Still room for improvement as Derry face into Royal trip

By Michael McMullan

DERRY can take another step towards securing their Division Two status when they face Meath on Sunday in Trim.

The Oakleafers are coming in off the back of an excellent victory over Mayo but defender Patrick Turner said there is still room for improvement.

After losing to Kerry and Laois, it was a must-win game against Mayo and they must bring the same desire on the road this weekend.

“We have been tidying up a few things. We played Mayo and it was a good result to beat them, but there’s still things that we can improve on and work on,” said Turner, now one of the Oakleafers’ key players.

“We’ve been focusing for the past couple of weeks on tidying up our hurling and just reinforcing the work-rate side of things too.”

The sides met twice last year with each team picking up a victory and Sunday is the latest installment after a regular crossing of paths in recent seasons.

“Last year we played them twice, we beat them the first day maybe by three points, and the next day they beat us by three points,” Turner outlined.

“I think it’s been like that, over the years, it’s always been a really tight battle with them. This year it’s difficult to gauge where they’re at.”

Meath were 10-point winners over London and pushed a fancied Westmeath side to three points.

“We know we’re going to be up against a really strong opposition,” Turner added.

“It’s definitely going to be a lift again from the Mayo game and I think our focus will be the work-rate again.”

Turner made his debut, under the late Collie McGurk, in the 2017 Nickey Rackard Cup winning season.

After two seasons, injury came knocking on the door and there was a spell of work in London.

On his return, Turner made the decision to focus on club hurling only with Swatragh in a bid to shake off his chronic patellar tendinosis, a condition Derry footballer Eoin McEvoy is on his way back from.

“I always wanted to get the injuries under control,” Turner said. “I wanted to give the club a good year or two. That went alright, so I thought I could maybe try and go up to the level.”

It’s an injury that still needs a degree of management but balancing the load is key, especially as a dual player.

“I got to the stage maybe after a while that said I’d just going to do hurling for a couple of years. That lighter load gradually got me back into it and since then it’s been not too bad.”