GAA: Time for a deep Derry breath....

Walking out of Celtic Park on Saturday night long after the bright April sun had set on Derry's bid for an historic hat-trick of Ulster Senior Football Championship titles, I had an inkling of what might be coming. Sadly it just seems to be the modern way. If I'm being honest it had started before I even got off the pitch and social media has a way of handing a megaphone to people who should be muted. It's sad.

Frustration at a game in which Derry had never reached anything like the levels this group of players have made us accustomed to was not an issue. That's to be expected after such a disappointing result in a major game and no one would have been hurting more than the Derry players on Saturday evening.

But no, the main disappointment for me was the over-the-top reaction of an admittedly small minority of people, mostly on social media. I deliberately don't use the term 'fans' or 'supporters' because I don't believe you can be either if you're prepared to stick the boot in to individuals after a first Ulster Championship defeat in three years and only the second defeat in 13 games this season.

It was a bad day alright, but the disaster some would have you believe? Do me a favour.

I was standing beside Gaelic Life's Mal McMullan in Markievicz Park on March 25, 2018 having watched Derry slip to a 3-11 to 2-12 defeat to Sligo. Derry only needed a draw that day. They didn't get it and when news began filtering through of Offaly's victory in Westmeath, we both stood in silence wondering how Derry had suddenly become a Division Four county.

Now that was a tough day.

And it was little more than six years ago, so I remember it well. The reason almost all other Oak Leaf fans have been able to forget it so quickly is the panel of players we're lucky to have representing the county at present. Players who, over those intervening six years, have brought Derry back-to-back Ulster titles as well as Division Four, Division Three and Division One league titles, not to mention a couple of McKenna Cups.

Players who have packed out Celtic Park again, dotted every corner of the city and county with Oak Leaf jerseys and inspired the generations of young Derry players to come. One bad day at the office changes none of that.

That's why the reaction of that small minority is do difficult to get your head around. I get that we live in a society of extremes these days. I get that modern etiquette seems to dictate 'every game is a season' in terms of the reaction to it but let's not get carried away. Two weeks ago this Derry team were defeating Dublin in a Croke Park league final for goodness sake.

No one has a divine right to victory, especially in the Ulster Championship. The position Derry have find themselves in over recent season is only because result of a lot of hard work by many people over a prolonged period of time. And that work continues.

Derry were undoubtedly below their best on Saturday, no one could argue otherwise, but perhaps they were trying something different in terms of their championship preparation with the recent warm weather training trip to Portugal. Remember this new, condensed season is still new and Ulster counties have a unique conundrum to solve given the competitive nature of their provincial championship and its close proximity to the All Ireland Series. To that end, it appeared to backfire, but maybe that’s only in the short-term. Remember the ultimate prize is decided in July.

Jim's 'Donegal 2.0' fully deserved their victory. It was a fantastic display of hard running, direct football, full of risk taking and fine finishing but as the Tir Chonaill boss admitted afterwards, that game was six months in the planning for Donegal and they threw everything at it to reach a level they hadn't managed for a number of seasons. Their challenge now is to maintain that level against Tyrone next Sunday and into the summer. Good luck to them.

And as for Derry. Well, I also remember sitting in Owenbeg in March 2022 after Galway had ripped through the Oak Leafers' first attempt at a return to football's top table as Derry made their way back up through football's divisions. The Tribesmen ironically hit 4-11 - the same tally as Donegal - that day. It seemed a disaster at the time too and there was a similar reaction by some to a defeat that all but killed Derry's hopes of promotion that season.

The Derry players' reaction? A first Ulster title in 25 years as well as a place in the All Ireland semi-final. No one needs reminding they subsequently won promotion the following season, reclaimed the Ulster title and again reached the All Ireland semi-final.

So remember, this isn't the first tough challenge these Derry players have faced. Saturday wasn't the first setback they've encountered on the road since Markievicz Park. Charting the response of this group of players to the various hurdles that they have met before should provide all the reassurance you need. If it doesn't, do me a favour and at least think before picking up the phone to comment.