Derry have work to do in Mayo

Allianz NFL Division One – Round Six   |   Mayo v Derry   |   Sunday, 3.45pm, Hastings Insurance McHale Park – Live on TG4   |   Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary)

For all of Derry’s early season form, they will need to take something from Sunday’s visit to Castlebar to guarantee a spot in the league final later this month.

Mickey Harte’s side have the head-to-head over Kerry but their defeat to Dublin leaves the final two weekend’s interesting.

Derry’s last visit to Castlebar was Damian Barton’s last game in charge, at the tail end of 2017.

The Oakleafers had just been relegated to Division Three, on score difference, and shipped a pasting from Tyrone in Ulster.

For long, long periods Derry held the trump cards until Conor Loftus produced an ace with a last gasp goal to force extra-time.

From then, Mayo ran Derry’s legs off them before there fanatical fans invade the pitch in sheer relief. It was the summer when they had their best chance of ending their All-Ireland hoodoo only for Dublin to find a way over the finish line on September’s third Sunday.

Damian McErlain, Rory Gallagher and Ciarán Meenagh all presided over Derry’s climb in the league since.

Sunday will be different. Mickey Harte has inherited a well-travelled side who have added consistency to a cocktail that offers more punch. The questions this week is an off the field ones? Do Mayo want to win another league?

Would Derry see another outing at Croke Park as a chance to grow? Would a league title be a priority or a bonus ahead of a hungry Donegal side coming to Celtic Park in under six weeks’ time?

What will Derry’s roster look like? Does skipper Conor Glass get handed another weekend off?

It’s hard to see their walking wounded of Conor Doherty, Odhrán Lynch or Gareth McKinless being pushed out.

Lachlan Murray being forced off injured will be a concern for a player needing minutes to push himself into the championship thoughts.

While their defeat against Dublin wasn’t season-defining, Derry won’t be best pleased with how the Dubs played through their mass of bodies back.

It was certainly a learning process for the players according to Harte after the 1-16, 1-10 defeat at Celtic Park two weeks ago.

“They’ll learn that the possession is precious, and if you give it away or you turn the opposition over and don’t finish the job off, then you’re under serious pressure again,” he said.

“We did that a number of times where we turned the ball over and won good possession back off them and made the break forward but we didn’t finish that move off, so it meant you had to start to do it all over again.

“So, I think you learn things like that – how difficult it is to keep possession in close contact against players of that standard and calibre, and how they play as a unit and how they make life very difficult for you when you’re on the ball, so you learn that you don’t take it into the trap.”

Momentum

With momentum such an important word in sport, Derry will travel with a portion of pressure this weekend.

The expectation levels in the county have been elevated. On the flip side, the exploits of Ciaran Kilkenny and Brian Fenton provided the benchmark of where the top performers are at.

Mayo will have a handful of seasoned Division One players in action this weekend to provide Derry with another test in their learning curve.

Mickey Harte is hoping his players can learn from the defeat to Dublin. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE)

Niall Loughlin would well make a return to the fold after being rested against Dublin following his Sigerson Cup exploits.

His form has been pleasing this season and – along with Cormac Murphy, Niall Toner and Paul Cassidy – can offer an extra scoring dimension.

Emmett Bradley will get another run to get him back up to the pace of inter-county game after his impressive performances in Glen’s All-Ireland campaigns.

Ethan Doherty has been Derry’s main playmaker with his runs in behind and much of their attacking game has his imprint.

In the pecking order, Mayo and Derry aren’t a million miles apart but Sunday will come down to their ambition. Derry might want the league final spot that but more.