By Michael McMullan

DERRY are preparing for a fifth Christy Ring Cup final in six years but Johnny McGarvey says his side must reach a higher level if they’re to finally get over the finish line.

When they take on Kerry on Saturday week, it will be a third meeting of the counties this season.

Kerry were 26-point winners when they locked horns in the league. Then when they met in the recent Christy Ring group game, the Kingdom had already booked their place in the final and Derry found the win they needed to join them later this month.

McGarvey is happy with Derry’s consistency levels but is fully aware of the task ahead.

“For the actual group, they’re going to be beat with a stick until they get over the line,” he said.

“That’s hard to take because the heroics of what they’re doing is unbelievable. We have a level of consistency there over a long period of time.”

A hallmark of the Derry side under McGarvey is how they’ve bounced back from defeats. Losing to Westmeath on the final day of the league spelt relegation from Division 2A.

After picking themselves up, they lost to Wicklow in the Christy Ring Cup before digging deep to salvage a draw – and nearly a win – in Meath.

That set them up with the Kerry game with qualification in their own hands. While it was a vital win, McGarvey is fully aware that Saturday week’s rematch in Croke Park will be a different story completely.

“Kerry are levels above what they played last weekend,” he said. “Fair enough, we put them in the back foot and all the rest of it.

“When we get out in Croke Park and the big spaces, it’ll be very, very different. I think we’ll have to go up a level or two on what we’ve done to get there.”