Derry face into crucial Wicklow clash to book final spot

By Niall Gartland

CORMAC O’Doherty would dearly love to pocket a Christy Ring Cup medal this year– but the free-scoring Derry forward senses that won’t be happening unless they overcome Wicklow down in Celtic Park this Saturday afternoon.

It’s their fifth and final group stage match and they sit second in the table, but O’Doherty expects that they’ll be leapfrogged into one of the two Christy Ring Cup final spots if they don’t overcome table-toppers Wicklow this Saturday.

London are in third position, but they’re a single point in arrears and are favourites to overcome Tyrone over in Ruislip, so Derry can’t really rely on results elsewhere if they’re to reach their third Christy Ring Cup final.

O’Doherty has won a barrowful with his club Sleacht Néill down the years – three Ulster Senior Football Championship titles, and another five in the hurling competition is incredible stuff really – and he hasn’t done too badly with the Oakleafers, winning a Nickey Rackard title in his debut season 2017 and league in 2022 and 2024.

The Christy Ring Cup has proven an elusive beast though – they’ve lost three out of the last four finals and have never won the competition, so that’s the ultimate goal this season.

“It’s definitely something we target – we’ve been in three finals, against Offaly, Meath and Kildare, and for different reasons we’ve fallen short in all of them.

“Every team involved in the competition is looking to win it, and having lost the last two finals we’re definitely keen to get back to that stage and to hopefully go one step forward.”

They’re not yet assured of their place in the final, however. A slip up against Meath two rounds ago was put to bed with a commanding performance away to neighbours Tyrone last weekend, but only a win against Wicklow will definitely see them advance to a Croke Park showdown. The Leinster outfit have been in good form, and on their last day out they overcame Meath by 10 points, a result that speaks for itself almost.

“After we lost to Meath, we knew we’d have to win our final two games. We got over Tyrone and now we know we have to beat Wicklow or our season’s definitely over, as we definitely expected London to beat Tyrone. It’s up to ourselves to get the job done.

“Last year we played them twice down in Aughrim, one was a draw and in the other we got a tight win. We know what to expect, they’re a very dogged team and they’re the only team in the competition who are still unbeaten.

“It’s going to be an unbelievable battle to try and get the win. They beat Meath twice and we know how good they are. Any team that beats Meath by 10 points is a hell of a team so we’re under no illusions about how tough it’s going to be.”

O’Doherty sat out two-thirds of Derry’s league campaign to recuperate from a groin injury before making substitute appearances in their final matches against Meath and Donegal. Now he’s back at full pelt and the team as a whole has only lost a single match since his return – that ill-fated championship encounter against the Royals where they paid the price for some lax defensive play, conceding three goals.

Having recently turned 29, O’Doherty has been a mainstay of the team for nearly a decade, and he likes what he sees from the younger lads on the team.

“Every day we’re playing we’re learning — we’ve a young enough squad and we definitely took a lot of learnings from that Meath game in particular, in terms of limiting our mistakes and I think we showed that against Tyrone.

“I suppose I’m personally trying to pass on whatever I can to the younger group of players – the more responsibility they can take, the more ready they are for these types of games, and the better it is for Derry hurling in general. We’ve a great group that’s keen and willing to learn and get better and that’s so important.”