By Shaun Casey

THERE’S nothing easy come championship time, and anyone can beat anyone in the Oak Leaf County, says Sleacht Néill boss Mark Doran. The men in maroon kickstart their campaign against Kilrea on Saturday evening.

Derry have introduced a new championship format this year. The eight winners of the first-round games will playoff against each other in the next round while the eight losers do the same, with the possibility of exiting the championship.

Doran says his side know the tricky task they face against Kilrea, who they defeated in the group stages of last year’s championship. This season, Sleacht Néill are chasing a first county title since 2020.

“They won the Derry league last year and we beat them in the group last year in Kilrea, but they are a good team,” said Doran. “They have Charlie Kielt, Larry Kielt, Tommy Rogers, they have a lot over very good, skilful players.

“We played them four weeks ago in the league and with two minutes left it was a draw, James Kielt kicked a monster two-pointer to bring it back to a draw, but we did end up winning by three or four.

“We know we have to be on it and it’s the same with any game in Derry. From the last two years I’ve been up there, if you’re not on it then you’re out. It is championship and Derry have a new format this year which is exciting.

“It’s the first time playing championship under the new rules as well so there’s a lot of excitement but it’s championship football and we know if we’re not on it then we’ll be in the losers’ hat and that’s not what we want.”

Sleacht Néill struggled throughout the league, finishing third from bottom, but soldiered through most of the season without their county contingent, with over 20 players involved with the Derry footballers and hurlers at some grade.

“At the start of the year we were missing that many county players between hurling and football and u-20s, it is hard going,” added Doran, who worked with Roscommon this year as part of Davy Burke’s management team.

“To be fair, with Derry being out early, we got to integrate the boys back in. “We had four or five weeks, and they all played a few league games and that’s a massive positive compared to other years.”