All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Derry v Clare (Saturday, Croke Park, 3.45pm, Live on Sky Sports Arena).
Winning a first Ulster title in 24 years was a significant milestone for Derry, but Rory Gallagher is determined to ensure it won’t be the high-water mark for this group of players.
This weekend is the start of the All-Ireland series, the quarter-finals. The business end of the Championship season.
The Oak Leafers defeated Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal to reach this point and they believe there’s more history to be made.
Read more: The cost of going to Croke Park - how much will GAA fans be out of pocket this weekend?
If the Dublins and Kerrys of this world can aim for bigger and better things, fellow provincial champions Derry ought to harbour similar ambitions according to their manager.
“It hasn’t been hard refocusing after the Ulster final,” said Gallagher.
“Winning Ulster is a massive deal for everybody, none more so than the players, but it was a means to an end.
“Winning Leinster isn’t the be all and end all for Dublin. Winning Munster isn’t the be all for Kerry or for the Limerick hurlers. There is always another stage.
“There’s an opportunity now for us to get through to an All-Ireland semi-final. That’s how we are looking at it. We love training together and we enjoy each other’s company and we want to go as far as we can into the summer.
“The summer, with the new structure, is really only starting now - it would be nice to earn the opportunity to play in July when it is a pleasure to be playing sport.”
While Gallagher and his players have their sights firmly fixed on Clare this afternoon, Derry fans can be forgiven for looking a little further down the track.
Following the draw for the quarter-finals one of Derry, Clare, Galway or Armagh will be in this year’s All-Ireland final.
Of the aforementioned quartet, the most recent appearance in an All-Ireland decider was 2003 when then-then champions Armagh lost to rivals Tyrone.
While Gallagher appreciates that fans can get carried away with the hype during an extended Championship run, he said the squad can only look to the next game.
“I can understand the talk around the draw and I think it is healthy for counties, Clare, Galway, Armagh and ourselves to have supporters and GAA people excited,” said Gallagher.
“It is very refreshing from a Derry perspective to have people excited and thinking ahead.
“Top quality sportspeople and performers will never think too far ahead. We’ll just be really worrying about trying to get into the semi-final.
“Whatever happens after that is grand, but for now, it is just about knuckling down and training as normal and looking forward to the All-Ireland quarter-final.”
In the aftermath of their Ulster final win over Donegal following extra-time, Derry found themselves at the epicentre of the latest debate about playing styles.
Several pundits lamented their 1-16 to 1-14 win over Declan Bonner’s side, claiming the provincial final was hard to watch.
Such criticism is water off a duck’s back to someone of Gallagher’s experience. He also refutes the notion that overly defence structures have a tendency to be found out in the wide open surrounds of Croke Park.
Not only does he believe Derry will cope with their first Championship outing at HQ in 11 years, Gallagher thinks his side will thrive at Croke Park.
“Playing in Croke Park isn’t a concern, it is just the next stage - it is showtime coming up now,” said the Derry boss.
“We played there in the Division Three League final last year against Offaly.
“It is going to be a massive step up on that. I’m just looking forward to these players getting the opportunity to perform in Croke Park.
“They had to earn the opportunity to play in front of a sell-out crowd in Clones and they responded fairly well to that.
“Can they be better? Of course they can. Can they improve? Of course they can. That’s the next challenge for us.
“There is an awful lot made of Croke Park and, while it is a pitch that plays fast and it’s a quality surface, fundamentally it is a pitch.
“There isn’t that much difference in size compared to the pitches we’ve played on, but the scoring ratio tends to go up in Croke Park because of the type of pitch and the time of the year the games are played at.
He added: “I’m not worried about it and I’m more than content with the quality of players we have available to us.
“I’ve been very happy with the composure they’ve shown in big games as well, I felt they settled really well in Clones without being at our absolute best.
“There is another challenge now and we have to find a way to perform and a way to win whatever our performance brings.”
Read next:
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Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue explains special relationship with boss Rory Gallagher
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Damian Casey: Sambo McNaughton pays heartfelt tribute to Tyrone’s greatest ever hurler
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Brian McEniff backing Declan Bonner to remain in Donegal hot seat for another season
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