On what would end up as something of a red-letter day for Derry, Brian McIver remembers it starting out with a decent shade of blue at Celtic Park.
“From the minute you pulled in that day, there was just a totally different atmosphere, the place was buzzing, there was a great Dublin crowd around the place,” recalls the former Derry manager.
It’s nine years ago, the passing of so much time surprising McIver now possibly as much as Derry’s intent caught Dublin unawares when the sides met in that round five Division One League match in March 2014.
Derry ran out convincing 1-16 to 0-13 winners over the then reigning All-Ireland and National League champions. It remains the last time the Dublin footballers faced Derry at Celtic Park – though the Dubs have won two subsequent league games at Croke Park.
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Dessie Farrell, who was in Newbridge last weekend watching Derry dismantle Kildare, will bring his Dublin side to a packed Celtic Park this Saturday for a fixture between the top two sides in Division Two. McIver will be in attendance, hoping Derry can replicate that 2014 result.
“I remember that game well. Even at that stage Dublin were recognised as a great team, and over the years that followed they proved it by what they achieved,” says McIver.
“Derry played very well that day and deservedly won. Mark Lynch scored a vital goal to give us some breathing space. It was a significant win because it was a big deal with Dublin coming to Celtic Park, because they bring the kind of atmosphere to a game that no other visiting county does.”
Lynch was man-of-the-match, finishing the game with 1-8. From the Derry team that lined out nine years ago, only Chrissy McKaigue and Benny Heron both played in last week’s win over Kildare. Michael Fitzsimons is the sole Dublin survivor.
However, Derry weren’t afforded the opportunity of dining out on that Celtic Park victory for long. The following month the sides met once again, this time in the Division One league final at Croke Park.
Before the game even started, the power balance had shifted back to the capital. There would be no repeat of Celtic Park, at Croke Park Dublin would be setting the agenda.
“I think it was Jonny Cooper had Enda Lynn on the ground,” says McIver. “All of a sudden Derry are going, ‘what’s happening here? This is not the way it was a few weeks ago’.
“They played the game on their terms that day. It was a remarkable contrast to the game a few weeks earlier. And the hallmark of a great team, once they got on top they didn’t ease up, they kept the pressure on right until the very end.”
Dublin ran out 3-19 to 1-10 winners. Afterwards, Jim Gavin addressed the Derry dressingroom and McIver went down to congratulate Dublin.
“I remember him making the remark at the time that Derry had brought a real freshness that season, that they were a new team coming through,” says McIver.
“In the Dublin changing room I said what Derry want to aspire to is what they had done, that whenever you get on top of a team that you really press on, because that is exactly what happened that day. The league final was a great lesson for us.”
And one Derry took on board. When the sides met in round six of the league the following season, the game was as free-flowing as traffic will be around Celtic Park on Saturday. Dublin won on a scoreline of 0-8 to 0-4.
It was a slugfest, described by Jarlath Burns, now the incoming GAA president, as the ‘death of football’. It remains the last time Derry and Dublin met, with the Oak Leaf County sliding down the league tables in the seasons that followed, bottoming out in the basement of Division Four before climbing back up the ladder under the stewardship of Rory Gallagher.
McIver, who stepped down after the 2015 season and then had a spell serving as Derry’s director of football, has been impressed by the team’s progress in recent years. The next step for them is to make it back to Division One for the first time since McIver’s reign.
“Because of what happened last year in the league, just missing out on promotion, I just know Derry are very wary of dropping points,” says McIver.
“Last year was very freakish, Derry dropped three points, they had one draw and one defeat but didn’t go up. That would rarely happen in terms of the National League, if you only drop three points you are almost guaranteed to get promoted.
“So, they are not going to be taking their foot off the pedal here over the next couple of games. I know this Derry side want to be playing in Division One.”
A win at Celtic Park on Saturday would certainly leave Derry on a highway to the top flight. And set up a probable league final against Dublin a few weeks later. It’s all starting to sound a little familiar.
