Some Derry supporters may wake up on Bank Holiday Monday with sore heads, but the manager will certainly have a sore throat.
It will be a small price to pay for Rory Gallagher, who invested so much of himself in Sunday’s stunning 1-18 to 0-10 upset of defending Ulster and All-Ireland champions Tyrone.
Amidst a strangely subdued atmosphere in the first half of this Ulster Championship clash, with Tyrone fans racked with nerves and before the Derry fans found their voice, all that could be heard in the stand at Healy Park was Gallagher bellowing out instructions to his players like they were pieces on a chessboard.
“Gareth, come out, COME OUT. Niall, move over would ye.”
By the time the second half came around, Gallagher had fallen silent. Job done.
Tyrone had been crushed, Derry enjoyed one of their greatest ever days against their more successful north-west rivals and Gallagher had the best win of his managerial career.
No need to shout about it.
“Ah well now, I wouldn’t call it shouting,” he laughed, when I teased him about his hands-on coaching style afterwards.
“I’d call it motivating, but sure it is what it is. I can’t change now!”
And why should he? In Derry, Gallagher may just have found his comfort zone.
He is in year three with the Oak Leafers. Eyebrows were raised in certain quarters when the Belleek man joined them in September 2019, two months after stepping down as manager of his own county, Fermanagh.
He took the Erne job in 2017, six weeks after ending a three-year stint in charge of Donegal.
That came after four years working as Jim McGuinness’ assistant, tasting All-Ireland glory in 2012 as well as winning three Ulster titles.
So after a playing career where he was regarded as a genius play-making forward with Fermanagh and also winning an All-Ireland club title with St Gall’s, he has basically been an ever-present on the line in Ulster football circles since 2011.
Gaelic football is his obsession and if teams are a reflection of the personality of their manager, who and what are Derry?
“Well I certainly wasn’t a hard-working forward – but these guys have to be in the modern game! That’s the bottom line.
“Look, I asked the boys to impose their personality on it and my personality is what it is. We are very honest with each other and there are imperfections in us all.”
Stepping stone
Derry can now say with confidence that they are back in the big time but they will have to be mindful over the next two weeks that Sunday’s epic win was not their Ulster final and merely a stepping stone on the way.
Gallagher will know that, especially with Monaghan up next. A county that he admits has “caused me a lot of personal pain over the last decade”, with Donegal’s one-point defeat in the 2015 Ulster final probably the one that hurts most.
He will be acutely aware where they are in the building process from a Division Four team, which is where they were in 2019, to now.
“We lost 0-17 to 0-15 to Armagh in November 2020 but I didn’t feel we were at their level,” he says.
“We have knuckled down a lot since then and we have a lot of players who are very committed to playing for Derry.
“They are playing for each other and putting the team first at all times. It’s about learning to be a really good team and that is where we have made a lot of progress.
“This was a big step up. These boys had to beat a Division One team and now we have.”
Over the past two weekends teams who operated in Division Two this spring have knocked last year’s All-Irelands finalists out of their provincial championships.
Galway dethroned Mayo in Connacht and now Derry have done the same to Tyrone.
And what of the Red Hands?
This was a first managerial championship defeat for Tyrone joint managers Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan, who knew only good times in 2021.
“We definitely were aware of the enormity of the challenge, we didn’t underestimate that – we just didn’t perform, that’s the long and short of it.,” said Dooher.
“Derry showed up, were well organised with a plan and had a lot of energy in their game. They deserved their victory.”
Having watched Tyrone labour to victory over Fermanagh in the preliminary round two weeks ago, Gallagher had felt Tyrone were flat and vulnerable.
Dooher didn’t disagree.
“We weren’t playing as well as we should have been, I don’t think that’s any secret. You’re hoping to build gradually and get a bit of momentum as time went on. Obviously that didn’t happen.
“There’s no hiding places out there. It’s not a place to go if you’re not right at it and as we found out today, we weren’t at the races. That’s the harsh reality of it.”
Tyrone have lost seven players since their All-Ireland win last year.
Their absence was keenly felt in Omagh because the bench was light. There was no Tiernan McCann, Ronan O’Neill or Mark Bradley to bring on to make an impact.
“Our own boys are coming on well enough,” insisted Dooher.
“We gave the ball away too many times unforced. We tried things that weren’t on. Surely they are good players who did leave but no way is that the reason we lost.
“It’s definitely not the reason. I wish it was.”
