So let’s be honest, how many of us went to the Bogside today
with quite a bit of doubt in the back of our minds? All we’ve read of late is
of a Donegal team in crisis and conversely a Derry team on the up and ready to
have a real tilt at an Ulster title. This match represented as big a test as
Donegal have faced in the McGuinness era but yet again when it mattered, when
Championship football was put in front of his men, they delivered.
A triumph of management skill and coaching was what we saw
in Celtic Park as McGuinness carefully constructed a match winning performance
with astute switches, well-timed substitutions and above all an efficient use of
resources. He took a calculated risk in opting to start with a more
inexperienced fifteen before adapting to a more settled side in the second half
but it proved to be a masterstroke.
Midfield was always going to be the key sector - with Rory
Kavanagh suspended and Neil Gallagher struggling for full fitness, whoever came
up against the Derry powerhouses of Patsy Bradley and Fergal Doherty were going
to have their work cut out. Christy Toye and Odhran MacNiallais were initially assigned
the centrefield roles, with plenty of support being provided by the roaming Michael
Murphy in the first half.
The primary difference in actual play between league and
championship is in the physical stakes and this was illustrated early on - Paddy
McGrath, Murphy and Leo McLoone all put in shuddering hits on their opponents
during the first half, with McLoone’s particularly vital as he stopped a Derry
attack from getting in behind the Donegal cover. Thankfully, even with the introduction
of the black card and the fear that it would bring a decline in this facet of
the game, there was some good old-fashioned shoulders going in from both sides
today and the game was better for it.
McGrath was a late inclusion and despite the lack of any
game-time for his county this year he seamlessly slotted into his customary
corner back position and played a blinder. A feature of the Donegal defenders
today, led by the Ardara man, was in how well they shepherded on-coming attackers
wide and away from goal. Instead of putting in a tackle and risk giving away
the free they forced the Oakleaf forwards out to the wings, thus making them turn back
for help and recycle possession.
It was tight and tense in the early stages and Donegal were
holding their own. Derry kicked on in the second quarter and despite seeing the
influential Doherty go off injured they put some daylight between the teams but
the visitors managed to stay within striking distance at the break, only two
points back.
Jim was very clever in his use of the Creeslough pairing of Toye
and Martin McElhinney; the former was Donegal’s most dangerous player in the first
half and he had been instructed to empty the tank in that opening period. At the
short whistle, McElhinney took up the baton and, buzzing with energy and
running, he produced a carbon copy all action cameo, capping it off with a lung
bursting score late in the game.
The changes at the break and shortly after the restart, which also included the
introduction of Neil Gallagher, allowed Michael to spend more time in front of
the Derry goal and the Maestro was immense. Derry full-back Chrissy McKaigue
had a wonderful league campaign and the
battle between these two was well flagged before the game - it was a battle
that Murphy won hands down. Interestingly alongside McKaigue was Gareth
McKinless, who carried out an excellent man marking job on Murphy in the Ulster
club final last December but on today’s form nobody could have held the big
man. The ball going into him from out the field had a lot to do with his
performance so credit must go to the likes of Anthony Thompson and Frank McGlynn
for finding their captain so often.
In the early part of the second half, just as they did so
often during their All-Ireland run, Donegal blitzed their opponents and Murphy had
his fingerprints over all of the scores during this period. His gorgeous dummy
to fool McKaigue allowed him to launch a skyscraper to split Thomas Mallon’s
posts while he was also involved in Leo McLoone’s goal when he set McGlynn on
his way into enemy territory.
He saved his best until a few minutes later when Donegal were
awarded a line ball on the 45’, close to where the Donegal management team were
standing. It was a lovely moment for supporters on that side of the pitch as
we got a close up view of the action as McGuinness walked up to his commander
and uttered the words ‘put it over the bar’; mere mortals wouldn’t dream of attempting
such an audacious effort but Michael did as he was asked and dispatched a
monster of a point, registering as good a score as you're ever likely to see.
Leo’s goal was always going to be crucial in such a close
encounter but just as critical was what transpired in front of the Donegal goal
moments later. A flowing move up the field ended with wing back Kevin Johnston
one on one with Paul Durcan but just as he pulled the trigger Neil McGee
appeared out of nowhere to produce a fantastic block and keep his side’s hard
fought lead intact.
McGee’s clubmate MacNiallais put in an accomplished
performance around the middle third and can be delighted with his championship
debut. Likewise Darach O’Connor, who used his pace to great effect to open his
side’s scoring account and he was a real danger throughout his time on the
field.
As is usually the case, Donegal sat on their lead somewhat
and made things a bit more nerve-wracking for the supporters than maybe it needed
to be, as the home side ate into the lead bit by bit. Durcan’s role was crucial
though and when he really needed to, he was able to find his men with his
pinpoint kick outs; one miscue apart Papa provided the platform for his team all day and all the different strategies that were worked on during the league came to
fruition today.
In the end it was the goal that separated the teams and the
man who scored it, McLoone, walked away with the RTE man of the match gong. His
finish for the goal was sublime and it shows the worth of a player being comfortable
on both feet. McLoone’s last big goal for Donegal came in the 2012 Ulster Final,
when he finished wonderfully with his right foot past Down’s Brendan McVeigh –
he also got the insurance point today off his left but we’ve seen on numerous
occasions that either foot is fine for the Glenties man.
So in spite of all the prophets of doom that have spoken in the
build up to the game (Colm O’Rourke was especially dismissive in his newspaper column this
morning), it seems as though reports of our demise have been greatly
exaggerated. The aftermath of the League final and the supposed clues it
offered on the state of the team needed to be looked at in a bit of context.
Seven weeks prior to that final, Donegal dismantled Monaghan in O’Donnell Park
and on that evening they sat at the summit of the league table with maximum
points. At that stage McGuinness’ men needed four points from the remaining
eight to ensure promotion. One eye was already on May 25th at that
point in time but after a big victory against one of the better sides in the
division, their gaze completely switched to championship and preparing for the
challenge of Derry.
With all the talk of the supposed shallowness of the Donegal
panel, the team now goes into an Ulster semi-final on the back of an
outstanding display and with Rory Kavanagh, David Walsh, Big Neil and Martin
McElhinney trying to force their way into the starting line-up. That
competition will be very healthy for the squad and management as they face into
their last four clash with either Fermanagh or Antrim. Regardless of who they
play, Donegal will be overwhelming favourites but they have to go about their
business in the right way and with lads battling for starting spots, that
should be a given. May 25th is done and dusted, now it’s all about
June 22nd.
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