Derry's resurgence welcomed

On Soccer: Few people know better than Stephen Kenny how swiftly the euphoria that accompanies a run of good results can be forgotten. But a year after being dismissed by Bohemians, there are signs that the Dubliner's third coming is well under way.

Derry City's FAI Cup victory against Shelbourne at Tolka Park underlined the dramatic progress made by the team since Kenny's appointment last summer.

Kenny made his name with Longford Town and went on to confirm his ability when he guided Bohemians to the league title in his first full season there.

The manner of his sacking a year later, however, almost led to his leaving football and a number of issues, including his bonus for winning the league, remain at the heart of a dispute between him and his former employers that is currently on course for the High Court.

His main focus, however, is now on Derry, a club he took over when they were fighting what had become something of an annual battle against relegation.

Almost immediately the results improved but it has been this year that the changes at the club might more adequately be described as a transformation.

The team's consistently better performances are generating renewed optimism regarding Derry's future in the medium and long terms.

Little has changed among the playing staff at the Brandywell. The squad is still built around the same small core of club veterans. Peter Hutton, Seán Hargan, Eamon Doherty and Gary Beckett played there under the last couple of managers. And there is a decent mix of younger professionals, most of whom come from the general Derry area.

What Kenny has changed, just as he did at Longford, is the level of commitment required, and the players have reacted positively to the increased demands.

Several - the likes of Alan Murphy, David Forde, Brian Cash and Ciarán Martyn - have moved to the city or its environs to be available for daily training.

Others have come to new arrangements with employers in the area so they can meet the new schedule.

The desired results have followed more quickly, one suspects, than even they could have expected.

Seven wins and two draws from the club's first 12 league games have lifted them to second in the table, four points behind leaders Cork City but one clear of defending champions Shelbourne.

Kenny attributes a portion of the progress made to the hunger within a squad that contains only three survivors - Hutton, Hargan and Beckett - of Derry's championship-

winning side of 1997.

Younger players brought in from outside like Martyn, Forde and Murphy have shown considerable commitment.

Younger locals like Ruaidhrí Higgins, Mark McChrystal and Mark Farren have taken the opportunity given to them to make their mark in the first team.

Quite how much impact they will make between them over the full season remains to be seen but Friday's cup win at Tolka Park provided further evidence of the collective confidence in the team.

Having capitalised on a couple of early mistakes by Shelbourne players to lead 2-0, the visitors defended their advantage with considerable composure throughout the second half.

At underage level Derry have cemented their links with local schoolboy clubs such as Tristar and Trojan by providing support wherever they can for the development of young talent in the area.

Derry are also enjoying better times off the pitch, having steadied the ship a few years ago in the wake of an almost fatal financial crisis.

John Hume, whose connections brought money-spinning friendly games against Barcelona and Real Madrid, is about to be named as the club's new president.

There also appears to be a strong chance that the Brandywell stadium, as well as an extensive site around it with huge potential for development, will be purchased from the local council for a nominal sum over the coming months.

Already attendances are up from just 1,000 or so a game when the team was really struggling to two or three times that figure.

While there is an acceptance that the sort of excitement that accompanied their initial entry into the League of Ireland will never be recaptured there is a belief among local observers that current attendance levels could be doubled again if the team continues to improve.

A major problem for the club has always been its remoteness from the rest of the league with almost all away games involving considerable expenditure on travel and difficulties with the availability of players.

But with all but one of the squad due to be living in the area within a matter of weeks the club's location may prove a blessing; its more marketable assets may take a bit of prising away again if they continue to impress over the remainder of the season and the wealthier Dublin clubs come calling.

First, though, they must prove that an impressive first third to the season is not just an extended flash in the pan.

The signs so far have been generally positive, though, not just for Derry but also for a league that has, for quite some time, needed to become national again.