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Derry seek better balance between defence and attack

Conor Glass of Derry leads his side out, alongside Derry manager Rory Gallagher, before the Ulster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Fermanagh and Derry at Brewster Park in Enniskillen, Fermanagh. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.

Conor Glass of Derry leads his side out, alongside Derry manager Rory Gallagher, before the Ulster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Fermanagh and Derry at Brewster Park in Enniskillen, Fermanagh. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.

By John Harrington

Conor Glass admits that Derry still haven’t quite hit on the perfect balance between defensive solidity and attacking nous in their game-plan.

They’ve tried to implement a more attacking style of play this year because the lesson learned from last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Galway was that defensive solidity will only take you so far.

Tweaking a system of play that won them an Ulster title last year comes with some risk, but Glass believes they have no option other than to evolve if they want to win the Sam Maguire Cup this year.

“Last year our offensive, attacking play probably wasn't up to the standard to really push the Kerrys or the Galways last year and that's something we've worked on,” said Glass at the launch of the FRS Recruitment World Games in Croke Park.

“We felt that focusing on our defensive work last year would get us a long way in the competition. And it did. But there's no point in just stopping there and being happy with that.

“We've got to evolve with our attacking play as well. That's why it became a hindrance of our defensive work because we're focusing on our attacking play so much. Once we put them both together, we'll be up there."

For the most part, Derry’s transition to a more expansive style of play has gone fairly smoothly this year.

During the regulation rounds of the Division 2 League campaign they scored 38 points more than they did in 2022, and conceded 13 points less.

But in their last two competitive matches against Dublin in the Division 2 League Final and Fermanagh in the Ulster Quarter-Final some defensive glitches have been exposed and they’ve conceded six goals.

Glass isn’t too worried, though. He’s convinced they’ll get the balance right sooner rather than later.

"It's definitely not easy putting both together,” he says. “One day your attacking play just doesn't work.

“Nothing goes right and you've just got to accept that. But we've put a lot of work into it over the last couple of months and hopefully we can showcase it in the next few months as well.

“I wouldn't be playing if I didn't see us getting there. The rest of the team is like that as well."

Derry footballer Conor Glass in attendance for the announcement of the FRS Recruitment GAA World Games launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.

Derry footballer Conor Glass in attendance for the announcement of the FRS Recruitment GAA World Games launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.

Confidence comes easier when you have total faith in the coach telling you how you should play, and that’s the case for this Derry panel.

When Rory Gallagher tells them to jump their immediate reaction is to ask how high, because since taking charge of the team he’s transformed them from a team that wasn’t mapped into one of the best in the country.

"Absolutely, Rory is one of the top coaches in the country,” says Glass. Anything he says, we kind of follow. He's a player's coach as well.

“He understands that he can have a go at me on the training pitch and I might react to it differently than if he had a go at a younger player. So he does understand his players. Anything he says, we take it on board and we move on with it."

Derry’s need to evolve is made more pressing by the fact they’re now a much more known quantity than they were last year.

Opposition have studied their game-plan inside out, and Glass admits it feels different being a team others are looking to scalp rather than an underdog.

"It definitely does,” he said. “We were under the radar last year. We were underdogs for pretty much every game but the Clare game. We probably used that to our advantage last year too.

“Everyone was kind of talking about the opposition team and we could just roll on with it. Last year we did a heap of work on the opposition.

“We knew every team inside out and that was probably why we got so far. But a lot of the teams in Ireland will be watching us and what works for us and what doesn't work.

“So, I guess it's a different sort of year and a different sort of process the way we go about games now. But personally I feel like we're in a better position this year than we were last year. I guess the next couple of weeks will tell that.”

Conor Glass admits Derry will have to tweak their tactical plan to cope with the outfied threat of roving Monaghan goalkeeper, Rory Beggan. 

Conor Glass admits Derry will have to tweak their tactical plan to cope with the outfied threat of roving Monaghan goalkeeper, Rory Beggan. 

In much the same way as Derry came in under the radar last year, Monaghan are now doing the same this year, and Glass is unsurprisingly wary of the challenge they’ll pose in Saturday’s Ulster SFC semi-final.

“Everyone was chatting about Tyrone, that they’re back and they’ll push for Sam Maguire and that suited Monaghan down to a tee. Monaghan just does Monaghan things.

“In the League they looked hellbent for relegation but they manage to stay up year on year.

“Thankfully we’ve played them numerous times throughout the last three years under Rory, whether it be pre-season games or McKenna Cup games and also last year so we know their time kind of inside out and we know that it’ll go down to the wire and we’ll be ready for them this weekend.”

Derry manager Rory Gallagher goes into forensic detail when analysing opponents, and you can be sure that Rory Beggan’s influence on this Monaghan team will have been a particular focus of his attention.

The roving goalkeeper excelled in Monaghan’s victory over Tyrone, where his play-making ability from deep positions gives the Farney County a weapon no other team really possesses.

Glass doesn’t mind admitting Beggan’s influence will force Derry to tweak their tactics accordingly to nullify him as much as they can.

“100%, aye,” he says. You do have to set up differently, 100%. There's an extra player in their attack now, so you can't just go the traditional, play a sweeper, you can do that against teams like this.

“That's the way GAA is evolving at the minute, the additional plus one in defence has kind of gone out the window.

“You've got to have a sort of a hybrid system of being able to play a plus one, but also being able to go man on man as well. Being able to adapt in play is going to be important to us.

“With Beggan, his goalkeeping ability too, his kick-outs are ridiculous. That was one of the reasons they won last week because in the second-half Beggan was able to put his kick-outs within a three-yard radius of their defenders. So he's an exceptional goalkeeper but we're ready to take it on.”