Derry’s Foley looking ahead to visit of the Kingdom

By Michael McMullan

AFTER winning the Conor McGurk Cup last weekend, Derry eyes are firmly fixed on Saturday’s visit of Kerry to Celtic Park as Division Two swings into gear.

Deaglan Foley hit two vital points against Donegal as Derry’s comeback headed towards a finish before Christy McNaughton’s winning goal.

Joint-captains Foley and Ryan Magill lifted the cup after the game but Foley began to look ahead to their Division Two campaign.

Kerry are back down in the Christy Ring Cup later in the season but the Oakleafers know exactly what’s coming down the tracks on Saturday.

“We went down to them last year and they sort of turned us over quite easily, to be fair,” Foley said of Derry’s 5-20 to 1-12 defeat in Tralee.

“We didn’t like going down there, they’ll not like coming up here. We’re probably going to try to tap into that as much as we can.

“We’ll get a good training week under our belt and see what we can do,” he added.

There has been a changing of the deck chairs with Derry. Ruairí Ó Mianáin has opted to throw his lot in with the footballers.

Brothers John and Richie Mullan are among a group of players not on board but there is a return for Darragh McGilligan who had stepped away in 2025.

“Darragh’s back for another year. There were a couple of boys who came off the bench there,” Foley said of Saturday’s 1-14 to 0-16 win over Donegal.

“I thought Eunan Boylan was really, really good when he came on today, really made an impact.

“The likes of ‘Coyler’ (Conor Coyle) has stepped up massively. Eamon Cassidy was deadly from wing-back. He’s a real attacking option too, going up and down that line all the time. He can take long range scores.”

Looking to the long-term, Foley is content with the efforts of everyone in the squad.

“At the minute, there’s a solid group in there. We have the new additions coming on, so our full attention is on the next Saturday.

“The boys will step up big time,” he said of the newcomers. There are 15 on the field to start.

“There are five more that can come on. You’re passing the jersey on and boys have stood up.

“There were boys in the last couple of weeks making their senior debuts for Derry. They’ve taken it on their stride too, which is great to see.”