SHANE SHINES BRIGHT

McGuigan is crucial to Derry

THE very top Ulster forwards require a level of zen that would try the patience of a Buddhist monk.

That inner calmness to ignore the most stifling attention and stay in the game.

It could be 62 or 63 minutes in before your moment arrives, and it might be pressing a short kick out, or some other hardship, but when it does you have to seize it.

It’s fair to say Derry vice-captain Shane McGuigan (25) has achieved that ability to hang tough.

He will be judged by how he does against Dublin, Kerry, Mayo or Galway, with little cognisance of previous efforts and the team around him.

However, McGuigan’s Ulster final display was such a stand-out effort that he already has one of those monster season-defining displays under his belt.

His seven-point haul, including five from play, as well as a converted penalty in the shoot out, marked his effort out as one of the greatest ever individual displays by a Derry footballer, given what was on the line.

The primary school teacher in Maghera won three of the frees himself, with one boomer from 45 metres out sailing over the bar with 20 more yards on it, showcasing his increased range of dead ball kicking.

Most impressive of all, he hit three of the final four points in extra-time to secure the penalty shoot out with Derry looking dead and buried.

Display

McGuigan’s display effectively secured only the county’s second ever back to back Ulster titles.

Not as high profile but almost as impressive is that Monaghan have had two cuts at shutting him out of Championship games this year already and largely failed to succeed.

McGuigan hit 0-9 in the Ulster semi-final, including four from play and last weekend he hit 0-9 of Derry’s 0-14, with six frees, a mark and two from play.

The Slaughtneil man has 2-30 (36) in four Championship games and while Derry look a little off it, he certainly isn’t.

Over half, 1-16 (19) has come from play.

The problem McGuigan and Derry will encounter if they go to the knockout stages of the All-Ireland series is that teams like Galway, Kerry, Mayo and Dublin will have two or maybe three markers that could potentially shut him down.

Derry have not yet arrived at a point against the very top sides where they can afford McGuigan to be stifled.

That is not his fault.

The perfect example of this was the Derry/Galway All-Ireland semi-final last year.

Conor McCluskey shut out Shane Walsh, but Damien Comer did the damage, while Galway had Liam Silke for McGuigan and Sean Kelly if he was required.

Standard

McGuigan has no foil of a similar standard in red and white who can win games on his own to take some of the heat off him.

That mantle falls to the very top bracket of players like Comer, Walsh, David Clifford, who is different as he does it in every big game, and Con O’Callaghan, who is similar to Clifford.

Michael Murphy was one, Conor McManus another.

McGuigan is heading into that bracket now.

He is now one of those players the opposition stick to like glue, double up on and rush out towards when he has a centile of space.

They know his accuracy and that he will pull the trigger.

His career trajectory has followed a similar path to Conor McManus, building, growing and in his late 20s finding he can do it over and over again in the clutch moments.