Christy Ring Cup final is Derry hurling's biggest game for 20 years, says Johnny McGarvey

It is 22 and 23 years respectively since Geoffrey McGonigle, Gary Biggs et all were celebrating the county's last Ulster Championship success and taking on the might of Offaly and Galway in successive All Ireland Quarter-finals.

The hurling landscape has changed drastically since those days and the fortunes of Derry's hurlers have fluctuated with it. That 2001 Ulster win remained the county's last provincial championship title with a couple of Nicky Rackard victories (2006 & 2017) scant reward for the calibre of hurler who has donned the Oak Leaf crest in the intervening years. There has been near misses in 2015 and 2021 but the Christy Ring Cup has eluded Derry.

Now Meath stand in the way of that glass ceiling bring shattered for the first time and while the Royal County will go in as slight favourites after their relegation from the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2022, Derry's class of 2023 are making a nice habit of defying their critics and upsetting the odds.

For that, McGarvey and his management team deserve huge credit. When accepting a job others were afraid to touch only days before the start of the league campaign, lifting championship silverware in Croke Park must have felt a lifetime away for the Lavey man. But now that possibility is just 70 odd minutes away and McGarvey is fully aware what a first title could mean.

"Derry have been unlucky down the years but in terms of importance, this is as big a game as Derry hurlers have played since the All Ireland quarter-final of 2001," admitted the Derry manager.

"That's 22 years ago and fair enough, we have played in promotion matches, Nicky Rackard finals and a couple of Christy Ring Finals but this is the biggest game in 20 odd years, that's the reality. The Christy Ring is Derry's All Ireland, it's our Liam McCarthy Cup."

A heartbreaking and controversial relegation on the final day of the league season means Derry and Meath will swap divisions for 2024 but McGarvey said they have never allowed that difficult start overshadow their season.

"Did I think we would be in a championship final? I hoped, but the Christy Ring wasn't even something I thought about until the league was over." adds McGarvey.

"I didn't even look at the teams in it to be honest. It wasn't something I had given a lot of thought to because I was concentrating on getting us ready for the league in a short space of time but I'm sure the lads were looking and thinking, 'Right, if we get our preparation right in 2A, even though the pre-season wasn't ideal, then we could give ourselves a chance.'

"I'm sure they were thinking like that and they have every right to be. They are a very competitive bunch and work very hard. I'm sure in the back of their minds they were thinking they had a chance of making this final. Now we can't wait to get out and get at it. Most important thing is we are there to win the Christy Ring Cup, we are not there to make up the numbers."

Derry, who will be without Reese McSorley for the final, have already lost to Meath in this season's championship, a narrow two point defeat in Owenbeg back in April, not that McGarvey believes that game with have any bearing on Saturday decider.

"I don't think the group game will have any real relevance. When they came to Owenbeg, they had to win, it was must win for them. They were coming off the loss to London and it was a different type of game with different scenarios, attitudes. Fair enough they may know a wee bit more about us and we will know a bit more about them, but I really don't think it will be relevant in the final.

"Meath are a really good side. They move the ball well and attack at pace. They have some very good players, Eamon O Donnchadha in the full forwards is a super player, Jack Regan is a super player - I think they are a very good team but the two teams are very evenly matched, as was shown in Owenbeg.

"We have the Slaughtneil lads who have played in multiple All Ireland semi-finals for their club. They have won three Ulster hurling titles and then you have the likes of Mark Craig and Paddy Kelly who played on championship winning teams with Kevin Lynch's. We have plenty of experience and quality in the squad.

"I'd say most of the boys have played in Croke Park somewhere along the line but we have great leaders. Cormac (O'Doherty) is a great leader; Mark (Craig) is a great leader; Meehaul McGrath, Sean Tad and then you have the younger lads like Oisin O'Doherty and others; these are all great leaders of our players. That makes my job fairly easy."

With Derry Under 20s have already tasted All Ireland 'B' glory this season, McGarvey says the county is headed in the right direction with the 'small ball'.

"We are definitely in a 'glass half full' situation," he stated, "We do need to double up in our efforts in the underage, especially with that 15, 16 age bracket, but there's so much good work being done at county and club level. And if those young lads see a bit of success with the Derry senior hurling team it would make a massive difference and create a great buzz about the place.

"We are fully focused. We haven't done anything different from what we would for any game. The boys are focused on the job in hand and we are happy with how things have gone. Now we can't wait to get started."