By Ronan Scott

DERRY manager Dominic McKinley says that increasing player turnout must be a priority if the Oak Leaf county are to become a stronger team on the hurling scene in Ireland.

The county lost the Christy Ring Cup final last weekend to Offaly. The 21-point defeat at the hands of Offaly, who were the heavy favourites, provided an important lesson for the county.

McKinley said that they want the team to learn from the defeat rather than feeling sorry for themselves after the loss.

“We hope they take on board what they saw. Offaly were very athletic.

“Michael Fennelly has been in with them and you could see the change in them. We saw the athleticism of them and we will look at the improvement there.

“Their shooting efficiency was very good. They were better than us but we have to learn from it.”

Derry have to look to try to reach those levels. McKinley said that work-rate is the first way that Derry can try to get there. He said that the team also have to look at their programme and structures for training.

“Maybe we have to tweak those. A good pre-season would help a lot. Instead of giving them programme, we would get a look at them,” said the Oak Leaf boss.

“There is nothing like looking at a team to see where they are at.

“We need to make sure that we get that pre-season so we can players up to that peak level of fitness.”

He said that they have to be realistic about how much they can expect to get from players. McKinley said that there is only so much work they can do with a team.

However, he also said that numbers were key to everything.

“We want to strengthen the panel. Our resources are very limited. We need to make sure that we can get any player who is a hurler in there.

“Leaving the dual player argument aside because that has been worn out for the last 20 years, I say get the rest of the players in and strengthen our team. We have struggled with the depth of our backs.

“We had three or four options in our forwards.

“But we had lost backs (Conor McAllister and Conor Kelly) and we had to reshuffle our team. That is one of the key things, we have to get depth in our panel.”

McKinley says that Derry can strengthen their panel.

He says the players are there in the county, but for it to happen players have to want to commit to the panel and show the correct attitude.

“It is a matter of choice. Do you want to commit to become a Derry hurler?

“You can’t just come and go and do what you want. You can’t just come and go. It is a serious commitment.

“It is a life-changing commitment to decide whether you want to do that or not. It is a big decision, particularly for young boys.

“If you want to be a hurler for your club and be the best that you can then you have to step forward and do that. You have to get on the platform. You have to get in and hurl for Derry.

“Even without any coaching, or if you don’t like coaches or players, you are still going be playing with better players, and going against better teams. You are going to make better decisions because you are going to go up against good players.

“You take the information on daily and you become better.

“Hurling can’t finish at the bottom of your field. If it finishes at the bottom of the field in Sleacht Néill, or Lavey or Banagher, then it is a very small outlook.”

The expectation is that McKinley will return as Derry manager next season. He says that he wants to return but he has to have a meeting with the county board to review the season.

McKinley is expecting everyone to be keen to come back next season.

“They are hurlers and they want to come back. They were disappointed after losing. Getting beat like that will leave a scar but once they get back with the club then they will think about what happened to them as an individual. That is what you have to do.”

CHALLENGING DAY… Derry’s Odhran McKeever in action against Offaly’s Paddy Delaney and Ciarán Burke of Offaly during the Christy Ring Cup final match  at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó MídheachSportsfile