Derry senior hurling team manager Johnny McGarvey. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Vital matches continue to arrive thick and fast in the Christy Ring Cup.
The challenges, though, are being embraced by Derry manager Johnny McGarvey, who is relishing the busy schedule.
With three points accumulated from the opening two rounds, Derry host Meath at Owenbeg on Saturday in another crucial encounter.
McGarvey is encouraged about Derry’s start in the competition. “We are reasonably happy,” he says. “We were a little bit disappointed that we created a lot of chances against Tyrone, but didn't take them.
“Then we got into a battle and in the end we were fortunate enough to come out with a draw. In the Sligo match we probably had the same number of shots, but were just a lot more efficient. We played very well for 50 minutes, but maybe slacked off for a little bit towards the end.
“We were really happy with the Sligo match, we played well, got scores on the board, and made ourselves hard to play against. So I think we are in a good place, we are going well, and there is more to come from us.”
Ratified as Derry boss in January, McGarvey is thoroughly enjoying the experience. “Obviously I came in a bit late and the league was a bit of a baptism of fire,” McGarvey says.
“We have done a lot of work, we have a good management team in place with Gareth O'Kane, Conor Murray, and Oisín Quinn, who have done a serious amount of work with the lads. We probably felt we maybe didn't do ourselves full justice in the league.
“We were a long way behind the other teams, but we felt for periods of some of those games that we played very well. Our scoring ratio probably wasn't up to scratch for that level.
Cormac O'Doherty in Christy Ring Cup action for Derry. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
“When we had the three week break after the league we were able to look at things we felt we had done well and felt we had done poorly and how we could go about fixing them.”
Seoirse Bulfin's Meath will be anxious to respond following a defeat to London. “I think everybody would have raised eyebrows, but London have a good side,” McGarvey responds.
“Meath only beat them narrowly in the league too, I said after the Tyrone match that I think the Christy Ring will come down to the last game for most of the teams. I think they are very evenly matched, I think it will be very close. That is just the nature of it.”
The standard of the Christy Ring Cup is high according to McGarvey. “We had seen the teams in 2A through our league campaign,” he states.
“Tyrone are very well organised, a very well drilled side, they have great people in charge of them. Sligo beat London in the first match and probably came to Owenbeg with a fair bit of hope. We got a great start and pushed on. I think the standard in the Christy Ring is as high as it has ever been.”
Developing hurling in Derry is one of McGarvey’s objectives. “It will take time,” he says. “We really have to get all our structures in place for hurling across the county to really push on in the long term.
“In the short term we have no issue with saying that we are training as hard as we possibly can for the competition we are in. Leading into the Tyrone match there was nothing in our heads only Tyrone.
“The same for the Sligo match and the same this week, although it is a very short turnaround for the Meath match. In this Christy Ring we can give anybody their fill of it if we play well.
“That is our aim, our aim is to be going into that last game against Mayo with a chance to qualify, to see what happens.”
