James McGurk's eyes are wide open to the challenges ahead for Derry Senior Ladies

James McGurk believes he has the spirit and passion in his squad to help rebuild the Derry Senior Ladies team despite a difficult start to their league campaign.

The Steelstown Brian Ogs clubman took on the manager’s role on back in October, fully aware of the size of the task that lay ahead of him, with the team a long way from the heights of days of Croke Park just a few years ago.

The new Division 4 NFL season has started as many might have expected, with heavy defeats to Leitrim and Wicklow, teams which have both come down from Division 3 last year.

For a Derry team more or less starting from scratch under a new management, the fixture schedule was not ideal, but one fortnight does not make a season, and McGurk is far from downhearted.

“We kind of knew what we were coming up against and we knew it was going to be tough and we knew it was going to be tight,” he said. “There were a lot of debutantes in the team; last week girls made their senior Derry debut, so that in itself shows that we are very much on a learning curve. It’s up to us now to put things in place that the girls play better every week they go out, and they’ll do that.”

The game may have been out of reach in the second half at Owenbeg on Sunday, but McGurk was still kicking every ball with his team, and noticeably punched the air in celebration when goalkeeper Thomasina Cassidy pulled off a brilliant save to deny Wicklow’s Meadhbh Deeney a goal.

“There are a lot of players there making a fairly big commitment and individual moments like that in a game can inspire a team and drive a team on,” he explained. “There were a couple of moments like that and there was lots of good play. I know the scoreline reflected the game and you can’t hide that, but it doesn’t show the levels of effort and commitment that the girls put in.

“We’re not disheartened by that. The girls themselves know that we can’t turn around from where we were last year all of a sudden, so it’s just a work in progress.”

Capabilities

McGurk has seen first hand the capabilities of Derry footballers, with Steelstown Ladies sweeping all before them in the last three years alone. But with the whole county to choose from, it is about giving ever girl and every club a chance, and he is determined to be patient.

“I’m just trying to come into Derry and get them playing football,” he continued. “The girls love their gaelic football, and love playing for their county so let’s see where it gets us.

“There may be one or two clubs who play at a very high level in the county, but at the same time nobody can deny the tradition and heritage of gaelic football in this county. It’s wrong to pick out one club and say they’re doing fairly well, but the tradition of football around the Glens and the Ballumaguigans and Dungivens is there to see and that’s brilliant. We just have to harness that and move forward and I think the first two performances give us an amount of spirit and drive and commitment and belief in ourselves that maybe we can push this on.”

The Senior Ladies are back in action on February 12 when they travel to face Kilkenny before they return home to face Limerick on March 5. It is very much a fresh chapter at the start of a new season, and while they will certainly have to overcome challenges on the pitch, the bigger picture remains all important for McGurk, who sees so much potential with the girls he has worked with already.

“It's not easy but we don’t look at it like that,” he said. “Every girl that has turned out for Derry against Leitrim and Wicklow, every single girl got game time and that’s what it’s all about. Hopefully that inspires the girls and gives them a wee lift so they now they will get their chance and hopefully that say it’s enjoyable playing for Derry.

“We’ll see where it gets them because we know ourselves that the underage structures in Derry are very, very good and very competitive right from U14 to U16 to Minor. The point I’m making is that we have got to give all those young girls playing something to look up to, and hopefully these girls can do that.”

Conceding three goals in the first nine minutes against Wicklow could have flattened another team, but the Derry girls dug deep and showed that they are not there to be pushed over, restricting their opponents to just one goal in the 50 minutes which followed. Small victories, like Thomasina’s save, all contribute to a sense of achievement and help build belief that the Ladies team are taking steps forward once again after a difficult few years.  

“There were one or two girls not playing against Wicklow because they were injured and I would say that they heartbroken and devastated that they were not playing,” McGurk reflected. “There was a girl last week who broke a finger and I don’t know what the physio did to her, but she played an extra 20 minutes on the pitch because she wasn’t going off, and that’s the spirit we need and believe you me, that’s the spirit we have in that changing room.

“It's a matter for us as management and the County Board to put things in place for these girls to make sure that they get the opportunity and the chance and certainly, the Derry Senior team this year will give girls the chance and opportunity.”