Local planning the basis for City success

FAI Cup final countadown: Emmet Malonetalks to Derry City's Kevin Deery who feels he has a good deal of unfinished business at the Brandywell

Having watched from the bench as Derry City lifted the Carlsberg-sponsored FAI Cup four years ago thanks to Liam Coyle's winner over Shamrock Rovers, Kevin Deery is unlikely to be nearly so peripheral at Lansdowne Road this Sunday.

Three days before his 22nd birthday, the right-sided midfielder is all but guaranteed his starting spot for the Candystripes after a season in which his performances earned him the club's player of the year accolade and a couple of his European goals brought him notoriety far beyond the shores of Ireland.

It has, in short, been a good year for a player whose powerful approach and versatility has made him a coveted property both at home and in Britain where his long-term future may well yet lie.

Before then, though, the Derryman feels he has a good deal of unfinished business to sort out with his hometown club, not least, he hopes, the feeling he has played a direct part in bringing a major honour back to the Brandywell unlike 2002 when his appearance in a semi-final victory down in Cork marked his swansong in that season's competition.

"I think the bottom line was Kevin (Mahon) didn't want to take a chance on a 17-year-old," he recalls without any hint of rancour. "Peter Hutton played right midfield after a six-week foot injury while Joe Harkin came in at right back. I was disappointed but at least I was on the bench, involved in it. I respected Kevin's decision and just got on with it."

Such quiet contentment was something of a way of life at the club prior to Stephen Kenny's arrival a couple of years back but with the Dubliner now about to take charge for the last time, Deery is determined the increased ambition and greater professionalism that is evident everywhere around the Brandywell these days will be lasting tributes to the manager's impact.

"I certainly didn't think Derry would develop the way it has," he observes, "and Stephen deserves a lot of credit for what he did. Before he arrived we were fighting relegation, in play-off relegation battles. The club wasn't coming anywhere near to fulfilling its potential.

"Stephen made the difference. The big thing was the fact that he made such a big family sacrifice, when he moved up to Derry. Then he got all the squad based in Derry, training five or six days a week, whereas previously we were training twice a week.

"We had basically a part-time team with players coming up from Dublin on the day of a game. Stephen made sure that wasn't the case any more."

As a highly-regarded local young talent, Deery was one of those who lost out as a result of that approach. While older, more established players breezed into town to play ahead of him, the localman's chance to shine only really came with Kenny's insistence that the club and its team be firmly rooted in the local community.

"When you're a kid, you're not really that aware of the bigger picture until someone like Stephen comes along and changes things," he says. "When I look back now, I laugh at the situation and how much the club has progressed. But then, I didn't really think about it. Now it is a whole different set-up. Facilities are a lot better. The whole operation has been transformed."

That, to some extent, creates its own pressures and City, having been so down on their luck a few years ago, find themselves regarded as firm favourites to beat St Patrick's Athletic on Sunday. Regardless of whether they do, they will be expected to maintain momentum with the league title a major target again for next year.

Asked if he feels City can continue to move forward without Kenny, who has taken over at Scottish side Dunfermline, Deery responds positively. "Ah, yeah," he says. "The board know what is required in a manager now. The new man will have to be professional and keep the club going in the right direction."

A win on Sunday will, far from merely granting temporary relief from tough realities as it did in 2002, underline just how much has been achieved to date this time around. Keeping young players with plenty of alternatives to consider on board would send out a clear message that Derry intend to keep on progressing.

Perhaps the most important thing about winning the FAI Cup is that it might just make keeping the likes of Deery around a while longer that little bit more achievable.