Lavey looking to push on says McGarvey

By Shaun Casey

HISTORICALLY Lavey and Kevin Lynch’s are two of the big hitters in the Derry SHC and they lock horns this Saturday afternoon. Before Sleacht Néill began their domination in 2013, Lavey and Kevin Lynch’s were the top two teams on the roll of honour.

Lavey, with Derry manager Johnny McGarvey in charge, won the Derry Junior Championship last season and reached the Ulster final where they lost out to Burt of Donegal by the narrowest of margins.

They begin their campaign in Swatragh against Kevin Lynch’s, who also defeated them in the first round of the championship last year.

“This time of year is what the boys do all the training for and it’s what they look forward to. The sun’s out, it’s the middle of the summer so we’re looking forward to it,” said McGarvey.

“For us, it’s just small steps building we’ve been at for a long time there.

“We’ve been in the Junior Championship over the last number of years, just with the way things have worked.

“We’re looking to push on a wee bit. We think we have an exciting young team, and we have a lot to learn but we’d like to push on from where we’ve been.”

On Saturday’s contest, McGarvey continued: “Over the last number of years, Kevin Lynch’s have been playing at a level above where we’ve been at.

“Traditionally, Lavey and Kevin Lynch’s is like the Old Firm. It’s an exciting game to get first but they have played in six of the last seven senior finals, and they lost the intermediate final in between that.

“They have serious quality players right throughout their team, so we know what they have and we know what is ahead of us.”

Lavey certainly won’t be going into the game at full strength as they have numerous injury concerns heading into the championship campaign.

“We have plenty of injury concerns,” McGarvey, who led the Oak Leaf County to Christy Ring Cup success back in May, continued.

“Ryan McGill had shoulder surgery after the Christy Ring Cup final so he’s out for the season and Eamon McGill pulled his hamstring a week after the Christy Ring Cup final and he hasn’t played since.

“Our goalkeeper Eoin Mulholland has an AC shoulder injury as well and we’re probably like everybody in that most of our players are dual players and they’re playing every week or even sometimes two games in a week.

“You pick up knocks and you just have to get on with it. Conor Burke is another player who is out with a broken thumb so there’s plenty of injuries at the minute.”