GAA: Underdogs

A crowd of around 10,000 is expected at Celtic Park (thrown in 3.45pm) for one of the most eagerly awaited finals in years.

Eoghan Rua will be out to upset the mighty Shamrocks who have won the Derry Senior Championship ten times and were the all-Ireland club champions in 2002.

"People think we are deliberately playing up the fact that we are the outsiders," McGoldrick told Times Sport.

"But Ballinderry are the most successful team in Derry at this level and won the All Ireland Club Championship only a few years ago.

"They are practically in the Derry final every other year and they set the standard of the clubs in the county like Bellaghy and Lavey.

"We don't have the tradition of Ballinderry of playing in big matches like this so it's up to us to play up to our very best on the day.

"Ballinderry have the experience of getting out of Derry to play in Ulster and all-Ireland finals, so it's not going to be easy by any stretch."

Eoghan Rua will assess the fitness of Mark McTaggart (hamstring) and Paul Daly (shoulder) and also Sean McWilliams (hamstring) but should be close to full strength.

Ballinderry are sweating over the possible loss of Enda Muldoon who has been hit with a proposed four-week suspension by the Derry Competitions Control Committee following a red card in the dramatic semi-final victory over Lavey.

Muldoon will make a special plea to the Derry Hearings Committee this week.

James Conway is expected to start in midfield against the strong Coleraine pairing of Niall Holly and Sean Paul Henry so if Muldoon does play he could be used in attack.

Coach McGoldrick - whose sons Sean Leo, Barry, Colm and Ciaran all feature in the panel, said that a one point home defeat by Ballinderry earlier in the season could not be used as any sort of yardstick about what lay ahead this Sunday.

"At that early part of the season neither team was at full strength so it's hard to judge from that game.

"Ballinderry are so confident of their place in the senior Derry ranks that they are geared to win championships. They have the experience to draw upon on in matches like this whether it's the county final or the Ulster final.

"What is important is that our players perform on the day. It will be the biggest crowd they have ever played in front of so they must be able to concentrate and keep their mind on the task in hand.

"Our task will be to get our players playing up to their normal level and after that see where it will take us.

"We know Ballinderry will play to the final whistle so we must be prepared for that and match them til the end."

Ballinderry's biggest success was their victory in the 2002 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.

They have won the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship twice and the Derry Senior Football Championship ten occasions.

Journalist and former Derry player Joe Brolly described Ballinderry as "one of the great communities of Ireland".

But Eoghan Rua have made statospheric progress in recent seasons and they are a club on the up.

The club is really buzzing following the camogs historic Ulster Championship victory over Clonduff at the weekend and their under-18 footballers beat Glack to lift the Derry Minor 'C' title at Celtic Park on Saturday.