Dominant Donegal Trample Tyrone

Donegal saved their best performance of the campaign for their fiercest rivals and were full value for a comfortable six point win in Ballybofey last night.

The hosts’ display was controlled and composed and despite re-awakening a little regret over the past and the Ulster Final defeat, ultimately the game provided confidence for the future.

In producing their spring best they laid down a marker with summer in mind.

The home support left Mac Cumhaill Park with a warm glow inside despite the biblical elements rendering them soaked from head to toe.

The conditions were awful but Donegal seemed to relish the challenge of facing into the wind and rain as well as the Tyrone defence.

Both teams play similar styles and set up in almost a mirror image of each other; you would think then a stalemate would ensue but after trading a few early points, the home side surged clear in the second quarter.

Ciaran Thompson was once again the leading light and right now he is as good a striker of the ball as there is in the country. His wand of a left foot can register points from any angle and any distance and the Glenties man added 0-3 more to his league tally.

While Thompson splitting the posts from anywhere isn’t that big a surprise, possibly the biggest roar of the night came when Paddy McGrath launched a missile from under the stand to score the point of his life.

McGrath is a cult hero for Donegal supporters, emptying the tank every single day he goes out to represent his county. He doesn’t do bad matches and he was once again a vital component of his team’s defensive effort.

Another of the stalwarts at the back, Frank McGlynn, had a brilliant opening half and hopefully his half time substitution doesnt lead to any major injury concern. While the young bucks have thrived this year, the likes of McGlynn and McGrath are still as important as ever.

The job of the defenders was made that bit easier by the unrelenting pressure applied by those out the field to the Tyrone ball-carriers. Michael Murphy, Micheal Carroll and Thompson got through a trojan amount of work around the middle and set the tone for everyone else.

Mickey Harte opted to station Sean Cavanagh and Mattie Donnelly, two of the finest footballers in the land, inside in the full forward line and in truth it proved a wasteful decision. Very little ball came their way and as a result both were out of the game for much of the opening half.

Any ball that did come their way was dealt with by Neil McGee and Eamon Doherty. McGee was at his brutal, brilliant, bullying best.

With Donegal fashioning a lead, they found themselves in the perfect scenario – ahead against Tyrone, in control, the game in their own hands – a carbon copy of the circumstances they found themselves in during the provincial showpiece last July. Would Rory’s charges relinquish another lead or keep their foot on Tyrone’s throat and see it home?

The lead was stretched out as half time approached, eventually becoming five at the short whistle and six in the second half. At no stage did Tyrone really look like they were going to close the gap.

Donegal led with an assuredness. There were no wonder scores from Cavanagh or Peter Harte, indeed McGrath’s black card came from an unforgiving drag down on the latter. It showed that he and his teammates were intent on holding onto their lead, by fair means or foul.

In that decider in Clones, Tyrone were patient in the second half despite being behind and waited on their own 45m line for Donegal to make a mistake with the ball before pouncing. Donegal were ponderous and unsure. This time around, Tyrone were forced out towards the opposite 45 to try and win the ball back such was Donegal’s calmness and confidence with the ball; they were happy to keep it and move it around looking for an opening.

The mindset was the difference. There is a big contrast between knowingly wanting to hold the ball and being hesitant with it.

The U21 joust between these two teams last week was similar. Declan Bonner’s team looked for fast breaks when they were on but they weren’t in any rush to commit men if they felt there wasn’t a high percentage chance of a score. When an attack had to be slowed down and the ball retained that’s what they did.

Teams are so consumed with getting in behind a team before the defensive shape is set that they often mess up scoring chances by displaying too much eagerness and not enough composure.

Cian Mulligan produced an impressive cameo off the bench in that U21 match in Omagh and he did so again in Ballybofey, capping off a productive spell on the field with a well taken point. He’ll certainly be in the mix for a starting jersey for the replay on Wednesday night.

One man who never has to worry about getting a jersey is Ryan McHugh, who was magnificent once again. His intelligence in possession is wonderful and is a player that Tyrone simply cannot cope with. Both teams have set man markers that are generally used when the sides meet – we saw the latest instalment of Justin McMahon’s staring contest on Murphy – but Tyrone have yet to figure McHugh out.

There were more rows than scores in the second half but the outcome was decided long before the final whistle sounded. After securing their place in next year's Division One against Cavan, this win suddenly puts Donegal in with a chance of reaching a league final.

Who knows, maybe there could be a repeat of this fixture next month? Either way, they will meet again.

That can wait as the battles keep on coming – Monaghan next up.

Donegal Impress in Cavan Coast

Donegal secured a win away to Cavan on Saturday night in an extremely efficient, no-fuss manner and in the process took a huge step in cementing their place among the elite of Division One for next year.

Barring the period before half-time, when Cavan closed the deficit after being outplayed up until then, Rory Gallagher’s team were utterly professional in their display and swatted aside their opponents.

Donegal’s dominance emerged from a superior midfield platform and it was evident that much work has been done on the training ground this week on claiming possession.

For every kick-out there were several Donegal men on high alert in anticipation of any impending breaks. Noticeably, there were no clean catches with players electing to bat the ball down to the waiting posse rather than claiming it themselves or driving a fist through the ball. They stuck to the plan and reaped the rewards although there were a couple of instances where a ball could have been caught and a mark claimed.

Whenever Cavan did manage to pick up any scraps around the middle they found it difficult to translate that possession into scores; frees from Seanie Johnston just about kept them in touch such was the meanness of the visitors’ rearguard.

One recurring theme with Donegal over recent years is the oft-seen failure to put teams away when on top. A gap of two points at the break did not reflect Donegal’s complete supremacy; the lead should have been closer to double figures. It took Cavan twenty-two minutes to register their first score and they shouldn't have been anywhere their opponents at the short whistle.

This wrong was righted in the second half but it is a facet of the game that must improve, particularly against more illustrious foes. If you are in the ascendancy against one of the big guns then it must show where it matters – on the scoreboard.

Caolán Ward rightly received plenty of plaudits nationally for his performance against Dublin last week and he followed it up with another polished display. Twice in the first half, he thwarted Cavan point-scoring attempts by putting the shooter in question under pressure, causing their kicks to skew off target. Ward is an accomplished defender who does the basics well but his main strength at present is his ball carrying. He formed a dynamic half-back line along with the outstanding Frank McGlynn and livewire Eoghan Ban Gallagher.

Killybegs’ Gallagher was involved in the red card incident and that moment provided possibly the greatest insight from the night.

Michael Murphy has been county captain for six years now but with so many of the old guard exiting the stage his leadership is even more vital. He provides it in his play and attitude every day but last night when he felt one of his men had been recklessly scythed down he wasn't taking it; his new found friends in Clermont would approve of his actions.

Murphy, followed by his men, piled in to engage in some handbags, pushing, shoving and all the rest; he was making a very clear point that despite the inexperience of some of his players, they are not to be taken lightly and will not be taking a backward step.

While these incidents are usually described as ‘unsavoury’ and ‘not what we want to see in the game’, they do get spectators off their seats and also tell a lot about a team’s psyche. We’re fascinated at looking at new players, formations and tactical nuances but just as important is the state of a team’s spirit and togetherness behind the scenes.

Regardless of what level you play at, you want your mates to back you up and thats exactly what Murphy did.

Jason McGee encouragingly got stuck into the mini-melee as well but didn’t last too much longer after coming out second best in a 50-50 shoulder charge. Hopefully there is no serious damage although early indications suggest that Declan Bonner will have to plan without the Cloich Cheann Fhaola giant for the upcoming U21 Championship opener against Tyrone – the last ever U21 championship, with the U20 version coming in for 2018.

Once Cavan had lost Killian Clarke to a red card for that challenge on Gallagher, they were left behind in Donegal’s slipstream as the points were added to their tally with more regularity. Ciaran Thompson kept the score keepers busy with an exceptional display of shooting.

A green flag was raised through Eoin McHugh, the major coming about after a blistering raid involving six players from halfway and into goal scoring territory.

That score showed how the manager's tactics in creating space worked a treat.

Barcelona famously adopted what became known as a ‘false 9’ system under Pep Guardiola’s stewardship, which essentially meant their striker dropped into midfield leaving their forward line empty; all attacks and therefore scoring threats came from deep. Opposing defenders didn’t know whether to hold their position or follow their nominal marker. Guardiola became Gallagher in Breffni Park, with Rory adding his own slant to the tactic.

In the continued absence of Paddy McBrearty, Donegal are lacking a killer forward inside so the majority of scores are going to come from runners entering the opposition attacking third. Playing with no forwards though would leave a lot of traffic to be negotiated in the middle third.

Hugh McFadden and Darach O’Connor were left with the tough job of making runs that were rarely, if ever, going to be used. Their job was to occupy Cavan’s full back line, make them mark the forwards even though the damage was being done out the field.

Rory employed a similar scheme to great effect in the first half of last year’s Ulster Final. Then it was McBrearty and Murphy who occupied Tyrone’s defenders and their accompanying sweepers, allowing Ryan McHugh to run riot further out the field, scoring three stunning first half points.

Last night, after the hard yards had been run by McFadden and O’Connor, and Cavan’s defenders energy had all but dissipated, Jamie Brennan was able to capitalise and helped himself to 0-3 upon his introduction. The Bundoran youngster has found it difficult to find space in his outings thus far but coming off the bench suited him and he showed his finishing abilities.

All in all, this latest league outing for the team was a good one. Many had predicted a relegation battle before the league got underway but with five points on the board the side are in good shape. There is plenty more to learn for this young team and with Tyrone up next they will learn what a real bruising Ulster derby is all about.

Donegal Derive Deserved Draw in Dublin Dogfight

In pure numeric terms, yesterday’s contest delivered a league point but in years to come the bounty may be priceless. Rory’s Rookies stood up to the All-Ireland champions and showed that they belong at this level and that they can be relied upon when the going gets tough.

The rain that had pummelled the Mac Cumhaill Park sod in the lead up to throw-in ensured that the contest would be scrappy and a dogfight; that the young guns survived in such an environment is all the more pleasing.

The soundbites emanating from the manager’s media briefings during the week intimidated that Donegal would be transformed into an all out, kamikaze attacking unit - fat chance of that against the mighty Dublin. The absence of Paddy McBrearty through injury meant an extremely inexperienced forward line so the plan had to be to sit deep and try to hit Dublin on the counter attack at lightning speed.

Eoin McHugh and Jamie Brennan were assigned the tough task of winning the little ball that came their way. Without McBrearty we had no-one to get their hands on dirty ball, hold onto it and wait for the cavalry to arrive.

The visitors had a similar plan themselves and the most anxious moments for the home support were when the ball was lost in opposition territory. Dublin broke forward, stretched the pitch as wide as they could and more often than not found a blue jersey in space.

The rate at which Donegal turned the ball over was somewhat alarming; time after time the ball was lost following a sloppy hand pass either played too far ahead or just behind the receiver. 

Composure was lacking once Donegal crossed the halfway line and there was certainly a few 

scores left behind through wastefulness.

Dublin’s goal, a wonderful flowing move from deep finished by the excellent Niall Scully, came about following a slack handpass played to a static Michael Murphy.

There is never a lack of composure when Ryan McHugh is around though and his goal (yet another against Dublin) smacked of it; a delightful finish pebble-stoned into the corner of the net. Seconds earlier he had displayed his dogged determined streak when keeping the ball in play, showing incredible skill with foot and hand in the process.

The anxiousness with the ball will of course be eradicated as the year goes on; hands will become softer, the ground firmer and accuracy will increase.

The determination to move the ball quickly is a specific and necessary tactic. This Donegal team has all of a sudden become quite small so attacking into space before opponents have a chance to get their defensive screen set is the best way to create scoring chances.

Over the last decade and a half we have had a plethora of big forwards – Colm McFadden, Adrian Sweeney, Ryan Bradley, Christy Toye et al. Now the physical make-up is different.

We have an abundance of small, nippy, highly-skilled footballers – similar to the glory days under Brian McEniff – and a dearth of big rugged lumps of men. When you are faced with a wall of defenders, you need big, powerful men to drive through tackles.

Martin McElhinney’s return will help matters in this regard but generally there aren’t too many like him around in green and gold and we lost one of the greatest during the week with the retirement of Neil Gallagher.

His clubmate Murphy’s simple tribute spoke volumes, “some man for one man.” Gallagher was some man for Donegal football and his like may never be seen again. There are however some striking similarities between him and the most likely heir to his throne, Ciaran Thompson.

Both have this unerring ability to play the game at their own pace. They never seem to be in a hurry yet you rarely see them getting caught by a challenge or dispossessed. Thompson has been flagged as a top class inter county player for a couple of years, particularly since his tour de force against Cavan in the U21 Championship, but even still the speed with how he has taken to a leading role this year is remarkable.

He rarely wastes possession, kicked a couple of frees yesterday in McBrearty’s absence, is wonderful in the air and got the better of his duel with Brian Fenton.

Jason McGee also put in a huge shift around the middle third, capping a memorable display with a return of 1-1. His opening skyscraper of a point set the tone for the day and sent a message that despite facing the best team in the land, Donegal’s future, and indeed it’s present, is in good hands.

Jason is a fine soccer player and when the ball eventually landed back to him following some 

pinball around Stephen Cluxton’s goalmouth, between himself, Martin O’Reilly and Jamie Brennan, he slotted the ball home.

The two goal blitz from McGee and McHugh turned the game on its head, providing the hosts with a scarcely deserved lead.

A three point surplus at the short whistle brought a familiar challenge. The last time Donegal had such a lead in a big game was last year’s Ulster Final.

As on that day, the first score plundered after the restart pushed the lead out to four.

As on that day, the lead did not bring victory.

Have the team and management learnt their lessons? Is the team capable of defending a lead and turning it into a win?

In fairness, the team kept looking for scores yesterday and it was more their handling and decision making that let them down. So the signs were encouraging. Against Tyrone on that sweltering day in Clones, the team didn’t seem to know whether to attack or defend, to stick or twist and in the end they blinked first.

Caolán Ward was one of those who kept surging forward, kept bringing the game to Dublin. He has been impressive in all the games thus far and his clubmate, Eamonn Doherty, did likewise during his cameo late on. Both men are strong on the ball and against the wind in the second half, this was no easy task.

Most of the crowd would have taken a draw as 2pm approached and they were certainly glad of it as the clock ticked past 3.30pm.

Murphy’s brilliant free, which looked routine from the stand but was far from it considering the breeze he faced, secured a draw and kept a seven-year unbeaten run in Ballybofey intact.

Whatever about registering a third league point of 2017, the most important aspect of the day was that the team refused to wilt. Behind with a few minutes to go, it would have been easy to accept a narrow defeat and think ‘well we did grand, didn’t disgrace ourselves’; the players though collectively, young and not so young, refused to be beaten.

Next week will be a different type of test. In many ways it's easy to get revved up for a match in front of a big home crowd against the All-Ireland Champions. Now the players need to show that they can apply the same focus and attention to a Saturday night in Cavan - a bigger game in relation to Division One survival.

Two points next week and Donegal will be looking up rather than down.

Hyde Hopes for Donegal With Two Precious Points Secured

An important two points were secured by Donegal yesterday in a frantic match; just how much importance is attached to their worth will be known in the weeks to come. Certainly had the team been nought from four ahead of facing the All-Ireland Champions, signs would not have been good.

This was a strange game containing as many mistakes as moments of brilliance, exceptional scores allied to shocking finishes.

There was much talk about the new pitch at Hyde Park, relaid after infamously being deemed unplayable last year before Roscommon’s match versus Dublin. It looked the part before throw-in but wasn’t necessarily conducive for good football as almost every player on the field seemed to lose their footing at one stage or another. A fairly sparse covering of grass made the sod quite bare and players on both sides were never sure of their footing.

Following a summer of growth it will no doubt be a fantastic surface and the costs that have gone into it will reap dividends. Those costs have may have forced the County Board to tighten the belt elsewhere – thirsty Donegal folk in the clubhouse before the match were served cans of beer seven months past their sell-by date.

No matter, they were still consumed and anything was welcome in order to steel ourselves for the bitterly cold conditions that awaited once seats were taken in the stand. Rory Gallagher has brought manys a thing to Donegal – expert coaching, management ability both in the football and retail sectors but perhaps his greatest gift is the advent of the bobble hat. You rarely go to any match now, club or county, without a sea of yellow bobbles swaying in the breeze and they were almost as precious yesterday as the two points gained.

Roscommon elected to play with the substantial wind at their backs in the first half but Donegal seemed to adapt better to the elements and were quickly into their stride.

Ciaran Thompson looked a class apart in all aspects of his play and he was on the scoresheet early with an incredible effort into the teeth of the wind – the first of three points he’d kick over the course of the seventy minutes.

Michael Murphy meanwhile looked at his powerful best, driving from deep at will with the home side having very little in the way of answers as to how to stop him. His display was all the more remarkable given that he may have picked up a knock early in the game – the first score of the day was a Murphy free off the ground from distance but for every subsequent effort he opted to go short, a sign that all was not right with the big man? Thankfully for Donegal, all not right usually still results in a top class performance from the captain.

When Roscommon did settle they showed how adept they were in breaching the Donegal defensive barrier by jinking, weaving and sidestepping their way through, coping well in tight spaces.

The game soon developed into an end to end struggle though with so many turnovers at both ends of the field; it was an energy sapping affair.

Some intelligent work was witnessed from both teams carrying the ball forward but a slip, a misplaced pass or a lone foray without support led to a counter attack and so this continued up and down the field for long spells. Neither side seemed capable of holding the ball but it was definitely the visitors who were inferior in this sense.

Donegal, for many years, have produced fast, small players with low centres of gravity. They’re difficult to mark, hard to get near to stop and the direct running they bring to the table has long been a feature of our play.

At times yesterday though, players were dispossessed too easily and the scoring chances that were given up as a result made the match closer than it may have needed to be.

When this aspect of play works though, Donegal look incredibly dangerous.

Martin O’Reilly, so far Donegal’s form player, epitomises this. Another three points racked up, his finishing was excellent, his runs piercing and with so many newcomers in the side he has really stepped up to become one of the team’s go-to men.

It is not too long ago that the Mac Cumhaills clubman was a bit hesitant in possession, reluctant to take on his chances – just like those coming into the team this year. Its natural to play in a safety-first mode but the sooner these lads take on responsibility the greater the pace at which their inter-county careers will progress.

Jamie Brennan missed a gilt-edged goal chance in the second half but moments later he nailed a difficult shot off his left to split the posts, showing great character in the process. That’s what they need to do, forget about the misses and keep looking for the ball, keep wanting to be main men.

With O’Reilly and Eoin McHugh decked out in lime green boots, it’s sometimes tricky to tell them apart as they glide over the turf and eat up ground, leaving defenders trailing in their wake.

McHugh was the man to take the onus on at the end to kick the winning point and in doing so he also brought his tally to 0-3. All told, the trio in the half-forward line contributed a hattrick of points each. McHugh could have potentially had even more as he was stripped of the ball quite a few times and things didn’t seem to be going his way which makes his closing winner all the more admirable.

It was goals rather than points that kept the Rossies in the contest, raising two green flags and in truth they could have had a few more. One effort flashed past the post in the closing stages while at the death, on the cusp of winning the game, Ronan Stack inexplicably went for goal instead of taking his point with Mark Anthony McGinley smartly smothering his effort.

McGinley had another shaky afternoon from the kicking tee but when called upon to defend his goal he’s up to the task.

Even with the goal chances, the rearguard had a more serene look to it in the second half, thanks mainly to the introduction of Frank McGlynn. The Glenfin man looked out of sorts last week and was possibly not even due to see any action, only doing so because of Neil McGee’s illness on the morning of the game. McGlynn though was back to his usual self when introduced at half-time, bringing his renowned calmness and serenity to the Donegal back-line.

Donegal conceded just 1-2 in the second half and in the end it was enough to hold out for a win.

In the grand scheme of things, victory against Roscommon would have been anticipated. Not many will give Rory’s charges a chance next time out against the all-conquering Dubs, particularly if Paddy McBrearty is ruled out after coming off injured yesterday. The fixture in a fortnight is effectively a free hit; give it a lash and see what happens. It might be closer than expected.