Character shown by 2026 Derry Minor squad will aid development, says boss Kieran Glackin
Minor manager Kieran Glackin believes the character his Derry squad have displayed throughout this year can only benefit the players as they seek to continue their development with club and county.
Glackin's young Oak Leafers saw their hopes of a place in the All Ireland Minor final ended by an impressive Cork team in Parnell Park on Saturday as forward Tom Whooley and long range free taking keeper, Rory Twohig, made the difference for Keith Ricken's impressive Rebels.
It wasn't the finale the Oak Leafers were hoping for but following a championship run that brought victories over Down, Cavan, Donegal and Roscommon, as well as an Ulster Final appearance against Tyrone, Glackin had nothing but praise for a squad which has shown real backbone throughout their season.
"I am proud of this group because there was nothing handed to them in any game we played this season," explained the Derry manager, "Every game was a battle.
"It was never as if they were winning games by eight or 10 points. Every game was a real battle but the lads fought their way through and got over the line again and again. You can only be proud of that. It's a great characteristic to have in individuals and in a group.
"The thing about minor football is that it is ultimately a development process for players. It's about getting boys through to play Under 20s and then, hopefully, senior football. You're hoping you can bring boys through, and that they will have picked up a great experience which will make them really want to push on; to have the drive the play for Derry because they've already been involved in that type of environment.
"You're hoping that's No. 1. Then you're hoping they continue to develop and have enough quality to move on through to the U20s and ultimately seniors. Look, the reality is some of them maybe won't but those boys can go on to have outstanding, long club careers. That's all just part of the process."
On last week’s semi-final defeat to Cork itself, Glackin admitted the best team on the day had won with the free-taking kicking of Twohig a potent weapon in the Rebels' attacking arsenal.
"We knew going into the game that Cork were a very strong team," he added, "We had watched them closely and they were scoring an average of 3-17, 3-18 a game so we knew we needed to be at our best.
"We needed to try and limit them as best we could but sometimes you just have to tip your cap, they were the better team on the day. We were in the game for long periods of time but we needed everything to go for us and a few things didn't.
"I thought there were a few poor refereeing calls in the first half, frees we didn't get at one end that they got at the other end and that was keeping them closer when we were in our purple patch. We probably didn't get enough scores when we were in that purple patch for periods of the first half and even then at the start of the second half.
"We had a good period after half-time but when they hit their first goal to go three up, they then went four or five very quickly afterwards and it became an uphill struggle. They had some outstanding players and those key men really started to kick in for them at that point.
"But on the whole, and reflecting on the season, we couldn't be anything but proud of the boys. They worked really, really hard. It was a good group but it was never a group that was just going to coast through to an All Ireland final. Nobody is going to coast through to even an All Ireland semi-final so, look, they worked extremely hard to get to where they got to and they should be extremely proud of themselves. They represented their families, their clubs and Derry very, very well."
Development will always trump silverware in terms of the priority for underage players and while Saturday's semi-final brought to an end Glackin's second season in charge of the county minor team, the Bellaghy native said he's enjoying the role as much as ever.
"I'm content enough but I'll have to chat with the boys in the backroom team so I'll have to make sure we are all hanging together and ready to give it another rattle," he explained
"I enjoy it. To be honest, the worst thing now that it's over - and maybe I'm getting sentimental (laughing) - but you develop that big a bond with the lads in the group. You're spending three or four nights a week at training for seven or eight months and then, as of Saturday, you only get to see them intermittently, maybe around the pitch at the odd club game or two.
"Other than that... there'll be a lot of the boys that we've spent the last seven or eight months with in the minor set-up, working hard with and watching them develop as footballers, then you don't see a lot them after that. That's probably the worst of it," he added, “But this group can be proud of the year they’ve had.”