Derry eyes now locked in on Tyrone test

THE Derry message is simple this week. After losing to Meath, they are pouring their Christy Ring hopes into Dungannon on Saturday and their clash with Tyrone.

The Oakleafers needed every sinew when they dug out a victory over Tyrone in the first game of the league.

For manager Johnny McGarvey, his side can’t even look at their final group game with Wicklow. Two points this weekend is the only currency in town.

“If we don’t get the two points, we’re done, that’s us finished,” outlined the Derry boss.

After winning four games on the bounce, Derry lost narrowly to Meath in their last game with the Royals hitting goals at killer times. That said, there was only a point between the teams at the finish.

“We sat down and we looked at it,” McGarvey said of their debrief. “We didn’t think we played particularly well on the day, but we still had more possession than Meath.

“We had more shots than Meath, we had more goal chances than Meath and we had more turnovers than Meath.

“For a game that we didn’t play particularly well in, we really should have got something out of it, but they were sort of the learnings that we took for ourselves out of it and then we parked it.

“It’s just all about Tyrone now. There’s no point in talking about what comes after that. I think you can get carried away very quickly, you just need to be very focused now.”

Derry’s path to a final is simple. It’s in their own hands. A win over Tyrone brings them to the final day in control of their own destiny. For now, concentration is the buzzword in McGarvey’s vocabulary.

Speaking earlier in the campaign, he outlined that there would be twists and turns. Now, it’s about making sure of winning games.

Dipping back into the performance against Meath, despite many of the metrics pointing to a decent Derry showing, they slipped up at crucial stages. A wrong decision here. On other occasions, the correct decision not executed properly.

“We did a lot of good things against Meath as well,” McGarvey added, pointing to shooting 1-22.

“I keep coming back to it, we didn’t play particularly well. Our first halves are now something we have to take a look at.

“In the three (Christy Ring) games we’ve been behind at half time, six down and five down. We need to tighten up on that.

“To be fair, we have been against a fairly stiff breeze in all three games but against good teams, and Meath are a good team, five or six points is a long way back.”

Derry lost defender Paddy Kelly with a hamstring injury and while it’s not as bad as first feared, the Kevin Lynch’s man will miss this weekend’s game.

Cahal Murray made a return from injury in the defeat to Meath with Derry hoping Gerald Bradley will be in contention for a spot.

“We’re not thinking six or eight weeks,” he said of Kelly’s injury. “Like any hamstring injury now, it’s four weeks and four weeks is a tight turnaround for anybody.”