City of Derry started the new year needing a transformation – and so far they have certainly got it.
Richard McCarter’s side went eight games without a victory in the All Ireland League but now they are on a winning run of two, with last weekend’s comprehensive victory over MU Barnhall following a win over this week’s opponents Dungannon.
The game on New Year’s Eve was played in horrible weather conditions at Judge’s Road and in the end the home team managed to hang on for the slimmest of wins on a 16-15 scoreline.
It proved to be just the catalyst that the men in green needed and they have since gone on to move away from the bottom of the table, with Skerries in eight position firmly in their sights.
Next up is the familiar faces of their Ulster rivals and if Derry could get their second win over the Tyrone outfit in less than a month then they will certainly set themselves up for a run that could haul them out of the ninth place play-off position.
After that first narrow win last month, McCarter agreed that it was good to see his side beat a title challenging side in MU Barnhall on a comprehensive scoreline of 23 points to 11.
“It was a different type of game for definite. In the Dungannon game we were very nervy and I think we panicked a bit when we went ahead and were let hanging on at the end,” the coach told the Derry News.
“In the last game Barnhall probably had more of the possession but I think we looked comfortable and our defence was able to deal with anything that they had to through at us.
“The game sort of fizzled out towards the end but I think the main thing that we took from it was that whatever Barnhall tried to throw at us we were able to deal with it,” he added.
Despite getting that win over this week’s opponents on New Year’s Eve the coach insisted that his team were expecting a very different, and more difficult challenge ahead of the trip to Stevenson Park on Saturday.
“It’s really difficult to go away to any venue but we know that Dungannon are definitely going to keen to avenge that defeat from the end of December. I know they felt hard done by so they definitely have the motivation. We’re wary but at the same time we aren’t being complacent or arrogant in saying that we know we can beat them,” McCarter said.
“If we want to get a result, we have to play better. We’re hoping for a dry day as well because those conditions suit our style of play. It’s good that we’re going into the game with a lot of confidence but we have to be wary because they are a very good team.”
One draw in three months was all that the Judge’s Road side had to show for their league efforts in the first half of the season but McCarter agreed that a change in both attitude has been the driving force behind the turnaround in fortunes for the Derry side.
“To be fair to the boys they have all stuck in there from the start of the season when we were going through a very difficult period of results.
“Terry coming in has made a big change in terms of putting pressure on boys and getting more numbers out to training which is obviously really beneficial because we can do more in the sessions,” he explained.
“Breaking the losing habit was really massive for us because you could see the self-belief in the players and that has carried on from the first win against Dungannon. We want to keep up that winning run.”
Despite pulling themselves out of the immediate danger of Thomond in bottom place in the Division 2B table, the coach insisted that his team must still go into every game with a ‘must win’ attitude as they could easily find themselves slipping down the table again.
“It’s great to get the two wins but when we put it into perspective we’re still second from bottom so we have to keep our feet on the ground – there’s nothing for us to crow about just yet,” McCarter said.
“We said after the game on Saturday that we need to concentrate on ourselves and look to increase the gap between ourselves and Thomond as well as trying to close the gap on those above us and hope that they fall to a few defeats.”
With a one week break following this weekend’s fixture, McCarter admitted that his team needed to another win to keep the momentum going into the short break ahead of two home games in February.
“It definitely falls nicely for us after starting a winning run to go into an Ulster derby where we don’t have to travel too far then have a break before two home games,” the coach said.
“We’ll be facing Old Crescent and Bective Rangers who both beat us comfortably in the away games but they’ll be up against a totally different Derry side this time around.
“For now our focus is on Saturday and then we’ll allow ourselves to look forward to the games next month,” he concluded.
FIXTURES
Saturday, Jan 28: Skerries v. Wanderers; Armagh v. Greystones; Dungannon v. City of Derry (Stevenson Park, 2.30), MU Barnhall v. Bective Rangers; Thomond v. Old Crescent.

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