A difficult assignment but Derry can prevail away in Newbridge

National Football League Division Two, Round Three

Kildare v Derry at St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge, 6-30pm Saturday

IT has been quite a few years since these counties have met in the league.
The obvious reason is that both have been up and down the divisions in the last six or seven years and passed each other along the way.
It is a big test for Derry but given the manner in which they played against Tyrone in round two they will fancy their chances but a few tweaks are needed particularly in attack where their zest for goals has seen opportunities for points bypassed.
Kildare are a point ahead of Derry in the table having drawn away to Tyrone despite playing half the game with 14 players. They then eased past Leinster rivals Offaly by 3-17 to 0-17.
In their two games Kildare have scored 4-36 while Derry, in the same number of games, have scored 2-28. Derry have conceded 2-31 while Kildare have shipped 2-33.
On the basis of these statistics Derry will need to up their scoring ratio and that can be done if they take simple scores rather than hunt for goals and allow the opposing defence to get back in numbers.
Kildare have a number of tall players as always, particularly in the middle third. They have been rotating their most experienced player Kevin Feely between midfield and full forward.
He has been constant on the team for the past decade but now he is surrounded by some very promising young players.
Since Brian Flanagan took over as manager they have won the Tailteann Cup and have taken well to division two again following their promotion.
They have a strong panel which was underlined when Sam Doran came off the bench against Offaly to score 1-1.
Derry got the poor display against Meath out of their system very quickly with that good win over Tyrone who had started as promotion favourites. If they can come near that form they will be in the promotion hunt as three of their remaining games are at home.
The away game will be against Louth with Cork, Offaly and Cavan coming to Celtic Park.
Derry have been playing without the injured Magherafelt duo of Dan Higgins and Eoin McEvoy and they have not been using any of their under 20 players as they aim for an elusive All Ireland title at that level.
Given the display by the defence against Tyrone there is not likely to be any changes. In the opening game against Meath Ryan Scullion was named as the goalkeeper but he got injured in the warm up. Shea McGuckin came in and did nothing wrong in his two games. Where Scullion, if fit, has a slight advantage is his ability to score long range frees.
The Derry forward line has the capacity to improve as they are currently the lowest scoring team in the division.
Shane McGuigan showed signs of coming back to his best when he moved out to the half forward line in the Tyrone game and kicked a brilliant point with his weaker right foot.
Conor McAteer is a player who can come off the bench to take scores while Lachlan Murray and Paul Cassidy should take on more shooting responsibility when the opportunity arises.
When they hit form Brendan Rogers and Conor Glass are up thee with the best midfielders in the country.
Behind them Ballinderry’s Ruairi Forbes slotted in well in the full back position while Conor Doherty was exceptional in the half back line.
There is every reason to believe that if Derry can come close to their form against Tyrone that are capable of taking the points back from Newbridge not to confused with Derry’s Newbridge who will have a few players in the red and white.
The current standings after the first two rounds are Cork 4, Meath 4, Kildare 3, Louth 2, Derry 2, Tyrone 1 Cavan and Louth pointless.