Derry determined to pass important test

NEWS:"I REALLY think we should talk about the finals. With the greatest respect for the people around me, I'm not willing to talk about it [the Parnell Park melee] anymore."

Dublin manager Paul Caffrey was surrounded by his counterpart in Saturday's Division Two final, Tomás Ó Flatharta, along with Derry's Paddy Crozier and Pat O'Shea from Kerry.

Each print outlet was represented by at least two journalists. The radio and television were out in force too but once the whirlwind surrounding Caffrey eventually subsided, one couldn't help feeling the sophomore Kerry bainisteoir was best served by the unfolding commotion.

Kerry have reached another league final despite the absence of several senior players and their under-21s for most of the winter/spring campaign.

They experience three campaigns each year: the league, followed by the Munster championship, before getting down to the serious business of scalping victims in Croke Park. Along with the robust, yet refreshing Ulster revolution of 2002, 2003 and 2005, they have dominated the 21st century football landscape.

They remain overwhelming 11 to 8 favourites to complete a three-in-a-row; we made a premature attempt to get O'Shea talking on this issue but to no avail.

However, Derry on Sunday is the only genuinely competitive game until, most probably, Cork in the Munster final on July 6th.

"It's out of our control," said O'Shea of the imbalanced GAA fixture list. "It's not ideal. I keep making the point that we have three distinctive competitions: the National League, which is practically a stand-alone competition now. We don't play until June 15th in the first round of the championship (against either Clare or Waterford). It's a huge gap. You question what influence next Sunday will have on your championship preparation. After Munster it is the qualifiers or winners' route but it's still going to be a big gap so it's a separate competition that stands on its own. We look at it from a positive perspective."

If not for a late revival against Monaghan in last year's quarter-final, the large gaps between matches would have been cited for Kerry's demise. "Obviously the Monaghan game last year people will look into the situation and say Kerry could have been beaten. I think Kerry could have been beaten by a good team, not because of the six-week lay-off."

While O'Shea remained guarded when looking ahead to the championship, Crozier had no problem backing his panel to make an impact this summer.

"We have to be All-Ireland challengers, there is no doubt about that. We've a group of players who were All-Ireland minor champions in 2002. There is a good mixture of youth and experience. Now is the time to step up. It's important to beat one of the bigger teams - the Kerrys or Dublins - to take the step forward."

The stature of league finals has certainly decreased. Crozier cited last year's Dublin versus Tyrone game that launched the new Croke Park floodlights as an example of excellent marketing of Gaelic games. He sees this weekend as a missed opportunity.

"It's an injustice to Allianz and the sponsorship. I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been a double-header in Croke Park. Dublin, Westmeath and ourselves and Kerry would have been a full house, I'm sure. That date is set in stone, 27th of April from day one, the National League final and I think the GAA surely should have brought that into the fixture. I don't know why Croke Park is closed. We can have pop concerts, we can have rugby and soccer. Our players want to play in Croke Park. It's about keeping the grassroots happy."

"The grassroots are the problem, Paddy," replied a quick-witted scribe.

Outgoing GAA PRO Danny Lynch provided further clarification: "There is a certain amount of remedial work that has to be done on one layer of the pitch. This is the only time of the year when there is natural growth so there is no way a game can be played there and I think it is grossly misleading to suggest it."

TG4 has confirmed it will broadcast all three league finals live this weekend. Dublin play Westmeath in Navan on Saturday at 7pm, with the Division Three final between Fermanagh and Wexford (12.30) preceding the Derry-Kerry final at 2.15pm in Parnell Park.