Moriarty warns of defensive softness despite Glen victory

2024 All-Ireland champions Watty Graham’s Glen overcame a spirited St Mary’s Banagher to book their place in the second-round draw as they seek a direct route to the quarter-finals of the O’Neill’s Derry Senior Football Championship at Finde Insurance Owenbeg on Sunday afternoon.

Banagher, who recently won promotion to the H&A Division 1 Football League for 2027, were considerable underdogs against Watty Graham’s but posed considerable questions of the 2023 Ulster champions, as a late rally saw them cut Glen’s 14-point lead down to four in the closing minutes.

It was a similar case in the first half, with Tiernan Moore’s 22nd-minute goal drawing the sides level, only for three late points from the east Derry men to give them the advantage at the break. Coming out after the interval, Glen seized complete control, kicking 1-4 without reply and holding St Mary’s scoreless until the forty-sixth minute.

Speaking after the game, Watty Graham’s manager Finnian Moriarty admitted that his side have plenty to work on ahead of the second round, with their uncharacteristically porous defence a cause for concern despite their potent attack at the other end.

“They scored a late goal in the first half to draw level, and we tacked a few scores on just before the break, which we needed to have a bit of a gap. We said at half-time that we needed to get our heads up more to get a wee bit more joy. I felt in the first half that we were a bit reluctant to get the ball in because we have the shooters inside, and you have to play to your strengths."

“The boys in the inside line moved well; we just needed to get the ball into them that bit more. We needed that wee period after half-time because it could have been a bit tight, so we had a big emphasis on needing to come out like a house on fire after the break. There were only three points in it at the break, and the game could’ve become a bit of a battle, but we kicked a few points and pulled away. It just shows how quickly the game can change.”

Now heading into the second round, Watty Graham’s are just sixty minutes away from a place in the quarter-finals, with plenty of lessons being learned from their Banagher contest. Despite their dominance, their defensive frailties will be a considerable concern heading into the next round against what is likely to be another strong opponent, with little margin for error.

The concession of 2-4 without reply as the game ticked towards the red will be a significant cause for concern, as Watty Graham's seemed to fade out of the contest before three late scores from Conor Glass, Danny Tallon and Alex Doherty steadied them in stoppage time.

Former Armagh inter-county star Moriarty will be keen to get things right during the week as the Glen men chase a fourth-ever John McLaughlin Cup later in the year.

“We tacked on a few scores at the end, but we won’t be happy with how things finished. We finished the first half strongly as well and needed to after their second goal."

“We went 14 up and they dragged us back. It’s a concern, but it’s good to be able to look back on it now. If you run out 20-point winners, that’s no good either because a wee bit of softness can creep in. We’ll address it during the week, see where we went wrong and get ourselves right, and we’ll set up for the next round.”