By Michael McMullan

LAVEY minor hurlers are preparing for the Ulster semi-final on Friday week but will have to wait until this weekend to see who the play.

The Derry champions will take on the winner of Saturday’s shield final between Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon and Sean MacCumhaill’s of Donegal.

Manager Martin Convery said the recent run of Lavey underage success has been badly needed but the work starts now in terms of a pathway for the players to senior level.

“You need players coming all the time,” he said. “We’re suffering maybe at senior level at the minute. There wasn’t enough of an emphasis on underage, players weren’t coming through as they should be.

“You need a lot of them because they don’t all come through. You need to try and keep some sort of production line.”

The late Collie McGurk was involved with their coaching and, with help from others around the club, Lavey teams are beginning to win titles with regularity.

The current minor team were Féile champions down the years and it’s a third minor title in succession.

There has been progression after years of playing at B level, with a pathway that is getting them challenging again.

“We weren’t making the cut for A championships,” Convery said, “It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to win them, but when you’re competing in them, at least it’s always going to be progress.

“Whenever you do get some bit of silverware, obviously it’s the coup d’etat.

“With any of those finals, we were right on the right side of them. It probably comes down to a wee bit of character that you can get on the right side of them. In finals, you could just as well go the other way, but, the point is that you are in them.”

Lavey’s starting point was a realisation change was needed and with their impressive indoor training area, they went to work.

“You can concentrate more on what you don’t always get a chance to concentrate on,” Convery said of their indoor coaching.

There was a plan in place to coach the coaches to ensure the skills are taught correctly.

Another emphasis is on dual players. In Lavey, the recent underage girls have been able to mix camogie and football. Convery also points to the successful Lavey senior teams of the nineties, winning football and hurling titles.

Looking forward to the Ulster campaign, Lavey are vying for their third title and Convery hopes the experience of their last two campaigns will be a help this year.

Managing the time since the Derry final is tricky. Challenge games are hard to come by and there is a balance to be found around school competitions.

The previous two years have helped this year’s preparation. It’s about managing players’ workload, ensuring players are ready to peak when the stakes are at their highest.

Convery has Justin Sargent, Shane Lagan and Tom Magill involved in the management team with current Derry senior manager Johnny McGarvey also lending a hand.

“We always try to make the point to them this is not the norm,” Convery said of the players managing a busy workload with the Christmas holidays. Players in the past would love to be in their shoes.

“They are well engaged and we have to keep them fresh in body and keep them fresh in their mind,” he concluded.