LAST week, Sleacht Néill defender Karl McKaigue said that he is on his way back from injury, and hopes to be ready to play by May.

McKaigue ruptured his Achilles’ tendon in their All-Ireland Club Hurling Championship semi-final against Ballyhale.

The injury was so serious that he had to have surgery in August. Those type of injuries usually take nine months to recover from so, he is on course to be ready for May.

The other player who has returned to action is Ballinderry’s Gareth McKinless, who will also bolster the defensive element of the Derry team. He had dropped off the panel last year but has since returned.

Alex Doherty has departed the squad. He was one of the younger members of the team, but could not commit this year. Niall Keenan is studying in England this year and has not been part of the team, though he might return later in the year.

Prepare for a defensive challenge 

DERRY meet Fermanagh, Cavan and Longford in the North group of the National League, and that will make for a very difficult test for Rory Gallagher’s team.
Cavan are the Ulster Champions of course, and will have been training hard in preparation to defend their title.
They were relegated out of Division Two last year, but will feel themselves unfortunate to have dropped down.
Likewise, Fermanagh were also relegated in 2020. Ryan McMenamin remains in charge, despite having only recorded one win during the campaign. However, this game brings with it some tense undertones for Gallagher who may feel uncomfortable managing against his own county.
Longford are the third opponents in the league. Derry beat Longford by two points last  year, yet they will put up a serious test for the Oak Leafers.
What Derry can expect from all three games are teams that will opt for a transition game.
They will each try to cut off space in Derry’s forward line and restrict the movement of the likes of Shane McGuigan and Niall McLoughlin. And they will try to hit Derry on the counter, or try to isolate a man inside.
Derry have struggled against these tactics in the past, and furthermore they are up against some wily attackers too, so it could be a difficult time for Gallagher.

Rory has to get out of blocks fast

IT’S year two for Rory Gallagher and the Derry players that have spoken to Gaelic Life in the past few months said that their manager did not get a fair crack at things last year.

Gallagher stepped down as Fermanagh boss in July 2019. In September he was named as new manager of Derry, taking over from Damian McErlain.

Gallagher’s record in Fermanagh saw him help the county reach their first Ulster title in a decade. They also earned promotion to Division Two.

He got that promotion in his first year with Fermanagh, and in the second year they missed out on a second promotion by two points – two points that they lost in draws to Cork in Tipperary in the first two rounds.

So, what Derry fans need to see from Gallagher is a big start from his team.

Early wins would be a sign that the former Erne county star forward can hit the target with the Oak Leafers.

Expectations 

IN GAELIC Life’s preview to last year’s National League campaign, the conclusion drawn was that Derry had big expectations of new manager Rory Gallagher.

After a run of managers from Brian McIver, Damian Barton and Damian McErlain who had not achieved the heights that many in Derry had expected them to achieve, Gallagher needed to deliver immediate success.

Primarily that would be promotion to Division Two, but he got off to a disappointing start. Derry were 1/10 favourites to beat Leitrim in round one of the league. They had been promoted out of Division Four along with Leitrim, and had beaten Terry Hyland’s team twice.

Different season, different Leitrim and they put it up to Derry and probably should have won the game were it not for Ciaran McFaul’s determination in pushing for an equaliser for the Oak Leafers.

Next up  was a derby with Down in Newry. The Oak Leaf side felt positive about bouncing back, but Paddy Tally’s team were better drilled and swifter in attack,  and  ended up winning by 0-14 to 0-12. So with one point from two games, and a game against Tipperary, the county was frustrated. Yet Conleith Gilligan told Gaelic Life that the county should be confident. He felt that enough players were showing well for fans to be positive.

Gilligan was right as Derry beat Tipp’ by five points in the next round and they followed that up with a win over Louth. But their season took a nose dive when they lost 3-13 to 3-11 to Cork as that essentially put promotion beyond them as the Rebels, Down and Longford were in prime positions to go up.

Covid hit, games were cancelled, and from March through to September the Derry players were left to ruminate on what might have happened during the first five games of the league. When they returned, Derry got two wins, but the results were immaterial as Down were promoted without having to kick a ball. The reason for that was Leitrim conceded round six due to having insufficient numbers because players were unable to travel because they could not get tested for Covid.

While Derry fans might have been frustrated that that glimmer of hope was gone the issues were  there. When the weight of expectation was there at the start of the campaign they did not deliver.

However, as Gilligan said after the Down match,  Derry have plenty of good players, including some star forwards like Shane McGuigan. A year on, and Derry know their manager better, the manager knows the players better, and the team should improve.