It may be late February but with a fierce edge on the field and
a crowd of over 11,000 in the stands, yesterday’s scuffle could easily have
passed for high Summer.
Donegal and Mayo have
shared a tempestuous recent history and there was certainly no love lost
between those in battle. This Donegal team’s finest hour came at the expense of
Mayo but since then it is the men from Davitt country who’ve bossed the
meetings. Going into the game with two league wins from two, Donegal generally
might not have been majorly bothered about getting a third win but the
opposition dictated their mood – they wanted this one.
It was tight and
claustrophobic for long spells and the hosts took longer to settle with many of
their main men struggling to put a stamp on proceedings.
Martin O’Reilly and Patrick
McBrearty didn’t see much of the ball early on with Donegal finding it
difficult to escape Mayo’s clutches around the middle third.
Most of Peter Boyle’s
kick outs were won by the visitors and it is in these situations where Paul
Durcan’s absence, in particular the big man’s laser like ability to find his
teammates with short to mid range kicks, is most keenly felt. In the opening
quarter, Donegal just needed an outlet ball to stem the tide but Mayo’s high
press made it very difficult.
With so many switches
around the middle third, Rory Kavanagh and Micheal Carroll were late additions
to the starting line-up, Donegal seemed a bit at sea and this gave Mayo’s half
back line licence and room to get forward. Shane Nally, Lee Keegan, and
Brendan Harrison all got on the score sheet after running from deep.
Martin McElhinney’s
introduction added some much needed ball-winning and ball-carrying finesse to
the equation and he helped his side stay in contention at a time when they were
clearly second best.
A majestic point from
Ryan McHugh along with the free-taking of McBrearty and Michael Murphy meant
Mayo were never more than a couple of scores ahead and the half finished with
just the minimum between the sides.
Louis Van Gaal recently
complained that the ‘Law of Murphy’ was afflicting his Manchester United team
but we’ve no such objections in Donegal - Michael’s antenna was firmly back in tune,
striking some crucial frees throughout.
Mayo impressed for long
spells but there doesn’t seem to have been any major shift in their style of
play since the appointment of Stephen Rochford. Granted, as a top tier team, it
could be argued that they don’t need to alter things too much; to finally get
their hands on the Holy Grail though they need to add another couple of strings
to their bow.
Their game plan over
the past few years has certainly caused plenty of trouble for Donegal, who
can't quite seem to figure out how best to play against Mayo; a spell of three
and a half years without a Donegal victory in the fixture tells its own story.
However, Donegal know
if they can break Mayo’s first high line of defence then their pace and skill
can reap rewards and that is why they persist in attempting to go through that
green and red wall; easier said than done of course.
It's a high risk
strategy that Mayo consistently employ and ultimately forms a large part of the
testimony as to why this group haven’t got their All-Ireland – when it works it
suffocates teams but when it doesn’t, they’re woefully exposed at the back.
And so it came to pass. Leo McLoone was the beneficiary, raising
a green flag after a move which could have seen any of four Donegal players
apply the finishing touch such was the overlap created.
It was a trademark ice-cool strike from McLoone, who was
bizarrely described by James McCartan on RTE’s highlights programme as ‘not
being noted for his finishing’. One of Leo’s more important Donegal goals came
in the 2012 Ulster Final against Down.....any guesses on who was patrolling the
side line at Clones that day? It was of course none other than, Mr McCartan!
Christy Toye played a
vital role in setting up the goal, a key moment in the midst of what was an
impressive cameo, similar to what he did against the same opposition in the
2012 All-Ireland Final.
As well another decent score line posted, the most striking number
on Donegal’s side of the ledger was the seven yellow cards issued to them. Those
cards, along with the black issued to Neil Gallagher, didn’t have a bearing on
the final outcome and Barry Cassidy might well be a relieved man because of
that. He undoubtedly would have come in for some stinging criticism had the
home side been on the wrong side of the result such was his shortcomings.
Mayo’s first citizen recently called his people whingers but
both sides were united in their moaning as the man in the middle was close to
losing control of the game.
You can generally tell early
on in a match how a referee will perform and whether or not they have a feel
for the game; from the off, Cassidy’s decisions suggested he and the players
were on different wavelengths. Mayo won two frees in the opening minutes following
minimal contact in the tackle but their tactic of going to ground quickly earned dividends.
Donegal on the other hand appeared to be punished for their honesty;
in their attempts to break that Mayo line of pressure, they kept pumping the
legs looking to break tackles despite often being fouled in doing so. When the
frees didn’t come, turnovers and a Mayo counter-attack was the usual consequence.
In isolation, each of the referee’s interpretations at either
end of the field were legitimate but there was no consistency evident between
one and the other and that’s what infuriates players and supporters alike.
Eventually Donegal’s frustrations came to a head after the award of the penalty
but they subsequently used their narkiness to good effect to change the picture
on the scoreboard.
Much of Donegal’s fine play in the opening two matches was
attributed to the young guns but yesterday some of the old warriors were key to
dragging their side over the line. As well as Toye, the introduction of Anthony
Thompson at half-time proved crucial. A steadying influence in defence, he also
powered forward and carried the ball with purpose and intent.
Kavanagh in midfield produced a massive display and showed what
a coup it is to have him back in the fold.
One man stood out clearly from the rest though and that was
Paddy McGrath. As might be obvious at this stage, the standard of punditry on
national media, particularly from state broadcaster, is somewhat of a pet hate with
this writer. So it was a pleasant surprise that TG4 managed to restore some
faith in the art of analysis by selecting Paddy McGrath as their man of the
match yesterday.
In truth it was par for the course from the ever reliable Ardara
dynamo; he’s one of those players, much like Denis Irwin in his pomp, who consistently
performs well and often plays brilliantly. Paddy displayed his usual
terrier-like instinct as a marker, carried the ball wonderfully and injected
pace into countless Donegal attacks.
Unfortunately he wasn’t able to register a first ever league point
despite his endeavour getting him into some scoreable positions. It is McGrath’s
default setting to make the piercing run before laying off to a team-mate, as
he did for Murphy’s glorious late point, but a bit of work on the training
field with Karl Lacey and we might see the marauding corner-back adding the
finishing touch to his own good work.
There was immense satisfaction around MacCumhaill Park at the
final whistle, perhaps even a sense of
smugness from the home contingent. It
was an absorbing contest, you couldn’t take your eyes off it – quite literally for
many a parent in attendance judging by the number of missing children announced
over the loud speaker.
The net effect from yesterday in league terms is that Donegal have
no worries about dropping to Division Two and barring a surprise will qualify
for the semi-finals. More importantly though, the team laid down a psychological
marker for the year by beating a fellow member of top the four.
Donegal sit on top of the table and what happens now is up to Rory Gallagher.
Does he push on and challenge for a league title? Does he experiment with team
selection and/or his game plan? Does he get the older panellists up to speed?
Maybe it will be a case of all of the above. Either way, it’s a great position for
the manager to be in as he prepares to pit his wits against the Kingdom next
week in the land of Healy-Rae.
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