By Michael McMullan

DERRY u-20 manager Ryan O’Neill feels the All-Ireland B Championship is an avenue the county can use to continually build a senior team.

The Oakleafers take on Roscommon in the All-Ireland final on Saturday hoping to add their sole title he oversaw in 2023.

Speaking after last Saturday’s Christy Ring Cup win over Donegal, Derry senior manager Johnny McGarvey also stated the importance of getting a return from the u-20 group.

When Derry won their only u-20 title, Roscommon were their opponents in Croke Park.

From that group, key players James Friel, Ruairí Ó Mianáin and Jack Cassidy are no longer part of the senior panel.

Ó Mianáin took up the invite to join the Derry football squad with Cassidy pursuing a career as an American Football kicker in the US.

Only Eunan Boylan and Eamon Cassidy remain but O’Neill still thinks it’s an avenue Derry can use to bolster their senior ranks.

As it stands, Ryan McGarvey, Ruairi Biggs, Connor and Tiernan Melaugh are on both u-20 and senior squads.

“They are great lads who want to play for Derry,” O’Neill said, “there is a bigger picture here and we emphasise this to the lads.

“We’ll hurl in B finals for so long until they all add up and we take them to an A final somewhere. That is going to happen, I have no doubt about that.

“Kerry built a senior team out of the u-20 B All-Ireland,” he said, pointing to the Kingdom leading the roll on honour on 10 titles.

”Derry will do the same. There’ll be enough boys come through in the next two, three, four, five years.

“We’ve been at this a long time now with the minors, to try and get an u-20 structure set up.

“Our u-20 structure is running as strong as our senior structure. You see our u-20 hurling team, they’re one of the hardest working teams in Owenbeg.”

Feedback

O’Neill points to a group who are willing to learn and appreciate any honest feedback they get along the way.

He is part of a management quartet that includes Kevin Kelly, John O’Dwyer and Kieran Stevenson.

The latter two were part of Derry’s Ulster senior back-to-back winning team from the turn of the millennium.

Kelly was part of the management team with O’Neill at minor level in the Celtic Challenge.

The mantra was also to have an environment where players who wanted to hurl for Derry could do so. If others wanted to commit to football, that was fair enough but the door was open to anyone who wants to hurl.

“They want to be there and the next step up is to push on into the senior ranks,” O’Neill added.

“They know that from day dot, that’s the goal. If we win something along the way, brilliant.

“What we want to do is keep pushing boys into that senior panel and get them in the shop window for their clubs.”

When they return from county u-20 duty next week, O’Neill wants them pushing to be the dominant players on their club teams. If they have an All-Ireland medal, then it’s even better.

“They’ve certainly done something right over the last five months,” O’Neill continued.

LAST TIME…Ryan O’Neill’s celebrates Derry’s win over Roscommon in the 2023 final

Another part of the Derry u-20 story is Sean Walls from the county’s youngest hurling club St Finbarr’s. The club also supplied goalscorer Máirtín Óg Bradley in the county’s u-17 win over Meath last weekend.

“Come Saturday evening, St Finbarr’s could have an All-Ireland winner in their ranks,” O’Neill said.

“We sort of delved into it to see who we could get out of it, bring them along for the journey and see what they were like.”

Walls has bought in like the rest. The players get fed, have their medical needs looked after and are togged out in county gear.

In return, there must be a level of manners and standards alongside the hurling.

Basic things. Leaving dressing rooms and buses tidy. Please and thank you after grub in a hotel. They don’t puck the ball over the bar but it creates a culture.

On the field, McGarvey and O’Neill are both hoping the u-20 grade is an avenue for senior growth in Derry.

Will the u-20 group have an All-Ireland medal to help with the transition? Saturday will tell the tale.

More Derry u-20 buildup in this week’s Gaelic Life ePaper – drops on the website on Friday