Derry senior hurling manager Johnny McGarvey looks forward to the weekend's Christy Ring CUp final
Derry senior hurling manager Johnny McGarvey looks forward to the weekend's Christy Ring Cup final against Kildare in Croke Park
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00:00 Johnny, second successive Christie Ring Cup final, another big team in Kildare you are facing.
00:06 How important is this to try and get Derry across the line?
00:10 Aye, all finals are important. Coming off the disappointment of last year's final, we've done a serious amount of work to get here.
00:20 So it's vital, very important for us. It means the world to the players, it means the world to management.
00:27 So, yeah, very very important for us.
00:30 The season so far has been a great success in the sense that you've got what you needed from the league.
00:35 The championship's been on a good run, but it's fair enough to say that this will probably be the biggest test, the biggest challenge that you've met this year.
00:42 Aye, I think that's fair enough. We'd set our soul out at the start of the season to get promotion, to win the league and win the Christie Ring.
00:52 But we always knew the Christie Ring was going to be, every bit was hard along the way, but this was always going to be Kildare, they were always going to be in the final.
01:01 They're a really good side, big, strong, physical, they can hurt, they can mix it with you, whatever way you want to go.
01:08 So, no, look, we're under no illusions as to what we face, but look, we love the challenge, that's why we're here.
01:14 We're looking forward to getting out there and getting at it.
01:17 And the team has come on great strides in the last 18 months with you in charge.
01:22 How important is it that you get the balance between the under-20s there coming through with an All-Ireland in their pocket, you've got a lot of experience in the likes of Cormac and stuff, so there's no reason to be intimidated at the same time?
01:33 No, look, we've players who have played in big games. The Slathneil lads have played in All-Ireland, Hurling Semifinals, Ulster Finals, and we've 20s coming through there who have won Ulster.
01:42 We've nothing to be afraid of. We just have to go and make sure that we perform to the best of our ability on that day, which is something that in the bigger games now that we haven't done.
01:52 So, I say, look, preparation's halfway through and we're looking forward to it.
01:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]