Gallagher looking forward to big Derby clash

• Aidan O'Donnell
• Tue, May 04 2010


Tomorrow night, one of the oldest rivalries in the League of Ireland will be renewed when James Gallagher takes his young charges across the border to face Derry City at the Brandywell (kick-off 7.45).

The Harps manager said he has been looking forward to this game - the first between the sides in two years - for some time and agreed that if they get a good result, it could be the turning point in their season.

“Absolutely, I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully with the young squad that we have here, there will be no fear going in and we can give it good crack,” said the Harps boss.

He added: “I think its maybe a bigger game for Derry than it is for us. They're obviously flying at the minute and can see themselves pushing on to win this league. If they have aspirations of winning the league, they'll be looking at it as a home game and one that they will certainly need to win.

“With us, we're a lot more inexperienced; we're probably a good bit younger in certain areas. But, we'll go in there and enjoy the occasion. It will be the first for many of them here but we'll go and give it our best shot. It will be tough but we'll take the positives of a clean-sheet and a point from Friday and see what happens.”

Both sides have had contrasting starts to the league with Derry now the outright leaders at the summit following the weekend's results, and Harps still finding their feet in the shallow depths of eighth place.

“With Derry, they have young players but they have experience to guide them along. You have Deery and Molloy in the middle, the goalkeeper Doherty, the whole back four you wouldn't necessarily say they're in experienced. That's the advantage they have where they can let young McClean, McEleney, Harkin and McDaid all go and play. That's where they're that wee bit ahead of us.”

The manager said that while it is a massive occasion for both teams, he reckoned that because there are so many young players on either side it might take on the mantle of “just another game”.

“It's one where you can only play eleven and I'm sure there will be a few disappointed not to be starting. I was old enough when I played them myself and the occasion might have meant a bit more, whereas some of the young lads here won't really be looking at it like that, and instead it will be just another game.

“If some of the boys here can go on and get a few more games under their belt and get that belief to go and play, then maybe we can say that we are on a par with Derry. Tomorrow night's game will give us an idea of where we're at.”

The manager, meanwhile, said the financial problems that were aired last week are far from an ideal backdrop, but insisted all he is focusing on is his squad - while quashing the notion of a bad run of luck that the game is scheduled for the Brandywell and not Finn Park.

“Financial problems don't concern me; I'm concentrating on training and the players. The financial side of it is there for the board, I'm not really focusing on that. Of course, it would be great to have Derry here on Tuesday and again toward the end of the season but we knew that wasn't the case when the fixtures were released.”

On Friday night, Harps played out a second straight goalless draw at home when they shared the spoils with Cork City Foras Co-op.

“Overall, I thought we didn't do enough to win the match,” Gallagher said of the stalemate. “We're not creating as much as we would like to; maybe the first fifteen minutes we done well. But after that we started to maybe take too much out of the ball, we let the pace drop. We just stood off Cork and they were definitely causing us problems, and without a doubt we were a bit lucky to come in at half time still 0-0.

“It's been frustrating because I know, my staff know and certainly some of the players know that there is definitely more in us. It's just fits and starts. Hopefully we can keep grafting away and eventually create a bit more and just build from there.”

There was a scant crowd at Finn Park on Friday night and the manager recognised the drought that the club are going through.

“I'm a firm believer that if we get some good results, the crowd will take care of itself. It's certainly not ideal, but in terms of the financial side of things, we'll probably have to deal with that for a while. And, we're no different to Derry or anybody else in that respect. We're in a transition, giving young lads a chance and we're going to be living with the likes of that for some time.”

As regards team news, Gallagher said everybody that was in the fray against Cork should be fit and in contention for the cross-border trip while Michael Funston will most likely come back into the squad after serving a one-match suspension.

“Obviously, recovery is very important, we we're in the pool on Saturday, had a light recovery session yesterday and another one this morning. Nobody picked up anything during the Cork match so we should be okay.”