Derry’s football evolution into a lean, mean, running machine

In the six days and whatever hours since Derry ran away from Kildare in Newbridge, the presumption is Rory Gallagher will have watched more than one minute of Dublin.

Dublin, we know, have watched much more than one minute of Derry.

Games are passing so swiftly maybe Gallagher wasn’t jesting when he told us last Sunday his only thoughts are on the team in front of him. Whatever thought he put into Kildare last week clearly worked, Derry winning by treble scores, 2-15 to 0-7.

Without goalkeeper Mark Donnellan, who pulled off a series of fetching saves throughout, Kildare would, in track terms, have been lapped.

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“I honestly haven’t watched one minute of Dublin,” mused the Derry manager afterwards, “and I’m not just saying that. I used to watch every opponent, get obsessed with them. But see, with the nature of the games coming now and the nature of the championship, you can only focus on the here and now. Previously, you had big gaps.

“Honestly, we just watch whatever opponent we have next. There’s plenty of time now to get our head round it. Look, at the end of the day, you know a lot of the Dublin players. We’ve seen that much of them, everybody knows them, although I know there are new players in now.”

That much is true. Dublin have some new players, yet everybody knows the old ones leading the way: Ciarán Kilkenny, James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey and then Cormac Costello raising the late spurt to pip Clare on the finish line in Croke Park last Saturday evening.

That afforded Dublin manager Dessie Farrell the chance to witness Derry play in Newbridge, and there can be little doubt what he was thinking. Both teams, with four wins from four, look primed for promotion whether they win or lose – only Derry are favourites to win this one and for plenty of good reasons.

Saturday evening’s rendezvous at Celtic Park has a lot of people harping back to the last time they met – in 2015 and the infamous “death of football”. Derry’s tactics then were in no small way influenced on what unfolded in 2014, the summer where Donegal – the last under Jim McGuinness – threw an extra blanket on the blanket defence then snuck out from under it to beat Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final.

So, on a rainy night in Croke Park in late March 2015, in the penultimate round of the league, Dublin and Derry set up to prove both could play that way: tied 0-4 apiece going into the last 10 minutes, Dublin somehow found room to score another four by closing time, prompting incoming GAA president Jarlath Burns to tweet out his “death of football” comment.

Now, Gallagher’s fourth season in charge, including the Covid-shortened ones, Derry are an entirely different prospect. Still able and willing to get 15 players behind the ball when the opposition have possession, what’s different now is how swiftly and fluidly they can get players forward again, four and sometimes five into the inside forward line.

It’s hard work. It’s not economical football, only Derry have enough players with pace and endurance and lean athleticism to see it through.

The proof is mounting. Holding Kildare to a paltry 0-7 – just two of those points from play, one in either half – is evidence of that enduring defence, while up front Derry have racked up 6-57 across their four wins, an average of 18.75 scored per game. They’ve conceded just 2-29, an average of 8.75 points. Derry’s scoring difference is also a sturdy +40, compared with Dublin’s +13

Last Sunday, Shane McGuigan scored 1-7, more than the entire 20 players who featured for Kildare (the 15 starters and five replacements) and he wasn’t even playing as a pure full-forward. McGuigan is also the leading scorer in Division Two, his 2-24 (0-11 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 mark) two goals ahead of Cork’s Stephen Sherlock. Dublin’s Dean Rock is next best with his 1-20 (1-0 pen, 0-13 frees, 0-1 45m).

It helps that Derry are a youngish breed too: “It’s part of the natural evolution,” said Gallagher, “Shane [McGuigan]’s still only 24. Conor Glass is not long in midfield. Brendan Rogers pushed into the middle of the field.

“You’ve Paul Cassidy and Ethan Doherty: Ethan’s still 21 until the end of the year, Paul only 22 now so it’s a youngish breed. But we’ve got a lot of games under our belt now over the last two-and-a-bit years.”

Cassidy is making further strides so far this season, in more ways than one. Playing at centre-forward, he covers ground like a middle-distance runner. The Bellaghy player constantly tracking back when in need, aware of his own position and those around him. No wonder he occasionally slows up for a quick breath, hands clasped behind his head as if just finishing a set of 400m shuttle runs.

Cassidy was also man of the match playing midfield when Derry took apart Tyrone in the McKenna Cup in January. That versatility, like Niall Toner, Benny Heron, Conor Doherty and Padraig Cassidy, is why he’ll likely start every game again this year.

Indeed that certain meanness in team selection (Gallagher started the same 15 players in all five championship games last summer) looks set to continue through 2023 – not that they’re the same team, not from last year.

“Look, we try to push on,” said Gallagher. “We have to prove ourselves with or without the ball every day. You have to continue to evolve because teams find out a wee bit about you.”