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.

“There was a realisation of where the county was and that the work had to start at underage level, and you are starting to see that coming through now,” he said this week.

“The development squads at Owenbeg are improving all the time. Of course, there’s always room for further improvement, but they definitely are in a decent place.

“Derry is a small county and we have small playing numbers. But we’ve always produced good footballers and the future is certainly bright enough, at any level. It’s just a matter of getting the whole thing driving in the right direction.

“There’s serious work going on in clubs all over the county, including the city. I’ve had players from Steelstown in all the minor teams that I’ve been involved with and that’s absolutely massive,” McErlain said. Tomorrow, they square off against Dublin, in a bid to reach a first All-Ireland minor final since 2007. McErlain is confident this gap can be bridged, if his side performs to their potential at GAA HQ. En-route, the Oak Leaf youngsters have taken down Tyrone, Antrim, Cavan, and Sligo.

“People will be writing us off, thinking it’s the Dubs’ ground, and all the rest. But the boys have responded to this sort of thing before — we’re not going down there feeling like we’re underdogs, that’s for sure.

“Of course we fancy our chances; you have to fancy your chances, or we wouldn’t even have got this far. You have to have belief in what you’re doing and Tom Gray will be no different. He’ll be feeling that if they play well, they’ll win the match and we’re no different.

“Dublin came back against Meath, from 1-10 to 0-3 down, and won. They took over the game against Kildare, after Kildare had looked the better side in the first 15-20 minutes. They are an accomplished side and they stick to their system. They will be hard to break down.

“James Doran, at centre-forward, has been very prominent for them in the championship. He would set up a lot for them, along with Hawkshaw, and Ross McGarry feeds off that. They’re a good side and it’s going to be a good game.”