Derry are good enough, but need Division One football to prove it, says Rory Gallagher

Derry manager Rory Gallagher says he firmly believes his players are good enough to mix it with the best in the country but says they need to be playing Division One football to prove it!
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Cork's victory over Clare on Sunday means Derry still require one point from two games to secure promotion after Saturday's dramatic injury time victory over previously unbeaten Dublin in front of 12,077 frenzied fans in Celtic Park. It was a night that will live long in the memory but Gallagher is anxious to ensure those meetings become a regular fixture of Derry's season

"Look, it is," replied the Derry manager when asked if Saturday's result could prove a psychological boost for his team, "We beat Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal and when you play the top six or seven teams in the country you would do well to have your win percentage at 65-70 per cent.

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"We just want to play them. We haven't played them and I believe our players are good enough and I believe our group is. Tonight is not a defining moment, but it’s a nice day."

Dublin pair Cormac Costello and Eoin Murchan close in on Derry’s Padraig McGrogan during the Allianz Football League in Celtic Park. Photo: George Sweeney. DER2309GS – 44Dublin pair Cormac Costello and Eoin Murchan close in on Derry’s Padraig McGrogan during the Allianz Football League in Celtic Park. Photo: George Sweeney. DER2309GS – 44
Dublin pair Cormac Costello and Eoin Murchan close in on Derry’s Padraig McGrogan during the Allianz Football League in Celtic Park. Photo: George Sweeney. DER2309GS – 44
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Derry produced a second half as good as their first half had been bad before Brendan Rogers heart-stopping injury time winner and Gallagher said it's only by experiencing adversity against top teams that you learn how to deal with it.

"We were passive against Galway last year, in both League and Championship, when it came to it," he added, "We’ve got to experience playing against bigger teams, that’s the bottom line. We’ve had everything our own way. We’ve played 18 or 19 League games since we came back from Covid and lost one - we’ve won them all pulling up, bar Galway, Roscommon and Dublin, that's the bottom line."Dublin are measured. They’ve been through every facet of the game, winning, losing, coming from behind, not playing well; we have to be like that. We turned it round from being a team that was exceptionally poor to a team that was very good.

Oak Leaf fans will have to wait two weeks now until Derry meeting Clare on Sunday, March 19th to see if Derry can secure their place in the top flight. That match will see a return to Owenbeg but Gallagher said he would love to see his team back in Celtic Park and playing in front of a full house next season.

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"After we beat Kildare, we needed three points out of six – do I care how it comes? No. We know now we need one, and we know now we need to go and deliver against Clare.

"Dublin are a team for all seasons, they win by 10 points, 20, they come from five points down to win in the last minute - we want to be experiencing that regularly.

"Owenbeg is great, but we’d love to be playing every game here with 10 or 12,000, he smiled, "I remember we played Leitrim here on a very, very dark day in 2020 when I questioned life but this is the arena you want, there’s no doubt about that."