Back in February, Shane McGuigan parked himself in front of the microphone on The GAA Social and cast his mind back to one of the darkest days of his career.
Faced with a question about the pressures of inter-county football, the Slaughtneil ace voluntarily relived Derry’s gut-wrenching Ulster Championship quarter-final defeat by Donegal last summer.
It was the one that got away from Derry. Having led for most of the game in Ballybofey, the Oak Leafers were plunged into despair when Paddy McBrearty’s stunning last-gasp score sent Donegal through to the last four.
Recalling the agony to Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville, McGuigan admitted he was “inconsolable”. With the realisation of how close Derry had come to toppling a heavyweight taking hold, he locked himself in the toilet after the game and bawled his eyes out – a striking reminder of what this game can do to those who play it better than most.
At that point, McGuigan would have been excused for allowing himself to believe that Derry’s return to the promised land would not arrive during his time in the jersey.
But there he was on Sunday, fielding this reporter’s questions with a beaming smile, just minutes after having kicked his county to a first Ulster title in 24 years following an ultra-tense extra-time battle with his erstwhile tormentors Donegal.
Our interview took place in relative calm in the bowels of St Tiernach’s Park, but only after McGuigan had finally prised himself away from the hordes of adoring Derry fans scrambling for his attention.
The scenes immediately after full-time will live long in the memory as thousands of delirious Derry fans poured onto the pitch and danced under the Clones sun, forming the first euphoric sea of red and white this province has seen since 1998.
The Derry players were adulated like rockstars but McGuigan admitted that he and his team-mates had been forced to confront the demons of their darkest hour in Ballybofey and use it as fuel in their quest to turn their Ulster dreams to reality.
“Rory [Gallagher, Derry boss] was getting phone calls from different people and he was a bit disappointed by how people didn’t believe we could win last year, so that was definitely a driving force in this team,” said McGuigan.
“We thought we left one behind last year. We tried to right a few wrongs today and thankfully we did.”
“It [last year’s defeat] was definitely [a turning point in the journey],” added McGuigan, who finished this year as the Ulster Championship’s top scorer with 1-17 after hitting 0-6 in Sunday’s ding-dong decider.
“The journey is never plain sailing. There are always bumps in the road. Ours was a big bump.
“There were a few other men, like myself, that put everything into it last year and they were maybe questioning themselves if they could put that same effort in this year, but Rory believed in us and trained us even harder this year because it wasn’t enough last year.
“But it did stand to us at the end there because our fitness levels were spectacular.”
He’s not wrong. McGuigan’s extra-time endeavours encapsulated Derry’s willingness to run themselves into the ground in pursuit of silverware.
In 23rd minute of extra-time, McGuigan landed a free to put Derry back ahead at 1-14 to 1-13. Even with the dreaded cramp setting in, McGuigan could be seen directly in front of his own goal just moments later, claiming Hugh McFadden’s deflected effort.
Operating practically on one leg, McGuigan shrugged off Stephen McMenamin, passed the ball to Padraig McGrogan and collapsed onto the pitch. His race was run, or so it seemed, but a few seconds later he was back on his feet, demanding the ball from goalkeeper Odhran Lynch.
Giving in. It is something McGuigan and this Derry team simply refuse to do.
McGuigan is one of several Derry players to have brilliantly come of age in recent weeks. His Slaughtneil club-mates Chrissy McKaigue (Derry’s totemic captain) and Brendan Rogers (man of the match on Sunday) are another two. Gareth McKinless and Conor Glass have been instrumental, while youngsters like McGrogan and Paul Cassidy are proof that Derry football is in good hands.
The mastermind behind it all, of course, is Rory Gallagher, the man who jolted Ulster’s sleeping giant out of its slumber.
The former Donegal and Fermanagh manager’s appointment in 2019 caused a stir in Derry, but his exacting methods and unwavering vision of the county’s future have hauled them out of the doldrums and put them on a path that seemed inconceivable when they fell as far as Division Four in 2018.
“Before they came in, I thought I knew what a forward was supposed to do,” said McGuigan, who was quick to credit the influence of coach Ciaran Meenagh, with whom the players built a strong rapport before Gallagher’s arrival.
“Rory always talks about the big, professional sports. Everyone attacks and defends, whether it’s soccer or basketball. He definitely brought some shrewdness to our defence, but he doesn’t get the credit for his attacking play.
“I thought I knew football but the way he wants you to make your runs, the freedom he gives you – you go out on the field feeling like you’re invincible.
“And you saw that in some of the runs we were making like Brendan’s for the goal, the cut-back from Niall Toner was magic, passing it across, unselfish too, they’re the types of things Rory has brought in.”
Sunday will go down in Derry footballing folklore, but the journey is only just beginning for this group as they set their sights on an All-Ireland quarter-final on the last weekend in June.
“This group would be silly to stop here,” said McGuigan when asked if lifting Sam Maguire is a feasible target for this Oak Leaf outfit.
“We have to look forward to the rest of the summer. We’ve beaten the current All-Ireland champions (Tyrone) and two other Division One teams (Monaghan and Donegal), so why not? Let’s give it a go.”
