Prior to the Ulster quarter-final defeat to Donegal, things couldn't have been going better for Derry and centre-back Eoin McEvoy.
An All-Ireland Under-20 winner, his first two years at senior level had yielded provincial titles, All-Ireland whispers and an All-Star nomination in 2023.
With Mickey Harte at the helm, the focus on Sam Maguire has been sharpened.
A promising McKenna Cup was followed by a scintillating league campaign, 12 months on from defeat to Dublin in a Division 2 final, they turned the tables on the All-Ireland champions in a Division 1 decider settled on penalties.
The versatile McEvoy finished the league among the top 10 scorers from play, his 2-02 of his overall 3-04 coming in a player of the match display against the Dubs.
That however quickly fell by the wayside when Jim McGuiness led his Donegal side out of Celtic Park with a win that secured a place in the last four of Ulster.
Derry’s hopes of three-in-row were dashed, but the Magherafelt man dismisses the notion of an "ambush" on their own patch.
"They kind of set up the same in the league," the April winner of the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month said.
"We knew they were coming to win. We knew they would bring something, and it was our own fault for not reacting quicker.
"It wasn’t really that big of a setback. We know we’re in a good place. We had a good McKenna Cup, a good league. Probably the biggest thing that disappointed us was just the performance, the energy levels we brought to the game."
The main talking point of the game centred on the concession of four goals, or more to the point, the nature of them.
Sweeper-keeper Odhran Lynch, such a vital component of Derry’s play, was caught out three times off his line, but club-mate McEvoy says the focus on the goalkeeper fails to acknowledge the full picture.
But will they change their approach?
"You’d probably need to ask Mickey or Horse (trainer Gavin Devlin) that question," he said.
"We have doing it for so long and that really hasn’t happened us. Thankfully it happened in April and not July.
"It hasn’t really been mentioned that much. The last three years Odhran has been doing it, and at club level. He’s been doing it at a very high level.
"In the league final he was very good. No-one had a problem then. You have to look at other players as well. They had a lot of men at the break, and that’s not in Odhran’s control.
"Obviously there is a lot of risk, but it’s risk-reward. It will be interesting to see what happens."
After 12 games in 13 weeks between McKenna Cup and the league, followed by a quick turnaround to the championship, the Derry camp has been putting in a good block of work ahead of the All-Ireland series group stage.
McEvoy says there is a 'bite’ to training coming off the back of a defeat, and is itching to get going again, with possibility of meeting Donegal again if they were to come up short against Armagh on Sunday.
"Three high quality games and the first one is away to a provincial champion, so that is very exciting as a player."
Asked to pinpoint where the Oak Leaf men are looking for the biggest improvement, and the answer is immediate; restarts at either end of the pitch.
They pinched Shaun Patton’s first three kickouts in the quarter-final defeat, but from there things went awry, at times in spectacular style.
"We did very well in the league on our kickouts, and opposition kickouts with the press we have.
"Whatever happened on the day (against Donegal) happened. It’s just a flaw in the system. We have that mind to regroup."
Just a couple of years out from his school days, McEvoy has quickly developed into a swashbuckling defender in Harte’s rearguard. While his licence to break free was curtailed by Daire Ó Baoill last time out, he is thriving in the half-back line.
Encouraged by Harte and Devlin to develop his attacking game further, McEvoy honed in on his kick-passing and commitment to getting on the end of breaks to take his game to another level.
The fruits of that labour have been visible in the early stages of the year.
"It comes down to how well the team is doing. Once the team is connected, the individuals can flourish.
"We do a lot of shooting in training. Horse is very adamant that if you’re up there you need to be able to shoot. If you watch the other top teams, they get scores from everywhere."
Derry’s defenders hit 8-13 combined in the league and bringing that to the All-Ireland series should stand the team in good stead.
With schools, underage and Ulster silverware already to his name, McEvoy only knows winning. Dreams of ending the year up the steps of the Hogan Stand aren’t as fanciful as they once were.
Beating Dublin in Croke Park was heralded by many as a key moment in the team’s development, but McEvoy insists, after a nine-year absence from the top-flight, consistently performing against the elite teams is what will stand them in good stead.
"Winning most games in Division 1 is very promising, it brings a good buzz to the team."
Has losing to Donegal dented their lofty ambitions in anyway?
"The goal hasn’t changed."
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