Decent enough gag by John there
Him and Fanning’s interview with Amanda Brown was very good.
A very subtle play for the Aras this week by Joe
He’s biding his time and then bang.President Joe.
Biding. Good one.
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PREMIUM
Joe Brolly: Why I am worried, not excited as Derry try to keep their dream alive
Oak Leaf have to ensure they do not suffer a crushing loss to Dublin
Joe Brolly
March 30 2024 10:38 PM
In March 2014, Derry were flying. We had just beaten Mayo in an electrifying league semi-final in Croke Park, even though we played the last quarter with 14 men after Fergal Doherty was sent off for a world-class shoulder on Aidan O’Shea, sending him back crying to his mammy.
Mayo and Dublin were the big two. It was their golden era. We had beaten the number two team in the country in style. Now, we were facing the number one seeds, who were, we thought, beatable. After all, Donegal had made muck of Jim Gavin’s man-to-man principles in the previous year’s All-Ireland semi-final, galloping gleefully through his bewildered superstars.
We were wrong. Dublin crushed us on the scoreboard, 3-19 to 1-10. Worse, they crushed our dreams. And when your dreams are crushed, what’s the point?
In Ulster the following year, a Donegal team in terminal decline (Mayo walloped them by eight points in Croke Park in August to put them out of their misery) beat us, before Galway finished off what was left of us in the qualifiers, beating us by six points. The consequences of that beating by Dublin were shocking.
By 2017, we were relegated from Division 2 having won just two games. A year later, we were relegated from Division 3 having won just two games. In 2019, we travelled the country (thank God we got London at home) to watch our boys playing Leitrim, Waterford, Antrim, Wexford, Limerick, London and Wicklow.
The reason that outstanding Mayo team kept coming back, kept grinding, kept putting their bodies through it all, was that their dream of winning Sam was always alive. When they lost to the Dubs, it was by a point, after an epic game or replay. Or because they scored two own goals in a final (2016 drawn game) when there had never been a single own goal in All-Ireland final history. And, on occasion, Mayo even beat them, in the 2012 and 2021 semi-finals. In 2016, I was so convinced Mayo would finally beat them, I brought a Mayo jersey into the RTÉ studio to wear it at the final whistle, honouring a promise to a dying girl from Westport.
Dublin’s Tom Lahiff in action against Derry’s Eoin McEvoy during their Allianz FL Division 1 clash at Celtic Park. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Derry, after their severe case of PDTD (Post Dublin Traumatic Disorder) were laboriously transformed under the obsessive reign of Rory Gallagher. He created an extraordinary, bespoke system for this group of players that disguises individual weaknesses and allows us to break through blanket defences with ease. In this system, the confidence of our players has grown steadily, through a convincing climb back to Division 1. More importantly, through two bruising, consecutive Ulster titles, where the group turned defeat into victory at the death, the only time that counts.
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In the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final against Galway, we were overawed, uncertain and unready. But with Gallagher in every man’s ear and continuing his relentless pursuit of improvement (including 6.0am sessions) the team continued to grow.
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In last year’s semi-final against Kerry, we lost from a winning position. With five minutes to go in normal time, Jack O’Connor bore the expression of a man who has just been given bad news. We blew it, Jack knew it, but in doing so we learned an immense amount about the true nature of winning. This season, we have established ourselves as either the number two or number three team in the country. Now, there is only one dream left. Now, there is only Sam Maguire. All the striving and sacrifice and camaraderie and emotion is devoted to this mysterious glory. There is nothing else left to achieve.
My fear is that if we get badly beaten in the field of dreams on Sunday, it will be such a shattering blow to our morale that the dream will die. In Celtic Park a few months ago, it felt like a beating, but we only lost by five points. Dublin, like the six million dollar man, were better, stronger, faster.
The manager rested a few key players that night including Conor Glass. Why? Did he calculate that if we were badly beaten, he could lift team morale by reminding them it was only the league and we had not fielded a full strength team? After all, those rested players all played in last year’s Division 2 league final.
Coming into that game, we had, statistically, the meanest defence in Ireland (average score against 0-10). The Dubs walked through us, scoring four goals in the second half and winning by seven points. It could have been a lot worse, with John Small and Tom Lahiff missing open goals in the first half. That was OK though because we were learning, getting better, stronger, faster.
On Sunday, we are meeting Dublin at our peak. We know that we are good enough to win Ulster again. We know that if we perform to our abilities we will meet Dublin in the 2024 All-Ireland semi-final. The dream is alive and well. But to keep that dream intact, we have to perform at a level we have not performed at before.
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We have no advantage over Dublin. Defensively? They have cut through us in our last two meetings in a way that no one else has been able to. Midfield? Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Brian Howard, Lahiff have no concerns about Conor Glass, who must perform to superhuman levels to break even. Up front, they have a stellar six forwards with three subs who are just as good. Defensively, they have been entirely comfortable with our hard running from the defence system. Their only lapse was Paddy Small not tracking Conor McCluskey in the league in Celtic Park, leaving him free to score yet another superb goal for us. Oh well, there’s always Paul Mannion.
I am worried, not excited. These boys have given us enormous pleasure and excitement over the last two years. I do not want to see a horror show, a cruel public humiliation from which they cannot recover. For me, a six-point defeat or less will be a relief, a good battling performance. A victory. That way, it will be another learning experience, playing the nine-time champions in Croke Park in front of their home crowd. That way, we can meet Donegal in Celtic Park in three weeks with our dream of a third consecutive Ulster title intact, and look forward to many more excellent adventures with this excellent Derry team.
lol everyone on the Derry panel hate Brolly
Joe is doing Joe things and is all over the place with his timelines here. Perhaps deliberately.
April 2014.
Donegal had not reached the previous year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
Yes but why would you bring up 2015 instead of 2014 when Donegal beat Derry in Ulster and then Longford dumped Derry out in Celtic Park in Round 1 of the qualifiers.
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No mention of Harte in article either ? Just “the manager “
We’re going to tramp all over Dublin tomorrow. We’re literally; and metaphorically going to bite off their fucking corner boy kneecaps and spit them in their godless heroine pocked faces. Their mothers can weep for them…thats if they even have mothers, or if their mothers even care.
Or maybe we’ll just take it handy and save the biblical stuff for the championship…I’m cool either way
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I’d say Dion falling is close clocking joe brolly. He was seething on the recent podcast.
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About what? I haven’t listened to it in a good while
More lies
He just kept deliberating interrupting brolly. Brolly pulls him saying it’s rude and I’d say fanning was close to just saying fuck off
TNH
Which episode? I said from the start would be a great podcast of neon Dion would stand up to joe a small bit
Some hilarious stuff here. Brolly throwing in randomly him winning the all Ireland is a classic.
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That woman has him well under control
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