National League Division Three

Down v Derry

Saturday, Pairc Esler, 7pm

By Niall Gartland

DERRY football, wherefore art thou?

New Year’s Day saw Lavey become the 19th Derry team to come out on top in the St Paul’s Minor Tournament, which is an achievement-and-a-half given the competition has only been running since 1982; Derry schools have snatched up four of the last seven MacRory Cup titles; Sleacht Néill are in this writer’s humble opinion the most admirable club in Ireland – and yet, and yet, Rory Gallagher’s side only managed a blooming draw against Leitrim at the weekend, a county with a population half the size of Fermanagh’s (and a conspiracy did the rounds online a few years back that it doesn’t even exist).

It’s fair to say that Derry football at intercounty level isn’t in good shape at the moment. Apparently they trained like dogs over the winter months, but they fell short against a half-assed Donegal in the McKenna Cup before their opening day draw to Leitrim, who only a fortnight ago lost to 30 points against Roscommon in the FBD league.

While a top-to-bottom renovation is likely needed to sort things out in the long-term, that doesn’t mean that Saturday night’s performance at Celtic Park was acceptable. Two late points salvaged a draw, and the introduction from the bench of Shane McGuigan in the 41st minute sparked some life into their performance, but there’s a reason why Leitrim are 100/1 to achieve back-to-back promotions.

Their second-round opponents Down, who they take on at Pairc Esler on Saturday night, have only fared a little better in the early part of the season. Comfortable victories over Fermanagh and Antrim set up a McKenna Cup semi-final against Tyrone, which they lost by 2-16 to 1-11, and they could at least take some positives from their league against Tipperary at the weekend.

Cory Quinn was a real live-wire in attack, Owen McCabe showcased his supreme fielding abilities on the edge of the square (they should make hay with this new ‘mark’ rule if they’re smart about it) and subsitute Liam Kerr made a big impact in the final 20 minutes. Goalkeeper Rory Burns had a good day at the office, while Shane Annett and Peter Fegan can be happy with their league debuts.

Like Derry, they also showed a bit of fight as they hit the final two points to secure a draw, but generally their decision-making in the final third was poor as they struggled to unpick a packed Tipperary defence.

Connaire Harrison, Caolan Mooney and their Kilcoo contingent were unavailable, which hardly helped matters, but they’re unlikely to start shooting the lights out on their return given they averaged 12 points a game in last year’s league campaign. It’s easy to blame the manager, and they sharpened up a little in last year’s championship, but they really should have a little more faith in their ability to outscore the opposition at this level. It’s also unclear whether their Kilcoo players will be back this weekend, although it’s understood that Paddy Tally met up with them earlier in the week to figure out their plans.

The last time these two teams met in the league was in 2017. Down – who were still in the embryonic stages of a renaissance under their hitherto beleagured manager Eamonn Burns, God rest him – claimed their second Division Two win in-a-row with a 1-15 to 1-7 victory at Celtic Parks.  Down had a goal and ten points on the board before Derry even registered their first point.

They should in theory improve defensively under current manager Rory Gallagher, but it won’t happen overnight and they won’t be happy with conceding 1-14 against Leitrim. That Karl McKaigue could miss the entire league campaign through injury is a major concern, but the potential return of Padraig Cassidy and Niall Loughlin should help further out the field, while Shane McGuigan should start the match.

There’s a lot at stake on Saturday night for both teams. If Derry click into gear and claim an unexpected victory, it would do a lot for the mood in the county, allay fears of possible relegation, and it would also leave Down facing an uphill battle in their efforts to achieve promotion. Home advantage should be a factor, and Paddy Tally’s men know they’ve a big match against Cork the following week as well. They should have enough to take the spoils, but Derry won’t make it easy.