Silence is deafening for Derry boss Ciaran Meenagh after All Ireland defeat

The undoubted progress made is scant consolation. At least at this point, because nothing in sport haunts more than a 'what if?' A defeat on the scale Derry suffered at the weekend involves a grieving process of sorts. The greater the investment by the group, the greater the grief at missing out on your goal.

And when all the interviews and analysis had been completed, it was his now silent phone which provided the Derry boss with a constant reminder of what might have been.

"The biggest change for me over the last few days is how quiet my phone has been," explained Meenagh, "I'm finding that the hardest thing to come to terms with. It was the amount of contact I had with the players, the amount of contact with management, the amount of contact with the Co. Board, it was full on. Now my phone is quiet and I'm finding that to be difficult. That feeling of almost emptiness, of not seeing the boys and not seeing the management team, I'm finding that hard to come to terms with if I'm honest."

Meenagh has filled the void superbly since Rory Gallagher's pre-Ulster final departure, revealing he had waved his wife and kids off on an Italian holiday in the build-up to to All Ireland semi-final such was his dedication to the dream of bringing Sam Maguire to the Oakleaf county for a second time. Their absence meant an abundance of time to go over the events of Croke Park in his head and the Loughmacrory native admits the pain of the one that got away will take some time to recover from.

"It is quite a lonely feeling because that 10 week period before the semi-final, and even before that, the amount of contact you would have had with Rory, the players, it stepped up quite a number of levels in that time. Now you're sitting in the house," he explains.

"My own wife and kids went to Italy last Wednesday and were only back yesterday (Wednesday) so it was a tough couple of days there on my own reflecting on the game. I don't mind saying that, I did find it lonely. You're in Dublin on Sunday and the final whistle goes; you know that your family are in a bar in Italy watching it and you're there with a tight wean of days ahead of you. It is tough on a human level."

It's been a season in which Derry, despite Sunday's defeat, have announced themselves as genuine contenders for Sam Maguire again and Meenagh believes the road travelled by this year's finalists should provide Derry with some solace.

"You look at what that Kerry team has gone through as well to get where they are. They lost an All Ireland in 2019 where they played for more than a half with an extra player and were leading by a point going into injury time. They didn't finish that one out and were beaten by Dublin in the replay.

"In 2020 they were beaten by Cork after a last minute goal in the Munster final; in 2021 they lost to Tyrone in the All Ireland semi-final. That's a lot of pain they have suffered to be fair to them and sometimes people don't realise that it's not just a case of rocking up and expecting inside a year or so that you are going to do the business. Sometimes you have to suffer that pain and come through it.

"Look at the most successful team of all time, the Dublin team. Look at what they suffered through the noughties in terms of big defeats. People forget this. You have to step back and see the bigger picture. The 'startled earwigs', the defeat against Tyrone in 2008 when they were blown away in an All Ireland quarter-final. Then they won an All Ireland but were beaten by Donegal in an All Ireland semi-final in 2014 where Jim Gavin and his team were ridiculed yet that's probably were they learned most from in the long run.

"Look at the teams who have been successful and look at the journeys they've had to travel before they achieved the ultimate goal. Maybe in time that's something the Derry players and the wider public will appreciate as well."

The Derry boss admits he has been left with a sense of missed opportunity but he hopes, in time, that will fuel a renewed charge for glory.

"In time there will definitely be positives from the experience, the players can ensure that," he added, "Even immediately after the game you could feel some positives but now the pendulum has swung more in the negative direction. I'm still devastated about it. It’s almost like grief, that's what it feels like at the minute.

"It would have been an unbelievably special time and you're pining for that. You’re seeing the hurling final this weekend and then the football next week which will be a tough week for us.

"You look back at last year and the fact that you came from so far out to win an Ulster, but it wasn't all perfect either. And this year before the semi-final, it wasn't all perfect either so sometimes you look at things in totality.

"In many ways it's more difficult now the dust is settling, that's the truth. It is harder, that's the reality of it. It's tough but maybe in time, when you look back and reflect on the year it will feel more positive than it does right now."