Derry captain Cormac O’Doherty has played in three Christy Ring Cup final defeats but persistence takes him back to Croke Park on Saturday. Michael McMullan went to meet him…

BETWEEN club, school and county, Cormac O’Doherty has stood in the firing line enough times to know the difference between winning and losing a crunch game ahead of their Christy Ring final with London.

Youngest in the house, the pitch at the side of the house toughened him up enough to line up as goalkeeper on Sleacht Néill’s Féile hurling winning teams well before his final year.

His game awareness saw him plonked into the role as sweeper, again playing up the years, when St Patrick’s, Maghera were Hogan Cup winners at Croke Park.

Mickey Moran saw enough in him as minor to ask him into Sleacht Néill footballers’ winning formula. He was giving away height and experience to the Omagh defence, but it didn’t stop him plucking Padríg Kelly’s long delivery to bag an Ulster final goal.

Big ball or small ball, O’Doherty has always been an important cog. It’s the same with Derry hurlers.

When an injury on club duty followed him into 2025, he spent the early part of the season looking on as Derry struggled for form.

After a win over Tyrone in the league opener, there were on the wrong side of a Down team in tip-top shape in the early stages of their run to the title.

Kerry dished out a harsh lesson the following week in Tralee before there was a change ahead of the visit of Joe McDonagh finalists Kildare.

“We figured a few things out and I suppose our aim was always to consolidate in Division Two in the league, find new players, build a strong squad, train well and get confidence ahead in the Christy Ring,” O’Doherty said of their season.

Ryan McGill has saw game time and Patrick Turner has been a rock at corner-back, especially given the injury to experienced defender Paddy Kelly who had been one of their most consistent players.

The Kerry and Down game were harsh lessons with players finding their feet and the step up from hurling at club level.

“It’s a big step up from club level to step into that cauldron and Down we’re flying,” O’Doherty said.

Despite the tough days, the group stuck together and now find themselves on the other side of a championship campaign that brings them back to a fourth final in five years and a fifth overall.

Cormac O’Doherty is one seven players who played in the 2021 defeat to Offaly in the squad this weekend

O’Doherty, who plays in his fourth final, feels the squad has got stronger after the tougher tests earlier in the season.

“To be fair, players stuck together, we learnt a lot of lessons and we’ve took them forward into it. The group has just got stronger off the back of it.

“People don’t realise just how close the group is, especially in Johnny’s (McGarvey) time here over the last three years,” the skipper said.

“We’ve got a core group of probably about 23 or 24 that have stayed the same. A few new players have come in and they’ve gelled so well. It is a very close group.

“It definitely shows on the pitch. Trainings are enjoyable, everybody wants to be here and it makes a massive difference.”

A saying often thrown out is a reference of needing to lose a final before winning one. It’s loose talk. Tied in with it, there is the mental approach of playing in Croke Park.

It’s something O’Doherty doesn’t see as a factor for Derry given how the bones of their squad have played in Christy Ring finals, an u-20 All-Ireland final, club and school finals.

“It’s a pitch the same as the one out there,” he said, standing in the Owenbeg tunnel. “We’ve got to perform. It’s a final for winning and that’s all that matters on Saturday.”

In an interview ahead of the 2023 defeat to Meath, O’Doherty pointed to the need to post 30 points to win a game. They scored 0-12 in defeat to Kerry 10 years ago. Offaly’s 0-41 doubled their 2-14 tally in 2021. The Oaks have posted 1-22 and 1-21 in the last two finals.

Six days from a return to Croke Park, the metrics are still the same. That’s the learnings from the league this season.

“To compete at that higher level, you’ve got to get to 30 points a game,” said O’Doherty, a thinker and studier of all things sport.

“There aren’t too many games now that are won without getting to that 30-point mark. The last couple of games we’ve had it.

“The days that we haven’t won, like the Meath game, we fell short. I think we only finished with 23 scores (1-22).

“That’s probably not going to be enough to win what we want to win. It’s been a big target, a big learning for us to go after.”

They hit 1-30 and 2-30 in their last two outings. That’s the target for Saturday. O’Doherty delves into London’s scorelines.

After scoring at least one goal in every league game, London bagged 14 in their five Christy Ring games. Derry came closest to closing them out, keeping them to one goal in Ruislip.

Ironically it was a day Derry found themselves in a tight corner before O’Doherty hit two second-half goals on his comeback day.

“I suppose it’s every team’s target, don’t let the other team score goals and score plenty yourself,” O’Doherty said with a thoughtful smile.

“If you do both those things you’re never going to be far away. We’ll just focus on ourselves, which has been the case the whole way through. If we perform, we know we’ll give ourselves a chance, and that’s what we’ve got our focus on.”

Liam Óg Hinphey and Niall Ferris close in on Kerry’s John Egan, during the 2015 Christy Ring Cup final

There was a feel-good factor after their win over Wicklow at a sunny Celtic Park. Derry billed it as an All-Ireland semi-final. A passport to get back to Croke Park with a chance to challenge for their elusive first Christy Ring title.

When they opened their eyes the next morning, the vision was clear. London in Croke Park and a performance. There is the hope that climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand will be the end game.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been there and come up short for different reasons,” O’Doherty summed up of what winning would look like if they can make history.

“I think everybody knows what it would mean to the group and to that cohort of supporters that have followed us to Kerry whenever we weren’t going well, to Ballycran last year.

“They just follow us wherever we need support at. It would mean a lot to them and to the group. Emotion doesn’t win games, we can have all the time for emotion at seven o’clock on Saturday, win or lose, the emotion will be there. We’ve got to park it until the final whistle.”