Castlebar was the venue as Donegal finally ended their six
year hoodoo of losing all their top tier away league matches and in the process
booked a semi final spot in Croke Park next Sunday.
The general consensus heading into the game was that the job
had been done last week, division one status had been preserved and a top four
finish was irrelevant. A manager can’t
tell his players not to win a match though, it is not in players’ nature to
ease off, especially a bunch as committed and driven as these Donegal lads.
What he can do though
is train them hard in the days leading up to a game and any subsequent positive
result is a bonus. Rory Gallagher admitted afterwards
that championship preparations had been stepped up during the week and some
tough training sessions had been endured.
Yet still the players emptied their collective tanks
yesterday and left everything they had on the MacHale Park turf, grounding out
a draw in the process. Gallagher’s reaction as the umpire raised the white flag
to signal a Donegal equaliser suggested he was more than happy to have chiselled
out a leveller.
Rory will have been
delighted with the guts and attitude of his players throughout; it was a
fractious encounter between two sets of players who’ve crossed swords on big
days at Headquarters and bad blood still lingers. Finding themselves in that
type of environment, in that cauldron, his boys didn't back down. As the old adage
goes, made famous by ex-England rugby player Will Greenwood, never a backward
step.
Donegal were out of
the traps quickly with two scores on the board inside a minute. Odhran
MacNiallais got the first and he finished up with three points to his name in another
mature performance. Martin McElhinney continues to get better and better every
time he puts on a Donegal jersey and with so many men missing from the middle
third he was left to man the engine room, an often thankless task against the
Mayo giants Barry Moran and Seamus O’Shea. The home pairing were in exceptional
form, particularly in the second half and only for the poor decision making by
the forwards in front of them and their failure to capitalise on the platform created around the middle, Mayo would have been victorious.
It was similar to
what happened in Tralee when David Moran and Anthony Maher dominated the
midfield exchanges and is a bit of a worry for Gallagher and his backroom team.
Mayo pushed up on Donegal kick outs, forcing them to go long. On a number of
occasions in the second half, as Michael Boyle tried to utilise short restarts,
Donegal defenders were penned into one corner of the ground and struggled to
work their way out; it is something that other teams will take note of.
With the margins so
small at the top level these days, any little facet of play that may result in
an advantage for your team has to be looked at and worked upon. Mayo are
falling behind in this regard with Donegal, Kerry and Dublin ahead of them
right now in terms of tactical acumen and game plans.
There has been a
lot of talk this week about the state of the game after last week’s horror show
in Croker between Derry and The Dubs but any rule changes or sweeping
alterations to the game won’t be happening any time soon so managers must look
at the here and now. Whether they like what they see or what they face week to
week is irrelevant because a coach’s job is to have his team prepared for
whatever they might face.
Mayo appear to have
learnt little from the defeats they’ve suffered over the past few years. Yesterday
their primary plan was to rely on the individual speed of the likes of Jason Doherty
or Lee Keegan to burst through the defensive line rather than have any
particular plan. When they come up against the full championship force of Donegal or even a
Kerry or a Dublin defensive system, they could be in trouble.
Aidan O’Shea was
deployed in the full forward line for much of the game yet he didn’t receive a
decent long ball all afternoon. This leads to him collecting the ball deep and
trying to burrow his way through the massed defence; he ends up playing more
like an inside centre in the Jamie Roberts mould.
This tactic is of
course bread and butter to the McGee brothers and they enjoyed their afternoon
coming up against an old adversary. While Aidan is the better known figure
nationally, it is his brother Seamus who is the real star for his side.
Another star on
show was Patrick McBrearty, who notched 1-3 to add to his eye-catching league tally. His wonderfully finished goal midway through the
first half was an example of Donegal’s fluid passing with Frank McGlynn the instigator.
The Glenfin man was involved several times in the move down the right wing and
laid on the final pass for McBrearty to smash home. It was notable yesterday
how many times Donegal players hand passed the ball to the man running off
their shoulder without even looking. It’s instinctive; they know from having
religiously practised such moves at training that there will be a green and
gold jersey to collect possession from them when they need to offload the ball.
Pele famously passed the ball to ‘no one’ in the 1970 World Cup Final for Brazil's fourth goal; nowadays
Donegal at times don’t have to look who they are passing to - they just know he
will be there.
Conversely some of Mayo’s
passing didn’t come from any coaching manual. On numerous occasions they
attempted balls into the forward line using the outside of their boot which,
while it may look pretty at times, is not the most effective way of delivering
a ball. Ideally a forward wants a ball that isn’t spinning away from him, but
rather being driven straight at him and hitting him on the chest; it is also
the most difficult ball for a defender to try and get a hand to. The brothers
McGee, along with Paddy McGrath, were managing to get their paws on most Mayo
passes in the first half whereas ball played into McBrearty and Colm McFadden
was hit direct and true and they were able to gather.
Where the outside
of the foot ‘screw’ technique is working and becoming more important as a
weapon to beat the blanket, is in long range shooting. In Omagh and Clones yesterday,
there were a lot of examples of point taking from distance and Mayo sent over some
fine long range efforts too. Teams are somewhat over reliant on this method
though, when a simple point taking opportunity presents itself many forwards nowadays
are strangely passing the buck.
Along with Donegal’s
standout performer McGlynn, Karl Lacey was again very impressive in the half
back line. Anthony Thompson gets more and more game time with each passing week
and with an extra match now in the offing and the opportunity to get more
minutes into the legs, we may see the best half back line in the land back together
come Championship.
Despite the efforts
of Lacey and his comrades, Donegal struggled to keep the hosts at bay in the
final quarter. Moran’s midfield dominance gave his side scoring chances aplenty
but the majority of these were wasted. Moran produced a similar display in the league
game at the same venue two years ago but that day Mayo had enough in their
locker to push for home in the closing stages.
Donegal hung in
there and two brilliant points from Kilcar sharpshooter McBrearty kept them in
the game. McBrearty has really stepped it up in this league series and it was
great to see the team as a whole playing with confidence and authority despite
being short their captain Michael Murphy.
With Murphy’s club
mate Neil Gallagher also missing, Donegal can be pleased with securing a draw
such was their lack of bulk and height around the middle third. At times, McFadden was contesting kick outs with Moran after his namesake Hugh was black
carded and Christy Toye had been substituted.
The final act came via
an unlikely source, Stephen Griffin taking his score brilliantly from a very
tricky angle and with the breeze in his face. Griffin has flattered to deceive
in the past at inter-county level but his talent has been seen plenty of times before
at club level and in flashes with his county - hopefully he can get to the next
level with yesterday doing his confidence the world of good.
Another man thrust,
unexpectedly into the fray was Ciaran McGinley; with the team short on options
around midfield, it was a tough situation to enter into for your competitive
debut. He didn't shy away from the ball and took responsibility but found the
tackling tough and was easily blocked down on one occasion when the room for
the shot wasn’t really there. It might have seemed a bit harsh to be replaced
again but it proved a masterstroke from Rory, with Griffin sending his team to Jones
Road next Sunday.
The end result,
coupled with the Kingdom’s draw in Healy Park, meant Donegal had qualified for
a last four joust with Cork. Mayo wastefulness cost them in the end, having had
many chances in the closing stages. They are still struggling to find top class
forwards and until they do they will fall short in major competitions. Cillian
O’Connor remains their main marksman but he was unavailable for this clash; his
brother Diarmaid got plenty of the ball but did little with it. Danny Kirby at
full forward is a newcomer this year but doesn't look like an inter county footballer
and has a long way to go.
Donegal will likely
use the extra game they now face as a chance to work on a few ideas ahead of
Tyrone in the championship and the likes of Thompson, Griffin and McGinley may
see more action. That would leave five weeks before that May 17th
date in Ballybofey; a potential league final, most likely against Dublin, would
leave only three weeks of a lead in to that pivotal tie and that might be
cutting it a bit tight. If Rory was offered the choice of a league final
appearance or a win over Tyrone, the latter would be the call.
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