BRIAN MAHER recently set a Derry City record for the most consecutive league appearances when making his 111th start on the spin against St Pat’s. He has since taken that total to 113 and should make it 114 when the second-placed Candystripes host leaders Shamrock Rovers tomorrow night. It is a run stretching back almost to the day he signed back in 2022. The Brandywell No 1 told SunSport: “I missed a Friday-Monday that first year. “I had Covid. After missing the first game, I remember doing about 15 tests a day trying to get a negative result to play on the Monday. “I hate missing games. I learnt that it is harder not to be involved when you are out for those games. “You can’t affect the result, so you want to do everything to be available every week. “I was told maybe five games before that I was on course to beat the record. It was very cool when I did it.” Unsurprisingly, goalkeepers tend to dominate the consecutive appearance stakes with Maher surpassing Dermot O’Neill’s record of 110. Form was obviously a factor — Maher was in the PFA Ireland Team of the Year in 2022 and named Soccer Writers Ireland Goalkeeper of the Year in 2023. But so was his fitness. He added: “I suppose one of the things managers would say is the best ability is availability. “It’s something I’m proud of. There are games where I was close to missing them or you missed training sessions to make sure you make games. “There would have been games where it would have been close with scans during the week and just hope for the best. You need a bit of luck. “I had an injury in pre-season so I missed most of it but I was back to start the season. “Sometimes you play through things or you make sure you get a few days off after games.” PERMANENT FIXTURE Since April 2022 when he missed that weekend double-header against Shelbourne and Drogheda, Maher has been a permanent fixture in the side. And his constant presence has been key in this campaign, giving new boss Tiernan Lynch some consistency in his line-up early on when he had little of it outfield. Derry lost three of their first four games and won just three through the opening series of nine matches. But they have won five of their seven since then to move to second in the table, having been bottom after five games. Maher, 24, added: “I’d say that the start to the season doesn’t feel like it was only three months ago. “It feels so much longer. It feels like we’re a different team now. “At the start of the year, we were getting used to a lot of a new regime. “Some of us were coming back from injuries and there were boys signing in mid- season who probably needed a break to go again. “It probably took us a while to gel. The manager demanded higher fitness levels so everyone had to reach those levels. “The last two months I’d say we look like a team that is coming together. We’re not near where we want to be or where the manager wants us to be and he tells us that a lot. “But even in games at the start of the year, he was coming in and showing us the good things we were doing, even stats showing us we didn’t deserve to lose. “Stuff like expected goals, shots and touches in the box. “There were games earlier in the year, especially at the Brandywell, where we should have had games won by half-time and ended up losing.” Now they face the in-form Hoops tomorrow looking for a win that would set them out as serious title challengers. But Maher insists that is not the thought process yet. He said: “Just like the start of the season feels so long ago, November feels a long way away. “Yes, you don’t want to be giving Shamrock Rovers any leads at the top. “But we can’t think like that as this league is so hard. “If you take your eye off what’s in front of you, you could lose two or three in a row.”