Derry are a wounded animal says McDonnell

By Shaun Casey

DERRY could, and probably should, have met Armagh two weeks ago in the Ulster final rather than the opening round of the All-Ireland series on Saturday night, but couldn’t finish the job against Monaghan.

They were well on top of the Farney County, also at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, but some late heroics from Mícheál Bannigan, Jack McCarron and Rory Beggan stole the show for Gabriel Bannigan’s men.

How will that Derry changing room react four weeks on? How tough a job has Ciaran Meenagh had on his hands trying to revive them again?

The hurt of that semi-final, along with the advantage of knowing they were set to face Armagh no matter how the Ulster decider panned out, makes them a dangerous prospect, according to former Orchard skipper Steven McDonnell.

“Ciaran Meenagh and his Derry team have that advantage of preparing for Armagh in advance and that’s something Armagh have to try and get right in a compact space of time,” the Killeavy man explained.

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“It’s actually less than two weeks from the Ulster final and by the time the boys fully recovered from the Ulster final with knocks and niggles, you probably have nine days in total to prepare fully and it’s not going to be easy.”

On the Derry hurt, McDonnell continued, “It’s a local derby game in Ulster, it’s a tough competitive game and Derry will have a lot of hurt on their shoulders as well.

“They’ll believe that they should have been in the Ulster final, so they’ll take that hurt and anger into preparing for the Armagh game. Armagh played Derry late year at the Athletic Grounds and looked comfortable for a while.

“Derry came back into it and also clipped Armagh in the end so this is going to be a tough game, and Armagh can’t take anything for granted.

“If you look at the quality of player Derry have in their ranks, Armagh will have to be at their very best to try and overcome what will be a resurgent Derry team.”

As one of the best forwards the Orchard County has ever produced, the 2002 All-Ireland winner has been impressed with the attacking qualities Kieran McGeeney’s side have shown and their large spread of scores.

Armagh posted 1-17 (vs Tyrone), 2-32 (Fermanagh), 3-33 (vs Down) and 2-28 (vs Monaghan) to claim the Anglo Celt Cup for the first time since 2008.

Conor Turbitt finished the Ulster Championship campaign as the competition’s top scorer with 3-18 and he rattled off goals against Fermanagh and Down (2).

Tomas McCormack raised green flags versus both Tyrone and the Mourne County, Jason Duffy hit the net in Brewster Park while Tiernan Kelly and Oisin O’Neill were the goal getters in the Ulster final.

Armagh even won the Ulster final without a single fisted point. “From an Armagh point of view, I think Armagh are excellent at working the ball into one-point scenarios,” he added.

“I’m a believer in taking as many one-point opportunities as you can because the more of those you take, you create that gap between you and your opponent. The two-point opportunities then open up; the bigger gaps appear.

I think they got eight fisted points in the semi-final, but you look at the spread of scorers Armagh have, they had twelve different scorers in the Ulster final. They are getting ten plus scorers in every game and that’s massive and it creates a serious headache for opponents.”

McDonnell singles out a couple of the Armagh players worthy of individual praise. “Oisin Conaty, who can’t play down what he possesses and what he holds,” the 2003 Footballer of the Year added.

“He’s the second most feared forward in Ireland right now and for me, the second-best player in Ireland at the minute after David Clifford of course.

“He is just so consistent in his performances but if Derry try to put the shackles on Oisin Conaty, then they’ve got Darragh McMullan stepping up and producing big performances.

“There’s Cian McConville who is doing the same. Conor Turbitt has been showing great form over recent games and is really stepping up. Oisin O’Neill will be sprung from the bench as he usually is.

“There’s that many headaches that opponents have to worry about and then you have the scoring presence from the half back line as well, I’m not even including Ross McQuillan in that because he hasn’t started the last couple of games.

“If you’ve got a spread of scorers in the modern game, the way it’s being played, it makes life extremely difficult for your opponents and hopefully that spread of scorers continues for Armagh.”