LISTEN: Derry coast to Nicky Rackard Cup glory
A POWERFUL scoring display by Derry saw them coast home in Saturday’s Nicky Rackard Cup Final in Croke Park.
It took the Oakleafers a while to get into their groove but once they did, it was mission accomplished as Armagh sank to a third successive final defeat.
Derry had the ball in the net after just seven minutes. Gerald Bradley landed a ball towards Brendan Rogers who off-loaded for the inrushing Alan Grant to fire home.
Armagh bounced back with points from Eoin McGuinness and Nathan Curry to level the game after 13 minutes and a free from the flawless David Carvill edged them ahead.
Two frees from Grant, three long range Gerald Bradley efforts put Derry in control - leading by four going into to injury time. Brian Cassidy got into the act with two points and Derry were coasting at the break, 1-9 to 0-6.
After the interval, Gerald Bradley’s rocket to the top corner gave Derry a convincing advantage- it was a strike to grace any stage. Armagh bounced back with three points but Derry still had the extra gear with three points from Chrissy McKaigue and substitute Ruairi Convery scoring with this first touch.
With 53 minutes on the clock Ryan Gaffney goaled for Armagh to give them a glimmer of hope. Rogers replied with a point, with the help of hawkeye, before setting up Brian Cassidy for Derry’s third goal of the game and seal a 3-23 to 2-15 victory.
“We started a bit slowly but we came into it later on," commented manager Collie McGurk after the game. "Gerald Bradley had a massive games for us and young Brian Cassidy, up front for us, turned the screw at the start of the second-half.
McGurk paid tribute to the work done by clubs in the county: “We have to give a serious thank you to our clubs, it’s them who produce the players. We don’t have enough time with the players to condition them or to provide as much stick work as we might want.
“I'd like to ensure the county board gives us breathing space, come the Christy Ring next year - so we have our footballers and dual players available.”
Derry: Darryl McDermott, Patrick Turner, Sean Cassidy, Darragh McCloskey, Paul Cleary, Oisin McCloskey, Liam Óg Hinphey, Chrissy McKaigue (0-3), Conor McAllister, Gerald Bradley (1-3), Meehaul McGrath, Alan Grant (1-5, 4f), Brian Cassidy (1-4), Brendan Rogers (0-3), Cian Waldron.
Subs: Kevin Hinphey for A Grant (blood sub 12, reversed 13), K Hinphey for C McAllister (23), Naoise Waldron for P Turner (HT), Sean McCullagh for P Cleary (blood sub 37, reversed 51), Cormac O’Doherty (0-1) for C Waldron (46), Ruairi Convery (0-4, 2f, 1’65’) for A Grant (46), Brian Óg McGilligan for P Cleary (59).
Armagh: Simon Doherty, Ciarán Clifford, Artie McGuinness, Tiarnán Nevin, John Corvan, Nathan Curry (0-1), Connor Devlin, Paul Gaffney, Odhrán Curry, David Carvill (0-7, 6f), Eoin McGuinness (0-2), Connor Corvan (0-1), Dylan McKenna, Ryan Gaffney (2-0), Cahal Carvill (0-3).
Subs: Fiachra Bradley for D McKenna (31), Danny Magee for A McGuinness (HT), Dean Gaffney (0-1) for E McGuinness, (60), David Bridges for C Devlin (62), Caily Gorman for C Corvan (71).
Full coverage, photos and reaction in Tuesday's County Derry Post