Derry keep on clocking up the hard yards

By Michael McMullan

IT’S another busy week for Derry’s Cara Donnelly as preparations taper towards Saturday’s Ulster Junior Championship visit of champions Antrim.

As a student in quantity surveying, through an apprenticeship with the Errigal Group, she clocks up the miles.

Monday and Friday are spent at their Monaghan base. Tuesday and Wednesday are on site in Bristol. Thursday is study day in Ulster University. Training comes after that. Football has always been there.

Before Desertmartin got ladies football up and running at u-14 level, Donnelly played on the boys’ teams.

“Football has always been one of the biggest things in my life and your life sort of revolves around it,” she said.

“It’s always been such a big thing and that’s where I made all my friends, long lasting friendships.”

Mackin excited by Ulster campaign

Togetherness and that bond are at the centre of the current Derry senior team who are ploughing every ounce of themselves into pulling themselves from the bottom of the junior ranks.

Traditionally, they have been perched at the bottom of Division Four. The three points to their name harvested from the country’s 32nd ranked team, Kilkenny.

Scratch the surface and 2026 has brought dramatic improvements.

Day by day, Donnelly deals with numbers. In her county footballing world, their 2026 score difference are the digits that matter.

Hammerings have been replaced by near misses. They were inches from a draw in Wicklow. A promoted Leitrim scraped past by a single point too.

It’s a determined Derry group, with a more organised approach brining stability.

Off the pitch, they have dug in together too. In recent weeks, they spent a weekend socialising in the Algarve, all at their own expense.

“Everybody just gets on,” Donnelly said of their team dynamic. “Somebody suggested going to Portugal and next thing it just happened.

“We were close before but you make memories and stuff and it’s definitely a lot closer now.”

Keeping it tight

On the pitch, Leo Sweeney joined Greg McCabe and Seamus Shivers’ management team.

Together, they’ve incorporated a defensive system designed to stop the ever-increasing number of goals conceded. The 2025 tally of 19 dropped to 10 in this season’s league.

“We had been working really hard in our defensive set-up and it’s showing,” Donnelly pointed out.

“Our forward play gradually came in because maybe our scoring wasn’t as high but we were definitely keeping scores down.”

In previous seasons, players would’ve dropped off after the league but this year they’ve kept the collective push on ahead of championship time.

Derry face Antrim this weekend before taking on London. There is the chance, like last year, of a meeting with then Saffrons in the final.

“Everybody is sticking together and working,” Donnelly said of a group she enjoys being part of. The tone of her voice doesn’t lie.

In a way, the level of push by a team with no visible results represents a genuine foundation. Sport always comes easier with wins.

“So far in the season, we have been unlucky. We definitely could have made a statement in the league, but we were very unlucky.”

Derry’s management team are backing them. On and off the pitch, the playing group just keep on trucking.

With continued progress it’s a case of when their effort will yield results, rather than if.

“Everybody on the team knows that it’s coming,” Donnelly said..

“You have to have belief, otherwise you wouldn’t be there. It’s progressing and this year has been the best year that I’ve ever been involved in.”

For now, Derry’s two words and patience and persistence. The door can’t stay closed forever.