The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘We play to our strengths’
Few men have done more to rejuvenate Derry’s football fortunes than their minor boss and soon-to-be senior boss Damian McErlain, writes Michael McMullan
SUNDAY will be both Damian McErlain’s 15th championship game in charge of Derry minors and his last. After applying the Midas-touch to the Oak Leaf underage fortunes, McErlain has taken over the reins of the county’s senior team.
Since beating Down in their opening game of the 2015 championship, the underage story has taken on a life of its own. You are not a team until you win a championship match. That’s what McErlain tells his young charges.
“I started out with good intentions to turn the fortunes around with the minors,” commented McErlain.
“We had a great first season, we won an Ulster title and got back to the All-Ireland stage last year, probably against all odds and experienced Croke Park for a second time so it is brilliant to get back there having won a match and of course an All-Ireland Final is just magic.”
One of the earliest hurdles was McErlain’s second helping of championship fever – the 2015 clash with Donegal. The team they said couldn’t be beaten.
“That was the day we always look back to whenever we are looking for inspiration or on how you go about beating a team,” McErlain recalls of that day in Clones.
“They beat us by 18 and six points in two different league games and the league final even was a six point hammering at the same time.”
The championship was different as McErlain continues: “The guys delivered on a system that day to beat them [Donegal]. We should have won the match comfortably, but we were unbelievably happy with the win.”
This year’s squad was tipped for greatness from the very beginning, but the Oakleaf boss kept his cards face down.
“This is probably the strongest group and people tried to tell me that all year but I fobbed them off until they got further than any of the other groups to prove that,” explains McErlain.
“Their whole application has been superb. The quality that we have and the physique that was have among the lads is probably the best we’ve had so far as well.”
The previous two seasons saw Derry come up short in Croke Park – both times against Kerry. The players his year had an inner determination and the management imposed a different brand of football – the biggest prize needed a change in approach.
“We play to our strengths and it will be no different in the All-Ireland Final. To beat the Dubs, you weren’t going to win (by) sitting back. You’ve got to go and play to your strengths to win the game particularly the best sides.
“We have targeted an All-Ireland final probably all year and you weren’t going to get there sitting back. It suits us well and it suits our game and we are happy to have executed it.”
Looking ahead to the Kerry challenge and McErlain is wellplaced. The 1996 Hogan Cup team he played on were defeated by a Mike Frank Russell-led Killorglin. For two years he has been studying Kerry and was an interested spectator in their semi-final win over Cavan last month.
“People see the class foot passing that they have, the score taking and all the rest – but Kerry do the hard yards first, they are the most physical side you’ll come up against at any level,” comments McErlain.
“They are not going to be nice and all the rest. They are going to get stuck in, they’ll have identified where we are strong at, they’ll be trying to put holes in that. If you are not up for that level of aggression, we are not going to be at the races.
“You can’t show up and expect it to be a game for the purists, you have to do the hard yards early on and that’s what the boys have been doing all year.”
Then, of course, there are those two words that dominate all discussions of this Kerry team – David Clifford. McErlain’s response is instant.
“He is some player, no question about it. It will take big performance from the boys to cut out his threat. It won’t be a one man thing, it will be about the system. We need to show up as a team, we can’t just focus all on him.
“Kerry have fourteen other class players, without a shadow of a doubt – that will be the focus for us, to play as a unit and as a team. He is a big part of why they are in an All-Ireland final so easily, but that Kerry team is good enough to compete at any level, even David wasn’t there. We are doing our homework on the whole team, not just him.
“He is unusual – he is two-sided, he is big physically, he has got pace, he is confident, he has a good first touch, he is intelligent, he is not selfish.
“These are things you are trying to coach into all your cubs, he is a superb player. He seems to be a leader.
“He has got it all, there is no question about that but we’ve got to contain that threat,” McErlain added.
He is some player, no question about it. It will take a big performance from the boys to cut out his threat