Derry running into same issues as Mayo

The year usually begins in second gear. That's the blueprint for any team starting out the season with big ambitions - they suss out their own fitness levels, sweat out the leftover Turkey sandwiches and take the time to catch their breath before another season that puts the mind, soul and body to the ultimate test. But from the very beginning of the dullest days in January, Derry had put the boot to the floor.

In last year's All Ireland semi-final against Kerry, they seemed to be comfortably edging their way towards victory - and their first All Ireland final appearance since 1993 - only to be caught out by a late Kerry pounce, as is the Kingdom's wont. By the time pre-season came along, they were already playing like a side that had spent the winter traumatised by those experiences in Croke Park. Nothing would be left to chance in 2024.

By the time last year's Ulster champions met Armagh in the semi-final of Dr McKenna Cup in mid-January, Mickey Harte's new side had already cut the brake lines. They were a side that were already ready for championship football. Against Kieran McGeeney’s side, they were always an inch ahead. And though the game was level at half-time, the home side had gotten a fortuntuitous goal. A lofty shot from Oisin O'Neill dropped short into Sean Conlon's hands, with the Armagh man then clinically firing past goalkeeper Odhran Lynch.

Derry's momentum nevertheless ratcheted up again. As soon as they emerged for the second half, the Oak Leaf County entertained the hardcore 4,437 in attendance with an exhibition of shooting led by Shane McGuigan who registered 10 points, an impressive tally in any month of the year. There's a world of difference between January and June football, and Derry were already months along their journey. If Derry were jousting with a lance, the rest of the country were turning up with twigs.

This weekend's rematch between the sides will be an entirely different spectacle. Armagh have spent the last few months sharpening their weapons and preparing for the relentless rhythm of the summer months when games can come as often as the milkman. It took the rest of the pack a while to build up speed, but the country has finally caught up with a Derry side that have begun to huff. The side that breezed through the league and claimed their first Division One title since 2008 are now hoping to avoid three competitive defeats in a row for the first time since they were dumped out of the championship in the first round of the qualifiers back in 2018. A new world order is on the cusp of being overthrown.

In hindsight, Derry's recent travails shouldn't come as any surprise, even if the accepted commentary before the championship was that Harte's side were a leading contender in this year's championship. For many, they were the side to catch.

The injection of Glen players after the All Ireland club championship final had given Derry an additional boost they didn't exactly need just as other sides were beginning to sort themselves out. But that type of momentum has a battery life, as Mayo learned last year when they treated the league like a drag race. By the time Louth visited MacHale Park in June, Kevin McStay's side were already running on fumes from which they never really recovered.

They eventually hobbled into a quarter-final, but they were a pale imitation of their former selves from earlier in the year. Dublin devoured them in the second half of that contest. Exhausted gazelles will never stand a chance against lions. By the end of the season, the success of the league which saw Mayo play their most entertaining football in years was overshadowed by the manner in which they bowed out of the championship. They had become a side bereft of energy and imagination.

Less than a year on, Derry seems to be falling into many of the same potholes, speeding out of the blocks like Scottie Scheffler at a traffic cordon. But like the two-time major champion at Valhalla, Derry were also soon halted in their tracks.

As they trampled over opponents in Division One during the spring, the ever-astute Jim McGuinness was no doubt wryly smiling within his Ballybofey bunker as he planned yet another ambush, perhaps not too dissimilar to the way Roscommon manager Davy Burke had his side's championship opener versus Mayo pinpointed from a long way out last season. The impressive nature of Derry's victory over Dublin in the league final was also, in hindsight, a little exaggerated. Dublin clearly weren't at their very best that day while Derry didn't seem to have had their momentum stemmed in any way, the returning Glen players continuing their club form at intercounty level. And still, Derry needed penalties to overcome the All Ireland champions. That will not have been lost on McGuinness who led his side to victory in the Division Two final that same afternoon.

Unlike Mayo in Killarney last year though, Derry were unable to bounce back against Galway who hadn't been ferociously impressive in the Connacht having only eked last Sligo a few weeks ago. Armagh will, as a result, now fancy their chances of overturning the McKenna Cup form when they visit Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon.

A resurgence from Derry is, of course, far from out of the question. There is one final kick in the side before they finish up for the summer. They have the players and the foundations to remain a force in the All Ireland championship, and that kick could bring them anywhere. Dum spiro spero.

But the huge challenges in front of them still cannot be overstated. There is now little time to rest and that will surely have an impact on a side that began the marathon at a sprint pace. That will be the key learning for Mickey Harte next January when they settle down to do it all over again.

In the meantime, a fresh swell of momentum would be very welcome indeed. Finding that oasis in the championship is no small feat.