Gaelic Games

All-Ireland minor football final: Derry at their best for clash with dogged Monaghan side

Derry team reach final with average winning margin of 13 points, with only Monaghan causing them any real bother this season

Derry's Johnny McGuckian in action against Monaghan at the Ulster minor football championship final at Athletic Grounds, Co Armagh on May 28th. Photograph: Cathal McOscar/Inpho
Derry's Johnny McGuckian in action against Monaghan at the Ulster minor football championship final at Athletic Grounds, Co Armagh on May 28th. Photograph: Cathal McOscar/Inpho
Paul Keane
Sun Jul 09 2023 - 05:00
Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor football championship final

Derry v Monaghan, BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, Armagh, Sunday, 1pm (Live on TG4 – extra-time and winner on the day)

There is a strong possibility that this is the best minor team Derry has ever produced.

They won their opening five games in this year’s championship by double-digit margins for starters. They have reached the All-Ireland final with an average winning margin of almost 13 points.

They also have the experience of a manager, Damian McErlain, who guided the county’s 2017 minors to this same stage, coming up short of a David Clifford-inspired Kerry.

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What really sets this Derry team apart, though, is the manner of their recent semi-final win over Dublin. Down to 14 players for all of the second half following the dismissal of goalkeeper Jack McCloy, their three-point half-time lead was wiped out early in the third quarter by the resurgent Leinster champions.

Reduced in numbers and stripped of momentum, Derry looked to be in a tight spot but went on to win that game by nine points. In the last 25 minutes or so, they outscored Dublin by 3-3 to 0-3 to underline just why so many people have been tipping them for the All-Ireland from a long way out.

The real intrigue around the all-Ulster All-Ireland final at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds is that the only team that caused Derry any real bother this season is the one they’ll face – Monaghan.

Monaghan players celebrate their All-Ireland minor championship semi-final win over Kerry at Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore, Co Offaly on June 24th. Photograph: Ken Sutton/Inpho
Monaghan players celebrate their All-Ireland minor championship semi-final win over Kerry at Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore, Co Offaly on June 24th. Photograph: Ken Sutton/Inpho

Derry, admittedly, scythed through Dermot Malone’s Farney when they met in the second game of the Ulster championship, winning that one by 1-14 to 0-6. Malone described it as a “humbling”, a repeat of the win Derry had enjoyed when they previously met in a league encounter earlier in the year.

Yet when it came to the Ulster final, Derry needed penalties to eventually see off a Monaghan side that had overcome Tyrone on penalties in the semi-final.

Since then, Monaghan have beaten Mayo and Kerry and their performance against the Kingdom in Tullamore perhaps gave an insight into how they may set up against Derry. Tomas Quinn, wearing number 13, played as an extra defender and cut off the space in front of Kerry danger man Paddy Lane who was already being man-marked by Jack Lynch.

[ Derry and Monaghan to meet in All-Ireland minor final in repeat of Ulster decider ]

Lane only scored a point from play, although he did have two late goal chances that were expertly saved by Jamie Mooney. If either of those had gone in, or if Tommy Mallen’s long delivery hadn’t skidded through the hands of the goalkeeper in to the net, the Monaghan goal that ultimately separated the teams, it could have been a different game.

Derry carry more attacking threats than Kerry, too, with the richly talented Johnny McGuckian, Eamon Young, James Sargent, Oisín Doherty and John Boyle all sharing around the scoring responsibilities.

For Monaghan, Max McGinnity, with 3-43 already registered, has been their key forward, though Seán Óg McElwain’s player-of-the-match performance against Kerry suggested he will be one to watch also.