Derry suffer shock defeat by Londoners

Ulster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final

Derry: 0-15

Those were heady days for Derry hurling, salad days indeed when the Oak Leaf County rubbed shoulders with the elite counties but, while mostly and understandably beaten, were never humiliated.

On Saturday last, in Casement Park, in their first match of the Ulster championship, and with no disrespect to London, Derry were truly humiliated in a game that they really should have won.

There can be no excuses, no deflecting of blame for what happened! This was a nadir in Derry hurling, a low point that will cut deep into the psyche of those who love hurling, who support hurling and who have supported it down the years, even in the lean years when Derry plied their trade in the lowest echelons.

Derry manager James O'Kane did not shy away from what had unfolded at the Belfast venue, nor did mentor and former Derry player Sean McCloskey when approached after the game.

O'Kane commented, "To concede a six point lead in the last ten minutes of a championship match could be considered not good enough."

McCloskey stated, "It's a backward step. We're just shell-shocked, that's the way I see it."

The first half was quite dreadful, with little pattern or shape to the play, London captain Martin Finn causing lots of trouble to the Derry defence on the left, Matt Fitzsimmons and Colm Forde sweeping up repeatedly in the half back line, full back Matt Ryan master of the goalmouth.

While Emmett McKeever and Peter O'Kane battled hard to keep the Derry defence intact, there was little of note happening at the other end. With Ruairi Convery and Kevin Hinphey struggling to give Derry a foothold in the middle of the field, the Derry attack showed little invention or penetration.

Indeed over the seventy plus minutes the six Derry forwards scored just 0-04 between them, as Convery scored 0-08 from placed ball and his midfield partner recorded 0-02 from play.

Manager O'Kane agreed that Derry played poorly in the first half, "Very mediocre! With so much at stake we were very much on edge. We did not relax until the second half when we started to play as we can do. Then we seemed to switch off as soon as the lead was built up."

Derry led 0-07 to 0-06 at half time and then enjoyed a productive spell in the third quarter when they took a 0-13 to 0-07 lead by the 50th minute and then a 0-14 to 0-08 lead with twelve minutes to go.

As O'Kane said, "The last quarter was the problem. In the third quarter we were obviously very good. I cannot explain why we fell away so badly. But, I suppose, the buck stops with me and I should be able to explain why but at the minute I do not have the answers."

Then London wing forward Mark Mythen, who had been totally anonymous for most of the game, turned the match on its head with goals in the 58th and 60th minutes, Martin Finn pointing either side of these strikes, with Mythen, Reddan and O'Connell completing the rout.

Derry manager O'Kane reflected, "That first goal was coming. Emmett McKeever and Peter O'Kane made several interventions in the first half and in the first period of the second half but that was only going to happen for so long. We did not penetrate them as they did to us in the last fifteen minutes."

Sean McCloskey noted, "Last year they held us to a point and it was a struggle. This year when we had a comfortable win in London some people though that it would be easy and maybe that got into some players minds, even though we hoped that it wouldn't. They played really bad. They did not lift their game when needed. We lost midfield in the second half. We did not score enough. We had a six point lead but the two goals set us back. When that happened we went to pieces."

That they did, a really black day for Derry hurling!

The London scorers were Mark Mythen 2-01, Martin Finn 0-06, 0-02 frees, David Maher, Richard O'Connell, Aidan Fitzgerald, Paul Stephenson and John Reddan 0-01 each

The Derry scorers were Ruairi Convery 0-08, 0-07 frees, 0-01 sideline, Kevin Hinphey 0-02, Mark Craig, Oisin McCloskey, Alan Grant, Paddy Henry, Paddy McCloskey 0-01 each.