Derry's season review: From the highs to the lows

Derry’s season came to a sombre end with their defeat to Kerry in the All Ireland quarterfinal defeat on Sunday. 

Rumours will swirl about the future of the side and their manager, Mickey Harte, from now until the start of next season about what needs to change to bring about championship success. 

A gloomy feeling hangs in the air around the Oak Leafers after their four championship defeats this year, but it wasn’t always this way. 

Derry entered the season with a lot of promise and optimism after their 2023 season, winning the Ulster Championship for the second consecutive year, gaining promotion to Division 1 of the National League, and reaching their second consecutive All Ireland semi-final, only to be defeated by Kerry in a tight affair. 

The appointment of Harte was controversial ahead of the season, but his savoir-faire for winning titles could not be doubted. 

And the county got off to a great start in the preseason Dr. McKenna Cup as Derry and Harte ran out winners against their old rivals in Donegal and Jim McGuinness on January 30. 

This gave Derry their 13th McKenna Cup title, and they had started perfectly as they looked a formidable force coming into the National League campaign.

And this would prove to be true. 

After suffering only one defeat, a game in which many believe Harte rested some of his players, Derry finished top of Division 1, qualifying for the final against the side that inflicted this loss, Dublin. 

In arguably the best game of football this season across the sport to this point, Derry overcame the All Ireland champions in the final to be crowned National League champions for the first time since 2008, giving Derry their seventh title. 

This led many to tout the Oak Leaf County as potential All Ireland champions come the end of the season, as all of Derry’s best qualities were on display on March 31. 

But this was the highest point in Derry’s season. It was all downhill from there. 

Defending Ulster Champions Derry entered the 2024 provincial championship looking to win their third title in a row and Harte’s first since 2017. 

But the county would not lift their 10th title as Donegal showed them up in Celtic Park. 

McGuinness and Donegal obliterated Derry and laid the foundations for other teams on how to beat Derry comprehensively. 

Harte’s side looked disjointed, struggled in attack with a number of looping balls the square easily dealt with and exposed on the counter attack, and suffered from long Shaun Patton kickouts. 

Eliminated and left looking for answers Derry took no lessons from this defeat as they went into the All-Ireland Championship. 

Their style remained the same despite having been exposed in the previous game, and the result would be the same too.

Derry wasn’t helped by Gareth McKinless, as he earned a ridiculous red card stamp on Galway’s Damien Comer’s hand. 

In their second game, Armagh destroyed them on the counterattack like Donegal had done in the Ulster Championship and left Derry facing the prospect of crashing out in the group stage. 

Derry had conceded nine goals in three championship games coming into their fixture against Westmeath. 

Finally, their style was adapted to be more defensive and structured to stop the flooding of goals, and as a result, Derry got their first win of the Championship. 

Their reward was an away trip to Castlebar for the preliminary quarterfinal away to a daunting Mayo side. 

But Derry overcame this stern test by the skin of their teeth as they equalised in the final seconds of the game to bring it to extra-time before the game would go to penalties. 

A victory over Kerry would ultimately prove to be a step too far for this Derry side.

Crashing out in the quarterfinal in Croke Park to Kerry, the Kingdom never looked troubled throughout the match, with the result seeming inevitable from early on despite the sides going level at the interval. 

An All Ireland victory is not a ridiculous expectation of this Derry side next season, but things need to be addressed in their tactics and a decision made about Harte’s future. 

While there is a negative feeling around Derry following the completion of their season, there are positives. 

Derry still have a great squad; their players will turn their attention to their clubs, and this may be a refreshing break for them before they look to go again in the league and hope for better results in the championships.