Derry hurlers face top of the table clash with Kildare in Celtic Park

Derry senior hurling manager John McEvoy believes Division 2B is too tight for anything definitive to be decided by Sunday’s top of the table clash with Kildare in Celtic Park (throw-in 2pm).

McEvoy’s Oak Leafers have made an impressive start to their league campaign, defeating Down at home and returning from London with another two points in their second outing. That good form however, has been mirrored by Kildare who defeated London and Warickshire to ensure Derry and Kildare are the only sides with maximum points going into Round Three.

Something has to give then this weekend but regardless of the result, McEvoy belives there will be plenty of twists and turns yet with only one promotion place up for grabs.

“It’s still a very tight division,” explained McEvoy, “Remember we beat Down last year and they came right back into it at the end of the league and exactly the same thing happened in the Christy Ring Cup when Down got to the final after we had beaten them.

“That is always a factor and irrespective of how Sunday goes, you have to dust yourself off and get to the next game. You have to be sure that everybody is fully concentrating on the job ahead because there is only one team that goes up and irrespective of what way you prepare or what way you play, you have to be ready to go again the following week. That’s just the nature of the league.”

Derry scored a superb 1-16 to 0-21 league victory over the Lilywhites last season following an epic tussle and McEvoy is expecting more of the same in Celtic Park this weekend.

“We had a cracking match against Kildare last year down in Newbridge and they were obviously flying in the Keough Cup and have two great wins at the start of the league against London and Warwickshire,” added the Derry boss

"We know what we are facing. We know it is a huge challenge but it’s something we are looking forward to at the same time and I’d say it will be another cracking game.

"We know Kildare are a very physical team. They are a very big team and will be very fit and obviously they can hurl as well but they are a huge team.

“It is the one of the things about this league, you are preparing and then the games just come as a glut but it will be a good challenge for us and the players are looking forward to a game after the rest last weekend.”

Mark Craig remains sidelined while Derry will also be without Darragh McCloskey who has been ruled out for up to three weeks after picking up an injury in the victory over London two weeks ago.

“We knew Mark would be out but Darragh is a serious loss,” conceded McEvoy, “He has been flying in training and matches but he picked up a persistent injury and has been advised to rest. He is doing rehab but is probably three weeks away from being able to play a match again.

"It was another decent performance in London. We played well up until half-time. Second half we were obviously down a man and in the last 15 minutes we faded a bit. I’d say the journey over and being in a heavy training phase, those two things combined and probably led to a bit of fatigue but we are hoping the two weeks without a game has allowed us to rest and recharge the batteries.

“It has been two tough games to start but the break was no harm for us because we had a few knocks coming out of the London game.

“The break is good but at the same time I can see the benefit of having a bit of momentum. Once you get a bit of momentum going, players like it. While training is good and training is important, you can’t beat matches and hopefully we can pick it back up again, go again and hopefully give a good performance against Kildare.”