1 Glen

AS IT stands, Malachy O’Rourke’s Glen team are the best side in the county based on three Derry championship performances so far. They are one of only two teams to win all three of their games so far. But they take the top spot as they have the best scoring record. They have scored 2-49 but only conceded 3-20. Notably Magherafelt scored 0-4 against them in round four. Glen’s other two wins were against Bellaghy and Kilrea. The scoreline against Magherafelt is perhaps misleading as the O’Donovan Rossa team were not at full strength as both teams had finished in the top two spots.

2 Newbridge

KILLIAN Conlan’s Newbridge beat Ballinderry, Eoghan Rua and Banagher in the group stage. The Shamrocks win was a difficult game for Conlan as his brother Mickey C was managing their club team the Shamrocks. Eoghan Rua were county champions three years ago, but their age profile is somewhat younger than Newbridge’s. Newbridge beat Ballinderry by four, Eoghan Rua by one, and Banagher by a goal. The games will get more difficult but the signs are good for the Sean O’Leary’s

.

3 Lavey

LAVEY were in the same group as Sleacht Néill yet managed to nab top stop in their section thanks to some big margin wins which gave them a better scoring difference than the county champions. After losing to Swatragh by a point, they beat Sleacht Néill by three, and then they hammered Claudy 7-17 to 0-4. At that stage Claudy had been well beaten by both the other teams so they were perhaps only going through the motions at that stage. The final win gave Lavey the best scoring record so far, and have averaged 20 points per game.

4 The Loup

THE Loughshore club finished top of Group A thanks to a one-point better scoring difference than Ballinascreen. The team, managed by Paddy Bradley and Kevin Brady, have the joint second-best attack in the championship so far, amassing 55 points in four games. They won two matches, against Foreglen and Ballinascreen. Their one defeat was against Dungiven, who finished third in the group on scoring difference. That shows how close that Group A was, and suggests that the Loup are going to be a very tough proposition in the knockout.

5 Sleacht Neill

THEY are in fifth place because they finished second in their group. They are ahead of the other second-placed teams precisely because they have the best defence in the county at the moment. They have conceded 23 points in three games played, and that is against teams such as Lavey and Swatragh. What perhaps skews the stat is that they played Claudy who only managed to put up 0-3 when they went to Sleacht Néill. The reality is, that while the group results have Sleacht Néill in fifth place, the reality is that they are the top team in the county. They have some of the best forwards in the country, never mind county, and their defence is incredibly solid. When it comes to the knockout stages they will be dangerous.

6 Ballinascreen

GROUP A was a real battle for all the teams involved. Three teams were tied on two wins apiece. Ballinascreen only finished ahead of Dungiven based on their scoring difference. The key was their defence. Only four teams out of the other 15 in the senior championship have a better defensive record than Ballinascreen. They did lose to the Loup in the group stages but got wins over Dungiven and Foreglen. Ballinascreen could cause problems for any team they come up against.

7 Ballinderry

MICKEY Conlan’s Ballinderry team bounced back from their opening round loss to Newbridge to get wins over Eoghan Rua and Banagher. They are not the team they were 10 years ago by any stretch, yet they retain a good deal of potential particularly in championship knock-out situations. There are only two teams with a better defensive record than them at the moment, Lavey and Sleacht Néill and their stats are skewed because they played Claudy.

8 O’Donovan Rossa

THE Magherafelt club finished in second place in their group behind Glen as they lost their final group game to the Watties. However, the fact that they were able to beat Bellaghy and Kilrea suggests that Adrian Cush’s team are in fine form. If there is an issue then perhaps it is their defensive record. They have averaged a concession of 13 points per game in three matches played. At the same time, they have only scored 10 points per game. But there has to be a caveat to that as their third game was against Glen and Magherafelt weren’t full strength.

FIFTH… Sleacht Neill are ranked fifth according to our analysis

EIGHTH… Magherafelt, who won Derry two years ago, are ranked eighth in our list for this year’s championship teams