Spillane: Impressive Derry lack forwards to win big one

Pat Spillane was taken with Derry's 'pace' and 'athleticism' but feels they lack the forward power to land the game's biggest prize in two months' time.

After a decade or so of miserable under-achievement, Derry finally roused themselves under the management of Rory Gallagher, the stirrings first evident in 2021 and now coming to spectacular fruition in the 2022 Ulster championship. In Clones on Sunday, they edged out Donegal in extra-time to claim their eighth ever Anglo-Celt Cup and their first since 1998.

It was the third different county that Gallagher had taken to an Ulster final - and his first win.

The game itself was a cagey, tense affair, marked by interminable bouts of lateral hand-passing, Donegal, in particular, embodying their worst stereotype. For Spillane, the big difference between the teams was the pace Derry were able to generate in their attacks, in comparison to the ponderous approach of their opponents.

"The stat from yesterday's game says it all in the safety-first attitude," Spillane said on the RTÉ GAA podcast. "There was only two points scored in yesterday's game (in Clones) from turnovers. They actually didn't go near the opposition at all. They just recycled it and recycled it and went backwards.

"I looked at the teams yesterday and there was one word that stood out - pace, pace, pace, pace. Galway had the pace over Roscommon. Obviously, Dublin had the pace over Kildare, Kerry had pace and energy. Definitely, Derry do tick the boxes in terms of the pace, the physicality, the athleticism."

However, Spillane isn't convinced they have a capacity to mount a proper tilt at an All-Ireland title - which would only be their second after 1993 - feeling they just have the capability in the forward division.

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