Derry captain Cormac O'Doherty is Christy Ring Hurler of the Year
Derry captain Cormac O’Doherty has been awarded with the Hurler of the Year award.
IT has been a memorable year for Derry hurling and as the annual teams of the year keep popping up Derry names appear.
However, the official one is the Champions 15 which is selected from teams who competed in The Christy Ring Cup, Lory Meaghan Cup and the Nicky Rackard Cup.
It has been well documented that Derry won the Christy Ring Cup in 2026 after losing in five previous finals.
When a number of players declared their unavailability pre Christmas manager Johnny McGarvey just drew up another squad containing about half of those who were there the previous year.
It took a few games to get them up and running after an awful start when they were trounced by Kerry.
As the league progressed the team began to take shape and when Croke Park beckoned who would be the opposition but none other than Kerry.
Eight days before that game they had met at Celtic Park with Derry winning a low scoring game but there was a train of thought that Kerry were not flat out as they had already qualified for the final.
To beat Kerry by 3-24 to 3-19 in a Christy Ring Cup thriller showed just what can be done when a manager gets players who can gel as a team.
It was Derry’s best hurling day since they won their second Ulster senior title against Down 25 years previously.
The six players honoured were Sean Kelly (Kevin Lynch’s) goalkeeper, Patrick Turner (Swatragh) full back, Conor Coyle (Slaughtneil) centre half back, Cormac O’Doherty (Slaughtneil) midfield, Deglan Foley (Na Magha) centre half forward and Shea Cassidy (Slaughtneil) full forward.
The Derry captain Cormac O’Doherty was also named as the player of the Christy Ring Cup!
And, it didn’t end there.
There was also the Ulster All Stars where four Derry hurlers were named.
Sean Kelly got the goalkeeping spot, Cathir McGilligan (Banagher) right corner back, Eamon Cassidy (Slaughtneil) named as a half back even though he played regularly at corner back while Cormac O’Doherty got his usual midfield position!
While Derry is regarded as a football county it was the hurlers who got the trophies.
Apart from the Christy Ring Cup the seniors also won the McGurk Cup, the Under 20’s won the all Ireland B title for the second time in three years and the under 17’s won the Celtic Challenge Division Three cup.