National Football League Division Two
Roscommon v Derry
Sunday, 2pm, Dr Hyde Park

By Michael McMullan

THE last time Derry and Roscommon locked horns, Anthony Tohill kicked half a dozen points as the Oakleafers ran out 0-15 to 0-8 winners at Clones in the 2000 NFL semi-final.

Sunday’s game in ‘The Hyde’ brings two of Division Two’s unbeaten teams head-to-head as the promotion race thickens up.

Derry have a 100 per cent record, something the Rossies could’ve also had only for being reeled in at home to Clare after leading 0-9 to 0-6 as the game turned the final corner.

Rory Gallagher ditched a mediocre 2020 season for a year that saw them romp their way out of Division Three, carrying their form into the new year.

It was all about Down and Offaly, aiming to hit the ground running, stressed the Derry boss as a damp shower greeted his interview following their McKenna Cup exit in Ballybofey.

It was a night that Derry had more to be happy than concerned with. After easing past Down, he spoke of getting ‘proper preparation’ with the Sleacht Néíll contingent back in the fold and eyeing up Cork.

After swatting the Rebels and Clare to one side, with ease, Gallagher spoke of entering the business end of the season.

It’s not lost on Derry fans. Already, Owenbeg could be a sell-out for Sunday week’s visit of Galway. The general consensus is how the Oaks need to win one of their next two games to keep their hopes of back-to-back promotions alive.

It whets the appetite for Sunday. Roscommon have yo-yoed between the top two divisions in the last decade, making them the perfect target for a Derry team with lofty ambitions of their own.

Conor Cox (pictured above) and Donie Smith have been the Rossies’ top scorers, so it will be interesting to see what the defensive arrangements are. Chrissy McKaigue and Brendan Rogers will be earmarked for duty, but it’s the variation in the Roscommon attack that will keep Derry on their toes.

It will be a day when the natural defensive instinct of Conor Glass will hold much of Derry’s hopes of keeping their clean sheet in attack. Since his return from Oz, for both club and county, it’s been his ability – and engine – to filter back that has been the glue to pull everything together.

Shane McGuigan is far and away Derry’s key scoring option. The question has been how much Benny Heron, Niall Loughlin and Lachlan Murray can regularly chip in.

Meath’s Matthew Costello is the only player to raise a green flag against either of the sides – in their 1-15 to 1-11 defeat by Roscommon – which points to a very competitive encounter and the litmus test of the new-look Derry.

Time and time again Rory Gallagher has referenced how Donegal and Monaghan have been able to turn over teams higher up the food chain than themselves. Sunday is Derry’s chance to follow suit.

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