Derry have been looking in the mirror well away from Broadway

Irish Examiner

24-05-2025

The fact this evening's game is not being televised live speaks volumes about the last 731 days in the Armagh and Derry camps.
When Ciaran McFaul drilled the winning penalty at the end of the 2023 Ulster final shootout, it's hard to imagine a game like this away from the Broadway lights.
The league and All-Ireland champions of the previous season. The first step of Sam Maguire's title defence.
Yet this is a world apart from Clones two weeks ago. Ulster Champions against the All-Ireland champions. Proper box office.
It was the same in 1992. Casement Park absolutely rammed. Sun in the sky. A belter of a game. Derry as league champions, Down putting their All-Ireland title on the line. And Derry plucked it from their grasp.
It's not knockout this evening in the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, but Donegal hosting Tyrone is up the pecking order of oomph.
Why? Well, there are a few one percenters that add up to a substantial margin.
One team hold the biggest prize in the land. Sam. The other, well they haven't won a game since a victory dug from a grind against Westmeath last summer.
Derry then won a penalty shootout in Mayo after a brilliant performance wasn't enough to get the job done.
Earlier this year, they were a John Daly block away from Ethan Doherty's shot turning a draw into a league win.
Derry lost the rest. There have been a few spells of excellent play, but it never stretched far enough to really count.
Kerry's three goals in nine minutes was a sucker punch. Donegal pulling victory from the jaws of defeat in Ballyshannon another. Close but no cigar.
When McFaul's penalty hit the Clones net two years ago, days after Rory Gallagher stepped down as manager, Ciarán Meenagh steered Derry to a winning position in an All-Ireland semi-final with Kerry.
It was a brave performance but they didn't have enough around the edges to pull over the line. When Odhrán Lynch appealed for runners, with the game in the fire, the Derry legs were gone. Two breaking balls in the bearpit were enough for Jack O'Connor to breathe a sigh of relief. Kerry by a whisker.
Look at the history books. Derry have won a paltry six championship games in Croke Park in the history of the world. Hardly a big fish. They've not managed back-to-back championship wins in Croke Park since they clutched Sam in 1993.
Since 2023, the obvious stat is that the group is two years older. Benny Heron and Chrissy McKaigue have retired. Odhrán Lynch has been injured. All-Star defender Gareth McKinless out for the season.
Another All-Star, Conor McCluskey missed the club championship with Magherafelt and is only coming into the reckoning.
There were all sorts of rumours of what happened or didn't happen on their training camp in Portugal. Add in the longest managerial hunt imaginable. Was Rory Gallagher coming back or not?
By the time Paddy Tally was appointed, Derry were firmly behind the eight ball. Little or no preseason.
Then, with results not going to plan, Derry fans disappeared like snow off a ditch. The sing when we're winning crew await the next bandwagon.
Armagh fans have hung around. The players too. Of the team that started the All-Ireland final, nine of them were ambushed by Tipperary in a 2017 last day winner-takes-all afternoon to get promoted from Division 3. They failed. But stuck by Kieran McGeeney.
While the knives were out for the All-Ireland winning skipper, enough clubs voted 'tá' to keep him in place.
There was another penalty shootout hell last year against Donegal. Never mind two weeks ago when they lost a third final by a whisker.
In the days after last year's Ulster final defeat, the Armagh squad spent time in each other's company. A few jars. Chat. Reflection. Then it was time to get back on the horse.
When Armagh arrived in Celtic Park for the first All-Ireland game, nobody knew the thickness of their underbelly.
Derry had something to prove, having been beaten out the gate by Donegal. As it materialised, Armagh gave them another hockeying. Goals and goals. It was the surge of energy to reignite the Armagh wave. Results followed. Stefan Campbell fisted a vital score to snatch a draw against Galway. From the pressure cooker, they were now top of the group..
Beating Kerry always helps. Then came Sam and euphoria. A second star is now lit up on the back of their pavilion in Armagh.
Deeper than winning Sam was how the panel players stuck with the process. Have boots, will play. When called, they did what was asked. Ross McQuillan. Soupy. Jarly Óg. Aidan Nugent. Jason Duffy.
It made them stronger. This year its Callum O'Neill, Tomás McCormack and Darragh McMullen. They've Rian O'Neill back after his time away.
All the while, there are deeply rooted questions over what Paddy Tally will have across the corridor this evening.
The seven weeks they've spent away from the championship arena has allowed them to look in the mirror. Proper reflection. A couple of challenge games. A block of fitness work done.
The week-on-week nature of the league is claustrophobic when you're losing. They didn't have the pre-season window they needed.
It brings us back to this evening. Armagh are proven. Champions well used to fighting for an inch here and there.
Derry can't tick that box. On paper, they've a roster to challenge but there are still more questions than answers. And it's hard to shake a losing streak.
Dublin's win over Galway pours more petrol on the meaning of this evening. Galway will have a chip on their shoulder at Celtic Park next week. Dublin are back on the road. The fact they didn't win a gazillionth Leinster game in succession is yesterday's news.
All of a sudden, the two points on offer tonight are absolute gold. What Derry wouldn't do to roll the clock back 731 days as Ciaran McFaul sent the red half of Clones wild.
Armagh only need to rewind back two weeks to find out they are still firmly in the contenders' category.
Viewers will have to wait to 9.30pm and the Saturday Game to see. How times have changed.