Derry's McGarvey revels in performance for the ages after Kerry upset
Derry celebrate with the Christy Ring Cup in Croke Park. Pic ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Plenty of times throughout the year, Johnny McGarvey heard it said, listened to it on podcasts and read it in newspapers that Kerry would win the Christy Ring Cup. And if they didn't, it certainly wouldn't be Derry that beat them.
Derry were in team building mode, the level of turnover on the back of the 2025 Ring Cup final loss to London meaning that just six starters from that game lined out again on Saturday afternoon.
In all, Derry lost four finals in the previous five seasons, were relegated from Division 2 in spring and, at the beginning of the League, were beaten 5-23 to 0-12 by Kerry.
No wonder Kerry were roaring 1/10 favourites for Saturday's final as they chased an immediate return to the Joe McDonagh Cup, Derry the 6/1 no hopers.
"Plenty of people said it to our faces that we couldn't beat Kerry," said Derry manager McGarvey. "We couldn't do this, we couldn't do that. We didn't even use it as motivation. We just went away and we worked hard. It wasn't all plain sailing and it wasn't always good days. But when it went bad, there was no fighting, there was no bitching about it."
In hindsight, it all looks pretty daft, writing Derry off like that. In just a fortnight they've beaten Kerry twice in championship hurling, backing up their round-robin win over the Kingdom with a ferocious Croke Park display that McGarvey estimated was as good as anything he's ever seen from Derry.
"It was a performance for the ages," he said, dedicating it to all of those 'who carried the can for this team and who put their shoulder to the wheel and who pressed on' over the years.
The five-point margin at full-time flattered Kerry who clawed back two late goals from substitute Oisín Maunsell. They got 2-3 from the bench but still never looked like delivering on their favourites' tag and operated in Derry's slipstream from the opening score, a Rian Collins point just seconds into the contest.
Pádraig Boyle produced dashes of magic, finishing with 1-10, and just about edged his individual duel with full-back Patrick Turner. But Derry were on top in most other sectors. They handed Connor Melaugh his first Championship start and the Lavey talent returning 2-2. Cormac O'Doherty foresook his attacking instincts to add to the defensive effort alongside lionhearts like Eamon Cassidy and Conor Coyle. Throw in the creativity and direct running of Darragh McGilligan and clinical finishing of Shea Cassidy, who sniped 1-4, and you have a team that purred with Rolls Royce efficiency. Their dynamism and aggression was off the charts, of the supercharged supercar variety.
"I can't have any excuses," said Kerry manager John Griffin. "They brought that bit of collective energy and that bit more aggression and they were probably running that bit harder. We did well to get back into the game at times but we never kicked on after that.
"We got within four points, five points, six points but they went down and got goals and they were sucker punches as well. We came back a few times. I have to give our lads credit for keeping going but, being honest, we would have stolen it in the end. We were hanging in there and hoping for another goal or something like that."
Two things were apparent straight away; that Derry had come to play, reeling off the game's first four points, and that Kerry's radar was badly malfunctioning. Griffin looked on through his fingers at 13 first-half wides, and 19 in total.
Boyle got out in front of Turner for back to back Kerry points midway through the first half. Slattery clipped a beauty from the right wing too but Derry still led 1-12 to 0-9 at half time.
Melaugh's goals, in the 10th and 45th minutes, were beauties, two something-out-of-nothing scores that he engineered himself with hard running towards the Kerry goal. Derry's third goal, from Shea Cassidy, came from another searing run that cut a hole through the Kingdom rearguard.
A Kerry side full of goals - they scored 20 in the first four group games - burst into life in the last 20 minutes, adding another three. Yet their situation was too dire. For every positive Kerry action, there always seemed to be an immediate Derry response.
"They were much more economical and we weren't, it's as simple as that," shrugged Griffin.
C Melaugh (2-2); S Cassidy (1-4); C O'Doherty (0-5, 5 frees); D Foley (0-4); C Coyle (0-3); R Collins, D McGilligan (0-2 each); T Brady, E Cassidy (0-1 each).
P Boyle (1-10, 6 frees); O Maunsell (2-0); M Slattery (0-2); S McGrath, J Conway, H Lenihan, R Walsh, L Óg O'Connor, M Leane, D Casey.
S Kelly; C McGilligan, P Turner, JL McGlade; T Melaugh, C Coyle, E Cassidy; C O'Doherty, T Brady; C Melaugh, D Foley, D McGilligan; R Collins, J Mulholland, S Cassidy.
: R McGarvey for E Cassidy (25-34); E McGill for Mulholland (46); McGarvey for Brady (51); E Boylan for Collins (67); S Quinn for S Cassidy (68); R McGill for Melaugh (70).
: C Bohane; E Leen, S McGrath, K O'Connor; H Lenihan, J Diggins, M Leane; K Goulding, A Segal; J Brick, R Walsh, T Doyle; G Dooley, P Boyle, M Slattery.
: J Conway for Segal (34); O Maunsell for Dooley (40); I Conway for Brick (48); L Óg O'Connor for Slattery (55); D Casey for Diggins (63).
: M Farrell (Offaly).
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