Work paying off on Derry production line

At underage, the Derry house looks in pretty good nick. It might have taken a few years to furnish, but they got there in the end.

Between 2008 and ’14, the county failed to reach an Ulster minor final. Of the last three deciders, they’ve won two (2015 and ’17) and came up short by two points in the other. They also reached this season’s provincial U21 final.

And while their climbing graph hasn’t yet translated to senior success, the likes of Niall Keenan and Danny Tallon have already graduated to the senior set-up. More are certain to follow. Derry minor boss, Damian McErlain, says the county’s rise to underage prominence stems from a collective realisation, during the barren period, that enough simply wasn’t being done.