absolutely brilliant competition but, as I said, I am just disappointed with our injuries. We'll need everybody available for us for the National League and those are two or three great lads who will be missed but that's where you need the depth of the panel so hopefully we will have cover.” Damian Barton is a pure gentleman Scullion also played down his manager Damian Barton’s dismissal. "I have known Damian Barton all my life and he is a pure gentlemen on and off the field. A GAA man through and through with red and white blood flowing through him. He has come on and taken on a big job in Derry because we have a lot of catching up to do. Counties like Tyrone, they are at the next level and we want to get to that next level and we will do everything in our power to make sure we get there. "I was in the stand watching and whatever happened along the line, that was nothing. Damian is there for the love of the game and he is a great GAA man. The Derry coach also welcomed the emergence of so many new faces in the Oak Leaf jersey in 2016. "Without a doubt. There are a number of players who have made their debuts for Derry this year and when Damian came in to take the team this year he said that he would give everyone an opportunity. Everybody was welcome to come to trials at Owenbeg and we had a number of trials to which clubs sent players, some of whom have been good enough to put on that Oak Leaf jersey. "We have got a lot out of the McKenna Cup but as I say, the real stuff starts next week with Fermanagh at home and we all know the challenge Fermanagh brings to the table.” And while there was no shortage of the black arts and skulduggery throughout a cantankerous contest, Scullion always enjoys the Sperrins derby. "It is healthy and down the years I have been involved in some great games against Tyrone as well but that's what makes the GAA. We are all one big family but once the 70 minutes start, it is tribal but that is what makes Ulster football. That what people from all over Ireland would come to watch Derry v Tyrone and we take the best of what we saw there. It is life or death, no matter if it is a McKenna Cup game or a championship game and that's how it should be. "It is bubbling along nicely, yes, but Tyrone are three up on us.” Would the former All Star defender trade those three defeats for one win in May? "The pre-season matches and McKenna Cup is a worthwhile competition but at the end of the day, the National League game and the Championship, they are what counts. As Mickey Harte said the other day, the championship game takes care of itself. It is a one off occasion. Whatever happens beforehand means nothing to those 70 minutes. "Our National League game in Omagh is going to be vital too though because both Derry and Tyrone will be looking to try and push on from Division Two but we know we have to hold our on to begin with. Hut with the league kicking off this Sunday, will there be a hangover from this game as Derry take to the field against Fermanagh? "Well, coming out of the changing rooms and there were a lot of tired bodies; a lot of sore bodies and some niggles and, as we talked about, a few major injuries. It is a worry but hopefully every will report for training next week fit and ready.”