CHRISTY RING FINAL: Cormac O'Doherty senses changing times for Derry hurling

So, when the Slaughtneil ace tells you there's something different going on behind the scenes of Oak Leaf hurling these days, you tend to sit up and take notice.

O'Doherty was part of a heralded U21 squad that defeated both Antrim and Down back in 2017 en route to a first Ulster title at that grade in nine years, a squad which the current county captain believes never pushed on the way they should have at senior level. Well, maybe it should be ‘haven't pushed on yet’.

O'Doherty and fellow 'Class of 17' members like two goal hero Corey O'Reilly, Dara Cartin, who hit 0-7 in Corrigan Park, John Mullan, Sean F Quinn and Eamon Conway will all travel to Croke Park this weekend for the county's fourth Christy Ring Cup final appearance. Just like in the previous three deciders, Derry will be underdogs.

They face a talented Kildare team most pundits expect to win and restore Joe McDonagh Cup status at the first attempt but O'Doherty has noticed a change in Derry hurling since manager Johnny McGarvey was parachuted in on a fire fighting mission just four weeks before the start of last season.

"People outside of our changing room will be thinking whatever they want," said O'Doherty, "A lot of people have had Kildare's name on the cup since they were relegated last year. They're favourites, rightly so probably, but favourites don't always win. That's why we play sport.

"We'll not listen to too much outside noise. The belief is in the changing room. The belief is in our group and that's really all we can control."

That belief comes from a change that's been psychological as much as anything. Always considered football's poor relation, Derry hurling perhaps too readily accepted that role in the past. That changed with McGarvey and the superb work going on in the county through coaches like Ryan O'Neill and Kevin Kelly which brought All Ireland U20 'B' success last season and an Ulster U20 Championship win this year.

The likes of Ruairi O Mianain, James Friel, Aimon Duffin, Callum O'Kane, Cahal Murray and others has come through from those teams alongside a new more professional approach which O'Doherty believes is paying off.

"That was one thing Johnny changed when he came in, his big thing was wanting to get people who were genuinely interested in hurling for Derry," added O'Doherty, "And not just for this year, or for one year. He wanted them for two, three, four years so you start to build a squad who are going to be there; not just for six months this season and then we start again from scratch next year which has happened in the past.

"That's been a massive help to us. This season we weren't starting from scratch. We've been able to build on what we had last year. Johnny has brought that bond and we’ve got very close as a group over the past 18 months.

"Getting over the line in an All Ireland final, people might say we deserve it after the past 18 months but sport doesn't always give you that. Yes it would be a good way to cement what we started 18 months ago but by no means would winning the the Christy RIng be the end of it because this team, this group - including the management - are going to improve and get better."

However the Derry captain is under no illusions about the size of challenge his team face in Croke Park. Kildare have more Christy Ring victories than any other county (4), and have already defeat Derry by seven points in the group stages this season.

"It's hard to take too much away from that game but probably the big thing for us was Kildare being exposed to that Division 2A level earlier in the year whereas it is a step up from 2B where we were playing," explains O'Doherty of the group defeat, "So getting that game down there brought us on leaps and bounds. We saw that the following weekend against London.

"It was massive for us to get exposure to that level again, to get us ready. Now we know what we're coming up against and we're ready. When we met them earlier people might have been a bit overawed to begin with but we now know they're only another team - a very good team - but if we stick to what we know and concentrate on what we can do then we give ourselves a chance."

O'Doherty is no stranger to success at club level with Slaughtneil and knows well the hard yards required to attain it, something he’s recognised developing within McGarvey's Derry squad.

"It does seem to have changed but this isn't an 18 month or two year plan. Hopefully things to keep building and that eagerness to hurl for Derry stays because there's no doubt there are some great hurlers in Derry and they are only getting better.

"But the platform has to be there for them to get better and that's something we've gone hard on, to put that structure in place to allow them to play hurling at the highest possible level. I think we're in a great place to do that.

"A win on Sunday puts you in Division Two, puts you in Joe McDonagh Cup and that would be a great place to be."

False dawn? Perhaps that intro should have been new dawn.