Dún na nGall Edge Past Dogged Down

Donegal’s drive for three Ulster titles in a row is still on and after a tense affair in Cavan yesterday they booked their place at the provincial finale in four weeks time.

Down set the tone for the game with their tactical strategy, James McCartan determined not to let history repeat itself. In last year’s Ulster Final, Down stayed with Donegal for the first half before being blown out of the water - yesterday they were going to stay with them right until the end.

The Mourne Men set themselves up the same way Tyrone did in last year’s semi final and made life very difficult for the Champions. It was just what this Donegal team needed though; a tight, tough, tense encounter and while not playing at their best - indeed not being allowed to play at their best - they still came through and that’s the mark of a team who know how to win matches.

Most games are decided in the closing stages but in truth the first fourteen minutes settled this contest. With Down’s red and black bus parked at the town end of Breffni Park they were setup to defend a lead and look for scraps on the break, going 0-4 behind at this stage of the game though signalled trouble. They fought brilliantly throughout and McCartan and his players deserve huge credit but they never looked like finding enough scores to get over the line.

In the first half Down tried to attack through the middle when they may have been better off using the wings where there was more space. They did get back to within two points by the half time break but that was as close as they got. After the break, they used the wide areas more before bursting inside at angles and got some joy with Donegal forced to give away a number of frees. Every time though they got within striking distance, the men in green and gold mustered a point from somewhere. One key moment in the last quarter could have turned things but once Eamon McGee collected a Down free off the upright the Ulster Final was in sight – if that had been converted it was a one point game.

McGee alongside his brother Neil and Ardara’s Paddy McGrath were outstanding in the full back line. In today’s game positions around the middle don’t really mean a lot – half forwards, midfielders and half backs all do a similar job and have to work in a scrum of bodies everyday they take to the field. The other lines though have more individuality about them and that trio in the last line of defence were immense.

So too the inside line. Right now our full forward line is the best in the business and they proved their worth in spades yesterday. Patrick McBrearty worked tirelessly throughout and despite being under the weather, which resulted in a visit to a local dentist on Saturday night, he played his part in the victory, the highlight for him a beautiful point from play in the first half.

Colm McFadden was the star of the show and the win rounded off a very special week for him following the birth of his son Matthew (Jimmy’s nephew) on Wednesday night. When the game was growing tenser by the second it was the Creeslough man who stood up and boomed over two towering long range points to keep Down at bay.

Captain Michael Murphy came to the fore as well finishing the day with 0-5, four of those coming from frees. His last free, which sealed the win, was a massive 60 yard effort and it had plenty to spare as it sailed over the same crossbar which caused him so much grief three years ago in the U21 Final. Murphy gets a bit of stick for not contributing more from play on the scoreboard but there aren’t many players in the country who could nail such a mammoth kick.

Ryan McHugh made his Championship debut yesterday and despite reservations about the strength of McGuinness’ squad the substitutes again played their part with Marty Reilly and Martin McElhinney showing well once more.

McHugh was assigned a man-marking brief on Conor Laverty, just as he had been in the league match earlier this year in Ballybofey. Laverty had caused a lot of problems in the first half; his low centre of gravity allied to his balance and sharpness make him a difficult opponent and indeed an early challenge on him resulted in a yellow card for the elder McGee. His threat certainly waned though once McHugh got to grips with him.

Despite the good performance of McElhinney after his introduction, midfield was again a worry. Tyrone were on top in the middle third for long periods of the quarter final and with strong displays from Kalum King, Ambrose Rogers and Kevin McKernan yesterday Donegal were under the cosh again. It was clear after half-time that Paul Durcan used the short kick out a lot more in order to provide primary possession for his team-mates. Its obviously something the management are working on - Maxi Curran could be seen recording all of yesterday’s kick outs and these will no doubt be analysed forensically in the coming weeks.

Ryan’s brother Mark as usual treaded every blade of grass on the field of play and after an injury ravaged league he seems to be getting back to his best. Injuries, or hopefully the lack of them, as we go through the year are going to have a major impact on Donegal’s season. Without two starters yesterday, Karl Lacey and Neil Gallagher, the team lost two more by half time with Ryan Bradley and Frank McGlynn succumbing to concussion. Club Championship action this weekend has the potential to add more bodies to the treatment table so it will be a huge positive if Jim and Rory can get everyone to Clones on the 21^st fit and well.

Down will feel they let the game slip due to the fact they had Donegal within striking distance but couldn’t provide a killer blow. They didn’t actually have that many chances though and often seemed reluctant to shoot. A hallmark of the McGuinness tenure is the economy that his side shows in front of the posts – it’s very unusual to see a Donegal player take on a low percentage chance - they remain patient and wait for the right opportunity. Down on the other hand rushed a lot of their shots and played quite a number into the grateful hands of Durcan.

The absence of both Lacey and McGlynn left a distinct lack of pace in the half back line and against such a packed defence this can lead to slow ball and therefore more time for the defensive wall to regroup and get set. Donegal suffered from this in the now infamous semi-final defeat to Dublin in 2011 and it was shown up again yesterday.

Early on, Donegal counteracted Down’s deep lying blanket by pushing up on them and employing a high line pressing game that Mayo have used to good effect in their last two games. If anything though they committed too many men forward and cluttered things up even more for themselves. This led to poor, impatient passing and Down forced numerous turnovers. As the half went on, Donegal retreated to cope with the attacking threat which belatedly came from their opponents. After having too many bodies forward they then left the ball carrier isolated on a few occasions; Leo McLoone in particular found himself high and dry as he moved into a full forward role at the end of the first half. This is out of character for this team and unfortunately we also saw glimpses of it the league defeats to Cork and Mayo.

As for the game itself as a whole, some have described it as a tense, engrossing affair while others are lamenting the lack of flair and space. So far Championship 2013 analysis has been dominated by the lack of competitiveness and the gap between the haves and the have nots. You cant have it both ways and surely a gripping contest with a grandstand finish beats a one-sided stroll any day.

Either way Donegal or indeed Down won't care too much about the quality of the game - they both know the result. The latter head to the qualifiers in good fettle and with a good chance of making Croke Park in August - for the double Ulster Champions it's all about Clones in a month’s time and making it a treble.

Donegal Down as Tyrone lie in wait...

Honours even in Ballybofey but that wasn’t enough for Donegal to retain their Division One status. Yesterday wasn’t what relegated us though, the damage was done in previous weeks at Pairc Ui Rinn and McHale Park. In fact the weekend thankfully saw Donegal get back to a level of performance that brought us success last year. As with most final day league shoot-outs, it was close to Championship pace and in the first thirty-five minutes we played some of our best football of the campaign.

Everything about the game and occasion had a Championship feel to it, from the traffic approaching the Twin Towns to the atmosphere of the crowd inside to the level of play on the field.

Stephen Cluxton’s renowned kick outs were causing Donegal problems early on, each and every one finding a blue shirt. Anytime the home side left a man free on a restart Cluxton found them and time and again quick, short distribution was the ploy.

Michael Murphy moved into a deeper role to stem the tide and while it worked in gaining more possession and a platform around the middle, it resulted in Michael having one of his quieter days at the office. One of his early efforts was blocked and after that he seemed a bit reluctant to shoot, strange for a man who made a stunning 0-13 contribution to his club’s league win over Buncrana last week. His marker and DCU team-mate Johnny Cooper did a wonderful shackling job on him as well, keeping him to 0-3, all from placed balls. Cooper has been an excellent addition to the Dublin panel and looks well placed to nail down a starting spot for their 2013 Championship odyssey.

Mark McHugh’s winter and spring has been interrupted by various niggling injuries and he hasn’t looked himself thus far – yesterday though he looked more like the McHugh of 2012. He played the sweeper/ball carrier role that he has made his own and produced his best display of the league. His marker Darren Daly, tracked him on his sorties back the field but as we’ve seen with numerous teams’ attempts, no particular plan seems to work against the Kilcar man.

As always Jim McGuinness was thinking a few steps ahead and even a few months down the line when selecting his team. Not many teams would throw in two League debutants in an important game like this but Eamon Doherty and Luke Keaney were given their chance and both acquitted themselves reasonably well. There’s a fair chance these sides could meet again in Croke Park at some stage during the summer so by picking some fringe players McGuinness is keeping his opposite number guessing while at the same time widening his own options – everyday is a school day after all.

The bizarre sight of the referee Padraig Hughes being stretchered off in the second half after what appeared a fairly innocuous coming together left the crowd somewhat bemused but that feeling would soon grow to frustration as Michael Duffy assumed whistling duties. Hughes had been consistent throughout, particularly in highlighting fouls for over-carrying for both sides. Duffy was anything but consistent though and some of his calls in the frantic last few minutes left players and supporters alike bemused. Dublin tagged on a few scores from placed balls in the closing stages and at least two of these calls should have gone the other way.
One example was especially frustrating; Luke Keaney made a fine catch in the air inside his own 13m line and was pulled down as he made his descent but instead of awarding a free out Duffy waved play on; Dublin gained possession as Keaney tried to release as he lay on the ground and only a superb save from Paul Durcan, one of many he produced on the day, prevented a goal.

Whilst it is obviously disappointing to be going back to Division Two the encouraging aspect from yesterday was how we competed with and even bettered Dublin from a physical and intensity perspective. Jim Gavin’s men will be our main challengers for silverware later in the year and at times they couldn’t live with our ability to break tackles, our direct running and our support play. All these traits brought Dublin to an All-Ireland two years ago so to out-do them in those departments for long periods is a big plus.

Ryan Bradley, Anthony Thompson and Frank McGlynn all put in excellent displays with the latter doing an efficient marking job on Kevin McManamon, keeping him scoreless.
The fact that the team trained on Saturday makes the good performance seem even better. They had also trained Tuesday and Thursday before that as Jim ‘pushed the button’ on the preparation for the Tyrone clash.

The Saturday training may have told in the final stages as Donegal sat deep and relied on picking the Dubs off on the break. It’s a risky strategy but one that we’ve become accustomed to Donegal employing and it will generally work on the proviso that when chances come on the break they must be taken - unfortunately while they did suffocate the visitors and break at pace, the team was guilty of missing crucial chances and thus the victory escaped them.

The first culprit was Ross Wherity who was through one-on-one with Cluxton but his poor effort was straight at the Parnells clubman who saved with his foot. Wherity had two similar guilt edged opportunities in the game against Cork and fluffed his lines on both those occasions as well. He does so many things right however and its easy to see why McGuinness is persisting with him. He’s a strong runner, athletically built and can carry the ball well, as demonstrated with his penalty wins against Tyrone and Kerry. It was just one of those days for him though with the ball spilling out of his grasp several times including one crucial occasion late on when Paul Durcan found him with a pinpoint kick out down the centre.

Wherity’s club-mate Rory Kavanagh had one final chance to secure Division One football for next year when put through by substitute Martin Reilly; he hesitated slightly, seemingly caught in two minds and this allowed the tackle to come in. Whether or not the tackle was legal is highly questionable but Rory should have made his mind up quicker in any case. The failure of Duffy to award a penalty further irked the players and spectators and from then until the end of the game almost all the decisions seemed to go towards the town end of MacCumhaill Park.


So what does this all mean for D-Day, May 26th? Relegation will not have any major impact on preparation for that game, if anything it might leave the players with a point to prove to themselves. As the scores were coming in from the other grounds yesterday it was clear that Kerry were giving Tyrone an absolute hiding early on and that their forwards were cutting through the Red Hand defence at will. Tyrone are very beatable on the evidence that Kerry provided and remember it was a fairly tight game in Omagh last month up until Michael’s red card just before half time.
It is going to be one hell of a battle and while it might not be the most aesthetically pleasing game of football ever played it will without doubt be a compelling, engrossing and intriguing affair.


Before that though we have an U21 Ulster Final to look forward to on Wednesday night; while Ray Durack’s hurlers also have a league final next weekend.

Along with the aforementioned Keaney, all of the U21s involved with the senior panel (bar Ryan McHugh) got game time yesterday and this was presumably worked out between Jim and Maxi Curran prior to throw in. It will have been a good test for them, not least in the physical stakes and this can only help them as they bid for a provincial title in Enniskillen. Ádh mór lads.

Dún na nGall open their Division One account

First two points on the board in Division One for Donegal and a good night all round at MacCumhaill Park.

As with last week, it took Donegal quite a while to get into their stride and get up to the pace of the game. A lot was made of the team’s second half performances in last year’s All-Ireland march - that was primarily due to the reserves of fitness that the players had in their collective tanks - at present though its more to do with the tank running a little low. The side found enough in the second half though to put this game to bed as the Down challenge fell away just as it did in last year’s Ulster Final.

The first half was a scrappy affair with the Mournemen employing a running game but didn’t make too much headway. They simply don’t have the physicality to burst through the Donegal rearguard although they did manage to win a few frees and with Donal O’Hare in good form from the boot they went in a point to the good.

The hosts’ handling throughout the game was a particularly impressive facet of the game; time and again players caught balls over their head or even one-handed and unlike the Irish at the Aviva today, the ball stuck. Its another insight into the training that Jim and Rory put this team through - its not all running and strength work. Clubs across Donegal and indeed all over the country are trying to emulate the McGuinness template with players enduring arduous long runs, numerous ascents of sand dunes and countless hours in the gym. It cannot be overlooked though that this Donegal team possesses superb footballers with extremely high skill levels - that, as much as the conditioning of the squad, is the reason why we are All-Ireland Champions.

Donegal weren’t at the races but whatever was said at half time had the desired effect. They immediately reeled the visitors in and took control of the game. They would keep Down scoreless until the latter stages of the game, while eight white flags were raised at the other end.

A quiet and subdued crowd in Ballybofey were awoken from their slumber with the news that Neil Gallagher was going to join the action for the second half. He had a huge impact on the game and gives such an important physical presence around the middle third as well providing his ability to win primary possession. Gallagher replaced Martin McElhinney who again failed to stamp his authority on the game at midfield; the hard work required in the engine room doesn’t allow him to show his full skillset. The St Michaels man is better suited to a deep lying half forward role where he can use his driving power and penetration to trouble defences. Indeed in last year’s league encounter with Down he did just that early on and gave Donegal some impetus at Pairc Esler.

That night last year in Newry, we were without our twin towers strike force of Colm McFadden and Michael Murphy but last night they were both in the side, the latter shaking off the hamstring injury he picked up last week. McFadden still looks a bit off the pace and the three week break will help him regain some of his sharpness. No such worries with the country’s form player Murphy however, his six-point haul last night brought his total for the week to twenty-four for county and college. God help the UCD defence who have to face him in the Sigerson quarter-final this Thursday.

Those six-points were key to Donegal registering their first points of the campaign and just as vital was the contribution of Mark McHugh. The Kilcar man is such a vital cog for this team, his paws are on so many of our scores and there isn’t a blade of grass on a pitch that he doesn’t cover at some stage during a match.
So much of Donegal’s approach centres on players using their physique to carry the ball into a tackle and then off loading, thus creating space for the receiver. So often that receiver is McHugh - he is the main outlet anytime one of his team-mates go on a foray into traffic.

Neil McGee picked up the Setanta man of the match award and while he did have a fine game, its quite possible that it was a case of mistaken identity. The older brother Eamonn gave a commanding display from start to finish and often it was him and not Neil who came marauding out of defence to instigate another Donegal attack.

Its hard to know where this Down side goes from here, two defeats and they are propping up the table with Kerry and Cork in Division One. Not bad company to be keeping but James McCartan’s men face a huge task in trying to retain their status in the top flight. They’ve always produced classy footballers and still have plenty of them in their ranks but getting a coherent plan together is crucial in the modern game and they have yet to find the right blueprint.

The teams are on the same side of the draw in this year’s chase for Anglo Celt honours so they may meet again. Tyrone will of course have a lot to say about that on May 26th and next up in the league is the dress-rehearsal for that crunch encounter. How seriously either team will treat that remains to be seen, neither manager will want to give too much away but as always with McGuinness and Harte it will be fascinating battle. Roll on Healy Park.

Murphy Magic not quite enough for Donegal

Michael Murphy put in another Tour de Force display at Croke Park on Saturday night but Donegal still came up short in a cracking encounter with Kildare.

No one really knew what to expect from the All Ireland Champions such was their truncated beginning to the season. They started brightly but Kildare soon began to dominant and without Neil Gallagher in the side we struggled for primary possession around the middle. They racked up some fine scores, with newcomers Niall Kelly and Daniel Flynn catching the eye. The 'home' side led by five and held all the aces at half time - well all but one Ace.

In the second half Michael took over and almost single-handedly got his side back into it. He played a roving role that saw him pop up just about everywhere on Jones Road and he finished the night with 0-9 to his name.

With Colm McFadden going off early with a hamstring injury Murphy took on extra responsibility with young Ross Wherity helping him out in the forward line. The Eunan’s newcomer showed well for the ball and kept trying but his slight frame was no match for Kildare’s physicality. Improvement in this area though and Wherity will see more and more game time - no doubt Jim already has Adam Speer working with Wherity, and indeed the other new panellists, and they will only get bigger and stronger.


Having Wherity up front was in stark contrast to Kildare who had the man mountain figure of Tomas O’Connor who got a lot of joy in his full forward role for the Lilywhites; both McGee’s had a go at marking him with neither faring too well. The big man up front is certainly one way to beat this Donegal team so expect to see teams employing this tactic quite often.

O’Connor got his side’s first goal after touching home a rebound off the post, bringing back memories of the infamous square ball in the 2011 Quarter Final.
The next key moment of the game was the second Kildare major and unfortunately it had a bit of infamy about it as well. The country’s All Star goalkeeper had one of those howlers that every net-minder dreads. A complete misjudgement of his positioning with the ball in flight and all Paul Durcan could do was help it into the goal. He’s not the All Star No1 for nothing though and he has barely put a foot wrong in the last few years so we certainly won’t hold it against the big Four Masters man. Moments later Kildare tested him again to see how his nerves were with a high ball in on top of him but he dealt with it well.

After Murphy, McHugh et al had done their bit in dragging Donegal back into the game, the goal concession halted the momentum and Kildare had enough to hold on for the win. All in all, the boys will be relatively happy with their performance; they showed plenty of heart and hunger in the second half when the game could have easily gone out of sight. Donegal lost their first two league games of last year’s campaign and they wont want that to happen again – this weekend’s clash with Down in Ballybofey is a crucial tie.

McFadden will most likely be missing for that game and his scoring threat will need to be replicated by Patrick McBrearty. The Kilcar man did well on Saturday but more is needed from the young sharp shooter. His potential as a minor had him on the radar for so long and there is huge expectation on his shoulders. Many parts of his game are in place and he sees plenty of the ball every day he plays but if he could get on the scoresheet more regularly and add that killer instinct that all great forwards have, he can push onto another level.

McBrearty was involved in one the scores of the game, a point started and finished in Kilcar. Substitute Mark McHugh, who made a big difference when introduced, played a ball down the channel for McBrearty. He immediately dinked it up into his hands, found McHugh again with a clever pass inside and McHugh slotted it over.

This had come just a couple of minutes after probably the game’s best score and no prizes for guessing who it came from. Michael won a ball 50 yards out, drove into a gap and motored past two defenders. One managed to stay with him though and threw himself at what he thought was going to be a shot on goal. Instead Michael, showing wonderful awareness and poise, took another solo, left the Kildare man on the floor and stroked it over. It was class personified and conveyed everything that’s good about Murphy.

It strange how such a wonderful individual display can lead to many viewing it as a negative but that’s often what happens, the main argument being that the team relies too much on the Maestro and if he wasn’t there we wouldn’t have a chance.

Sure why wouldn’t we rely on him? The boy is a genius.

Every effort should be made to get him on the ball and let him dictate proceedings. His outing on Saturday night was reminiscent of his display against Dublin in last year’s league; he got injured that night and missed three months of action yet Donegal won the games they played for that period and kept on winning upon his return.

Barcelona don’t get criticised for Lionel Messi scoring almost a half of his team’s goals. Their approach is to keep possession and when the moment is right get him on the ball in the final third and he does the rest. Sounds like a good plan to me.

For Michael Messi Murphy it’s no different. Gaels everywhere should just sit back and enjoy watching an artist at work. He’s the best player ever to pull on a Donegal shirt, a once in a generation talent and he’s an All-Ireland winning Captain. And thank God he’s ours!

One Step From Heaven

Just one more obstacle remains for the Messiah’s men on September 23rd and after yesterday’s fantastic display you couldn’t bet against this Donegal team clearing it.

Despite the excellent form of the team in this year’s championship, when they have done absolutely everything asked of them and more, they still came into this game as underdogs. That didn’t bother the team one bit and indeed the potential favourites tag in the final wont either.

Almost every media preview in the lead up to the game sided with the Munster champions and so the team had to once again remind everyone just how good they are.

It was helter skelter stuff to begin with, scores coming at both ends and a good pace to the game. Both sides moved the ball well and the accuracy from the teams ensured a high scoring opening period.

Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden were both targeted with long ball early on and while there wasn’t a high number of scores coming off this ploy, it only has to work once for the net to bulge. While that didn’t happen the support runners coming through were able to pick off points with the likes of Karl Lacey and David Walsh profiting.

Lacey was again magnificent and even showed his singing skills by giving us a quick blast of Jimmy’s Winning Matches during his on-field interview after the game. What was noticeable in that interview was how remarkably fresh Lacey looked; after playing the type of running game he does it would be more natural for someone to be struggling to stand. Yet he trotted of the pitch after that interview the same way he trotted on at the start of the match and it gives us another insight into the fitness levels attained by this panel of players.

Mark McHugh had a quiet opening to the game but once he started to get on the ball he dictated the game as only he can. So much of the pre-match build up had focused on what Cork would try to do to nullify him but for the last 50 minutes of the game he swept and carried as he has done all year and no-one could get near him.

As has happened in every outing this year the effort and energy expended by the opposition in trying to attack Donegal early on meant that when the blue touch paper was lit in the second half there was only one winner. The key ingredient in the winning of all Donegal’s matches this year has been the period after half time when the team raises their intensity and pummel their opponents with devastating raids and a relentless scoring rate.

Cork’s players and their manager admitted afterwards that they lost the tactical battle but in truth Jim is always a step ahead of his rivals in that regard. Cork’s trump card centred on starting wing forward Ciaran Sheehan instead of corner back Ray Carey resulting in them playing with five defenders and seven attackers, although Fintan Goold dropped back to the half back line at times. It worked to a point in that Sheehan himself did well and got on the score sheet but overall their shape and setup didn’t bother Donegal.

In much the same way that Donegal play, it doesn’t matter who attacks or who defends so long as someone does; it didn’t matter that Cork had an extra attacker because he was simply another man that had to be stopped, had to be tackled and had to be dispossessed regardless of the number on his back or what position he plays.

Neil Gallagher gave an exhibition in old-fashioned midfield play, making several clean catches and outplaying the much vaunted ‘big men’ of Cork. Throughout the week, the physicality and size of the Cork side was viewed by many as a key advantage that would lead them to victory yet Big Neil set the tone in the middle of the field and was deservedly given the man of the match award. Alan Quirke was eventually forced to look for short kickouts such was the dominance of the Glenswilly man.

The high fielding midfielder is one facet of the game that pundits lament about not seeing very often in these days of modern football but there was plenty of it illustrated yesterday.
Another of the modern ills is of course the hand pass and Donegal are the prime target from the purists in this regard. At one stage in the first half yesterday the RTE website commentary displayed a statistic showing that Cork had hand passed the ball 100 times compared to Donegal’s 30; by the end of the game Cork out-hand passed us by 250 to 170.

Almost all teams play in a similar way nowadays, the difference is that Jim McGuinness has taken the style that brought Tyrone three All-Ireland titles and almost perfected it - how perfect it is can only be judged in four weeks time.

Now the chance is there for his team to claim their title and he immediately got the player’s heads focused by saying that the next four weeks will be the most enjoyable of their lives. Jim is always thinking of what’s coming next and even in the aftermath and the euphoria of the win he was getting down to business.

For the supporters, before the ticket scramble begins in earnest, it’ll be satisfying being able to sit back and enjoy this Sunday’s second semi final waiting to see who’s next up to try and stop the Donegal juggernaut.





After the terrific day we had yesterday it was all put in perspective with the tragic news about Termon GAA player Andrew Duffy, who lost his life after falling into the Grand Canal in Phibsboro after attending the game at Croker. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.