Donegal Young Guns Forced to Learn Fast Against Slick Kerry

Transition is the buzz word around Donegal football as we embark on another league campaign and the its rare that a team are described in the positive when in this state.

Kerry were much too efficient and polished for Donegal yesterday but they’ve beaten us by an aggregate of seven points in the last two Spring meetings and that was with the older guard in tow.

Yes Rory Gallagher has lost some wily campaigners, some rightly lauded as county legends, from his squad but this happens to every side every year; the team goes on and the backside hasn’t fallen out of Donegal football just yet.

Another sobering perspective with which to view the weekend’s action was the venue – Donegal have a miserable record of late in Letterkenny and once Kerry surged ahead in the second quarter, there was no doubt that that wretched run would go on.

A huge crowd packed into Eunans’ home patch and were witnesses to a high scoring game and, despite the margin at times, saw some new faces acquit themselves well.

The Kerry contingent travelled in luxury on their way to the North West, a 171-reg Kennedy coach glistened in the blinding February sunshine parked up alongside the O’Donnell Park clubhouse. The luxuriousness continued on the field as the men from the deep South brushed aside a sluggish Donegal easily in the ten minutes before half-time.

Donegal's first score was a brilliant counter attack, started by Caolan Ward and finished by Patrick McBrearty. That's how we get most of our scores from play and it is a  vital part of Rory Gallagher's plan.

In order to counter you first have to win the ball back and yesterday we saw an illustration of what happens when a counter-attacking side are starved of possession.

Donegal's defensive cordon usually lines up between the 45 and the edge of the D, the space in behind the pot of gold sought by the opposition. Kerry plundered plenty of it though, they seemed to be able to break into the space at will and pick off easy points. This wasn’t the fault of the defence though, the damage was being done further out the pitch by the Kerry midfield.

Paddy McGrath and Caolán Ward were excellent at the back, both marking All Star forwards in James O’Donoghue and Paul Geaney. McGrath was at his tigerish best against O’Donoghue.

Donegal's defenders were perhaps a bit too honest - trying to mark diligently, get a hand in, doing the basics. Kerry on the other hand are adept at fouling smartly off the ball and can generally do this whilst escaping the referee's attention. Its an acceptable tactic these days but the frustration is that the referee appeared to have the ability to see every supposed off the ball misdemeanour going the other way in second half. The home support lost count of the number of times a Kerry wide was followed by a signal from Maurice Deegan that he was awarding a free-in.

Along with speedster Eoghan Ban Gallagher, removed from his natural half-back line habitat, the trio in the full back line contained the visitors’ inside line as best they could. Such was the platform, or lack of, around centrefield for Donegal, Kerry’s dominance was constant.

Kerry had a 100% record on their own restarts in the opening half and weren’t far off that mark on Mark Anthony McGinley’s. Donegal committed numbers to try and win breaks but as soon as Kerry mitts were on the O’Neills, the hosts were on the back foot.

With Kerrymen running towards them, the defenders were unsure as to whether they should stay with their own man or leave him to challenge the ball carrier. Either way, the scoreboard ticked constantly upwards for the visitors as the short whistle approached.

David Moran had an outstanding match, lording the skies. He was shackled somewhat in the second half with Hugh McFadden doing an admirable job when switched onto him.

Newcomer Jason McGee had the unenviable task of marking Moran early on and he couldn't have been handed a much tougher assignment. McGee stuck to his task and enjoyed being a bit freer after the break, showing his array of foot passing and seeing plenty of the ball. The Falcarrach man, along with the other debutants, can only learn from days like this.

What do the management learn? Unfortunately the same problem which beset Donegal last year is still very much evident - kick outs.

You can be sure that the coaching team have done a huge amount of work on the training ground in trying to get their strategy right so it is certainly not for lack of effort but it just doesn’t seem to transfer to matchday.

There’s plenty of talk about replacing the most recent crop of retirees but of more immediate importance is finding a way to replace the incredible platform that Paul Durcan used to provide.

Durcan’s arrow like restarts enabled smaller players to claim possession and start attacks, negating the need to challenge for 50-50 balls in the air.

Yesterday McGinley’s kicks, with their high, loopy trajectory suited Moran and even when a Donegal player was picked out, the shape on the kick enables an opposition player to come from behind with speed and break the ball.

There remains a hesitancy about restarts and while it’s easy to blame the goalkeeper, those out the field aren’t making the correct runs or aren’t doing them at the right time.

Something is amiss and deciphering the puzzle correctly will go a long way to determining what level of success Donegal can achieve in 2017.

Neil Gallagher would solve a lot of the current problems so here’s hoping the big Glenswilly man’s fitness concerns abate and we see him before the end of the league.

Gallagher would also be useful to have around for his distribution. Similar to the kick outs, a lot of slow, hanging ball was played into McBrearty and Jamie Brennan in the full forward line. The pair had to compete for balls over their head when a fast ball to the chest was what they wanted. The main man who could benefit from this type of service is Michael Murphy but frustratingly, with the captain playing around the middle, he was the one player who could consistently deliver the good quality, forward-friendly ball that the inside two required. Who’d be a manager eh?

Even in defeat, there were plenty of plus points to take from proceedings.

Martin O'Reilly thrived in a deep lying attacking role, the No 6 on his back indicated his offensive starting position rather than defensive responsibilities.

Despite the gulf in class in the opening half, Donegal dropped three scoreable efforts short and could have been closer at half time. Geaney’s second goal was the real killer blow and there was never much doubt about the outcome from then on. The boys battled on though and didn’t let the heads drop.

Donegal looked like a team who have trained hard over the last few weeks but who haven't seen a football in a while, evidenced by some of the sloppy handling and pick-up errors.

Kerry alternatively can often leave their heavy training until after the league due to the vastly inferior competitiveness of the Munster championship compared to Ulster. If the bookies are to be believed, the Kingdom will be playing on League Final day on April 9^th; that would leave them 11 weeks until their first meaningful Championship test in a Munster Final in early July.

Whatever stage of his career or fitness regime Murphy is in, he is still the go-to man; he was Donegal's battering ram as they chased down the Kerry lead, exceptional in the closing stages. He was causing havoc running at the Kingdom rearguard and eventually the aristocrats were forced to simply haul him down when he bore down on goal late on (oddly enough, this incident of cynicism didn’t make the highlights reel on RTE's wrap-up show last night). In spite of their reputation, Fitzmaurice’s squad can puke it with the best.

What the young lads may have lacked yesterday in experience and speed of thought they made up for in attitude and endeavour. To a man, the team displayed great character and stayed going until the end.

Staying in Division One is Rory’s aim; six points will likely be enough for that and with twelve still on offer, there’s plenty to play for yet.

Ugly Encounter Ends Donegal Winning Run

Well we thought last week was feisty! Compared to events in Austin Stack Park, the Mayo game looked like an underage squabble set against the often brutal fare on show yesterday.

Kerry, from the get-go, were intent on showing Donegal that this was their home patch and they don’t always take kindly to guests. A crowd of Ulstermen stepping off the visiting bus usually gets that kind of reaction from the locals.

While Donegal wouldn’t be known to shirk a challenge, having three league wins banked prior to throw in possibly meant that the minds weren’t totally in tune. The hosts took advantage of this, getting some early points on the board and despite losing a man in the midst of the first set of melees, it didn’t deter them too much as the scores kept coming.

Donnchadh Walsh, one of the key men in this Kerry team, was hugely influential in the opening period. The wing forward rarely seems to have a bad outing, his work rate and composure is terrific and as he showed with his final tally of three points, he’s an accomplished finisher.

That first flashpoint started with a hop ball between the totemic forces of Michael Murphy and Kieran Donaghy. When Murphy didn’t release the ball after a free was awarded against him, Donaghy took matters, as well as Michael’s throat, into his own hands and flung him to the floor. Mayhem ensued around midfield and within seconds another skirmish began in front of the Donegal goal. Neil McGee got a box to the nose after he had been making a nasty nuisance of himself in testing out the flexibility of new Kerry full forward Alan Fitzgerald’s fingers.

The red card shown to Fitzgerald by Eddie Kinsella was the only big punishment meted out and the man who started it all, Donaghy, got away scot-free.

The Kingdom carried on regardless and kept the scoreboard ticking over whereas Donegal struggled to make any headway against a severe wind. Murphy and McBrearty did hit the target but such was the stiffness of the breeze, shooting from any kind of distance was ambitious. The slickness, fluency and pace of previous games wasn’t quite there and Kerry’s defence were effective in shutting out Donegal.

There were a couple of excellent passages of patient possession, the ideal tactic when battling against the elements. Any Kerry effort from inside 80 yards could be deemed as score able so starving them of the ball was the right thing to attempt. Donegal were unlucky with a couple of shots that rebounded off the upright - the efforts of Rory Kavanagh and Hugh McFadden would have been apt rewards for the tiring, energy-sapping periods of keep-ball.

The second major commotion saw Leo McLoone shown the line and he was quickly followed by a pair of Kerrymen who left the field having been brandished black cards. Leo’s red seemed harsh, reprimanded for a swinging arm which wouldn’t have earned a point in a boxing ring while others on both sides got away with jabs and punches.

The short whistle had four points between the teams but in truth with the gust at their backs, Kerry may have felt that they could have been further ahead. They used very little of their traditional long ball but with Neil Gallagher entering the fray at the break, Donegal were quick to try it out.

Almost immediately, McBrearty brought a good save from goalkeeper Brian Kelly after collecting a punt from out the field. Frees from the KIlcar man and further scores from the Glenswilly duo of Gallagher and Murphy had Donegal level but all that good work was undone after the team fell asleep at a free kick. Bryan Sheehan dropped a quick ball into Donaghy and Peter Crowley was allowed to ghost in on goal unmarked, finishing well to put some daylight between the teams.

The home team kicked on again and added to their lead, the pick of the bunch a gloriously flighted placed ball from Sheehan.

An infuriating aspect of the match from a Donegal perspective was the number of times Kerry had frees moved up by Kinsella following mouthing from the visitors. With an expert such as Sheehan on the opposing side, a free closer in is a gift. A similar situation arose in last year’s league encounter with Dublin, Dean Rock the beneficiary on that occasion and it played a vital part in The Dubs securing a win. As tetchy as the game was, the team has to keep its cool; conceding gimmies is inexcusable.

Now six points in arrears, Donegal looked dead and buried but they used the long ball again to good effect, as Murphy crashed home a fabulous goal to put life back into their challenge. Michael and his men though never really clicked into any of the high gears and the game petered out thereafter to an inevitable Kerry victory.

A final tally of 1-8 included only one point after Murphy’s net buster, a poor return. Perhaps there was a certain complacency amongst the players with their passes and shooting - a strong wind always has a big bearing on a football match but it has yet to kick a score or block a goal-bound shot. It cant do the job for you but it can assist. The late wides from McBrearty, Murphy and Odhran MacNiallais were sloppy and suggested that they did not take the requisite care in taking the breeze into consideration.

The main worry that would have occupied Rory Gallagher’s mind on the long trip home was how for the second week running Donegal were outdone at centre-field for lengthy spells. The speed, or lack of, at which the restarts were taken, was the primary reason for this.

Peter Boyle, in all other aspects of play aside from kick outs, was excellent; he pulled off a brilliant save down low to his left from Sheehan early on and also dealt expertly with one particular high ball into his square, getting a crucial fist on the ball ahead of two Kerry attackers.

The main differentiator at inter county level for the modern ‘keeper is how quickly he can deliver his kicks and how varied they can be. Boyle is a relative newcomer to this level and it will take him time to become accustomed to the demands of the position. 

The thoughts and Summer plans of one man in Qatar will become more and more significant as Championship draws closer. Paul Durcan will of course be back on Irish soil inside a fortnight, as he takes to the sacred turf of Croke Park on All-Ireland Club Final Day with Ballyboden. Rory will be hoping that it wont be his last trip home of the year.

Ironically, Dublin also found the going tough this weekend and that was because their machine was shorn of its most prominent and vital cog, Stephen Cluxton. He and Durcan are the standard bearers for the likes of Boyle, Rory Beggan and Cluxton’s deputy Michael Savage - its only when the duo are missing from their respective teams is their full worth revealed.

Roscommon roll into town next week on the back of three straight wins and their tales will be up. However, there’s nothing like a bit of annoyance and thickness to get a team to perform and while the points weren’t overly important in Tralee, the bruising manner of the defeat will ensure a response from Donegal next Sunday.

Tralee Tussle Sees Kerry Pip Donegal

The cut throat nature of Division One football was illustrated yesterday as two of the country’s top teams crossed swords in Tralee. Despite a relatively good performance from Donegal they left the South empty handed. That has been the way in a lot of games this year - good displays but with no points to show for the effort.

Rory Gallagher wont be too despondent though as his side were well in the game until a costly five minute period in the closing stages put paid to their chances. Three bad wides in succession from Colm McFadden, Mark McHugh and Christy Toye left the team two points in arrears instead of potentially being one to the good; the next Kerry attack led to David Moran’s expertly dispatched penalty and that was game over.

Up until then, the teams played out an entertaining contest, sprinkled with wonderful point taking and some tough tackling as was anticipated with feelings from the All-Ireland Final still lingering. These teams served up what was possibly the worst ever September showpiece yet with the stakes a lot less this weekend they showed what they’re capable of.

The Donegal team took to the field only a short time before throw in and its notable in recent weeks that the warm-up routine directly before the match has been cut much shorter than what it would have been in previous seasons. The side has started games well for the most part and they did so again yesterday with Ryan McHugh timing his run perfectly before collecting Martin O’Reilly’s pass and finishing with aplomb.

Bryan Sheehan then took control of proceedings via his exemplary dead ball ability, notching four first half frees as well as a 45’ from the floor. He also sent over an arching point from play, finishing with a personal tally of 0-6 before injury brought about a premature end to his day.

Michael Murphy wasn’t to be outdone in the placed ball stakes as the Donegal captain stroked over two monsters from fifty metres and another from a 45’ in the second half.

The wind has played a pivotal role in Donegal’s last two games, often to the detriment of good football. It wasn’t as pronounced yesterday in the shadow of the Stacks mountains but both teams did have difficulty in finding their target men full forwards.

Donegal had the wind at their backs in the first half but failed on a number of occasions to find Murphy. He cut a frustrated figure at times due to the ball coming into him, as well as the excellent spoiling display of his marker Mark Griffin.

Most observers in the crowd felt Michael was lucky to stay on the field following is over eager attempt to win a Kerry kickout ahead of Jonathan Lynne. The ball was there to be won but he knew there was every chance he’d take the man at the same time. They might not admit to it but every manager in the country would be disappointed if their player didn't go in 100% for such a challenge. Clare referee Rory Hickey, gave the visitors the benefit of the doubt.

The half time whistle sounded soon after and despite the belt he took, Lynne didn't feel as bad the local youngster who took an O'Neills in the face during the kids match.

After the change of ends it was Kerry who had problems finding their No 14 with numerous long balls going over Kieran Donaghy’s head and out for Donegal restarts.

Paul Durcan again found the going tough against Kerry, as their twin tower midfield of David Moran and Anthony Maher produced a dominant platform for their team. Durcan looked for short options whenever he could in an attempt to keep the ball away from the duo. His very first kickout of the game was a fluffed effort that went straight to the opposition corner forward, Barry John Keane and unfortunately it has happened on a few occasions in this league campaign. The ghosts of Croke Park in September are beneath the surface and haven’t yet gone away.

One man who didn’t feature last September but is improving every week is Hugh McFadden. Noticeable shy in possession in the early weeks of the year, he is becoming more vocal and authorative with each passing week and capped a fine display with a great score from distance. McFadden is playing a role that Donegal haven’t employed anyone to do in the last number of years, a stationary sweeper around his own 45m line. The elder McHugh, Frank McGlynn and others have undertaken varying sweeping functions in recent years with more emphasis on all action box-to-box play but the Kilybegs is a more specific link between defence and attack.

McFadden’s presence and Kerry’s ploy of playing three defenders on two Donegal forwards and allowing the rest of their team to press high up the field let Donegal play more of a counter attacking game; in stark contrast to last week they had space to attack into.

The purists from the Kingdom may not like to see Peter Crowley manning the zone in front of Murphy and Patrick McBrearty although in truth many of them may not have even noticed. Standing amongst Kerry fans, affectionately referred to as ‘animals’ by the late Paidi O’Se, is certainly an education. You wont learn much about football but you’ll learn plenty about the Kerry mindset and how each and every one of them think they should be wearing Eammonn Fitzmaurice’s Bainisteoir jacket.

“Let it in will ya?!” is the most common cry from the terraces, whether or not anyone is inside to receive the ball seems irrelevant! At one stage yesterday the crowd were aghast when they realised Johnny Buckley played a ball into the square yet Donaghy was out on the wing on the far side of the field – long ball is no good to Kerry folk without a big man to catch it.

The best of the lot was the man who thought that half time was up with thirty minutes on the clock; his embarrassed comrade then informing him that senior inter-county matches are seventy minute affairs these days (and have been since the mid-1970’s!).

The crowd weren’t too happy with the home side’s last play of the day either – after getting into Donegal’s half they were pressed and harried and ended up being pushed back, just like the Welsh did to us in Cardiff on Saturday, with the ball ending up back with goalkeeper Brendan Kealy. That Kerry retained possession for a number of minutes and created a scoring chance at the end of it all was lost on some supporters.

BBC’s John Inverdale got in trouble last week during his channel’s Cheltenham coverage with his rose-tinted remark, in Austin Stacks Park yesterday everything was seen through Kerry-tinted spectacles.

Despite their aversion to anything other than kicking the ball into the big man, Kerry’s most impressive scores were those they got through running from deep with Moran and defender Paul Murphy registering excellent points on the run in the first half.

Buckley took most of the plaudits yesterday but in giant midfielder Moran, Kerry have a real classy operator. Comfortable off both feet, great in the air and covers the ground well its great to see him in full flow after suffering so many injury problems early in his career.

In the end a two point margin of victory was probably just about right; a five or six point defeat would have been hard on Donegal and Murphy’s late penalty put a fairer complexion on the scoreboard.

Those three crucial wides played a big part in the defeat for Rory’s men, as well as Neil McGee’s error before Keane’s fisted goal. The normally economical Donegal haven’t been at their efficient best in front of the posts lately; yesterday’s defeat along with the reversal against the Dubs in Croke Park have seen possible points left behind.

While the football on show conveyed the class and quality that both teams possess, Donegal are now in a relegation dogfight and there’s every chance that an ugly shoot out with Tyrone awaits in Ballbofey in two weeks time. On that day points will most certainly override performance.

Double Dream Dies for Dún na nGall

It was supposed to be our greatest day but it couldn't have turned out any worse. A devastating double defeat for Donegal, with both minors and seniors falling short and it is not a nice feeling waking up the day after an All-Ireland Final defeat.

Leading into the game, Donegal seemed to hold all of the aces and in truth if the teams were taking to the field every day this week, you’d back Donegal every time. On the day Kerry were better – but every other day Donegal would be better. Kerry were depending on keeping the game tight and hoping that their opponents would under-perform and that is exactly what happened.

The verve and brio usually associated with the team, illustrated so perfectly in the semi final, was absent and the players seemed nervy, possibly struggling to cope with the expectation heaped upon them. Jim McGuinness though is the master at preparing for such situations, getting the heads right, so for his Donegal team to be so out of sorts is unusual. For it to happen on the biggest day of the year is tragic as the team will know today as they make the long trip home that they left a second title behind them.

Kerry did what they had to do in that they retained a defensive shape as much as they could but in truth they didn’t out-think or outfox Donegal. The Kingdom’s midfield pair of David Moran and Anthony Maher were both excellent and had a great battle with Neil Gallagher and Rory Kavanagh, who were two of the team’s better performers, especially in the first half. Gallagher had another fine match to cement his All Star selection but was unable to dominant aerially from kick outs such was the pressure exerted by the Kerry duo.

Leo McLoone was fantastic throughout, incessantly running at the opposition defence looking for gaps. Leo is often the player who makes way in the third quarter but that it was Ryan McHugh and not the Glenties man who made way at this juncture of the game spoke volumes of his display.

Of course it says plenty about McHugh as well. The young starlets of this team, who have brought so much to the fray this year – McHugh, Odhran MacNiallais and Darach O’Connor – all started yesterday but were all taken off. They have added so much freshness and skill to proceedings this year that without any of them playing like they can, the team’s capabilities were greatly reduced.

Going into the game, the talk was of Kerry’s primary threats of James O’Donoghue and Kieran Donaghy. O’Donoghue played most of his football out the field in a deeper role and while he saw a lot of the ball, by his own standards his impact was minimal. If someone had said during the week that O’Donoghue would be kept scoreless, many would have felt Kerry wouldn’t have had a prayer.

Donaghy made a nuisance of himself on the edge of the square and won some good possession. At times Gallagher was brought back to double up on him along with his marker Eamon McGee and overall his threat was handled well.

Despite a horrendous start, Donegal were calm and composed and slowly but surely grinded Kerry down in the first half. It was fascinating to watch as the system clicked into action; there was a strange subdued atmosphere in Croke Park for much of the first half – there seemed a certain inevitability to every attack and with Donegal level by half time things looked fairly good although there were a few too many chances wasted.

One feature of play yesterday was the amount of times Donegal players ran into groups of Kerrymen without support runners in tow; players were isolated as the ball was stripped off them and gobbled up by hungry defenders.

The second half followed suit; Donegal not playing particularly well but not panicking and happy knowing that their game plan would see them home.

Then came the match and season defining moment.

However bad the rest of us feel today, it will be nothing compared to Paul Durcan. The big man is one of the key reasons why Donegal made it this fair in the first place and has every chance of collecting a second All Star award next month.

With the game delicately poised, Durcan weighed up his options to set Donegal on the attack again. Whether the clash of jersey colours played its part in the next few seconds or the strong sunlight shining into the Hill was a factor, either way the ball ended up in the grateful hands of Donaghy who finished simply, although his task was made easier with the big keeper going to ground too quickly.

It was a horrible moment for Papa. Every player at every level, indeed everyone in every walk of life makes mistakes. Such are the perils of being a goalkeeper; those mistakes are magnified and are usually punished.

The stadium was stunned, Kerry fans rejoiced, they knew this was a huge moment. There was still time for a comeback but a goal at that stage, in a tight, dour contest was massive. As it turned out, it decided the All Ireland.

Durcan was rattled and his next few kick outs went straight down the middle, he wasn’t going to chance anything other than a long punt. This led to fifty-fifty ball being contested and each time Kerry won possession it was another chance gone for Donegal to eat into the lead.

There was one last chance with that frantic scramble at the death as the ball came off the post instead of finding the net and salvaging a replay. That was that.

Nobody from Donegal knew what to do after an All Ireland defeat as it hadn’t happened before; so people ended up doing the same as they did two years ago and had the craic. It was gone after five a.m. this morning in Donegal’s home from home on Harcourt Street, Dtwo, when Jimmy’s Winning Matches was played three times in a row and it was belted out with gusto and pride just as it always is – legendary man, legendary support.

Some of the players joined the fun too and mingled with the faithful and the main thing now that will be on their minds and all of ours is will Jimmy be winning matches next year?

His four year plan is complete, will there be a fifth? Will the great progress made by the minor team under Declan Bonner’s tutelage entice Jim to stay on, knowing that there is quality in that squad that could make the step up to senior?

We don’t know when these questions will be answered but obviously we’re all hoping for a yes. 

Donegal will be back - and hopefully Jim will too.

Donegal Make Light Work of Unrecognisable Kingdom

Donegal recorded a vital win in Ballybofey today and such is the congestion at the bottom of the Division One table, they find themselves in the top half of the table and well placed to not only avoid the drop but also contest for a league semi-final place.

Perhaps the real story of the day though was the performance of the visitors; for those of us accustomed to Kerry being the standard bearers in the game its astonishing to see them at such a low ebb. Granted its early March and The Kingdom will be a different animal come the Summer but they're such a long way off their peak its hard to see them making up the difference. Watching their substitutes take their place on the sideline before the game, there were no familiar faces and they all looked liked fresh-faced minors.

The last team then that they want to face is the All-Ireland Champions. Donegal looked very efficient today,
exposing Kerry's frailties and the ten point winning margin could have been much bigger with a bit more composure in the final third.

The difference between the demeanour of both management teams on the sideline was noticeable; Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice was quite reserved and barely said a word, with his selectors Diarmuid Murphy and Mikey Sheehy much the same. Indeed it was only the team’s trainer, Cian O’Neill, who looked in any way interested in the game and he was the one dishing out the instructions and encouragement.
On the other hand, regardless of the occasion, Jim and Rory are constantly urging their team on, annoyed when something is done incorrectly or when a call goes against them. Assistant manager Gallagher spends a lot of his Sunday afternoon racing on and off the pitch relaying messages to the players - every game is taken seriously and the management expect their players to reach certain levels of performance and do the right things, anything less is unacceptable.

It was evident from early on that Captain Michael Murphy wanted to atone for his disappointing afternoon in Omagh last Sunday. Inside five minutes he was given a chance at another penalty and he made no mistake this time, drilling the ball low and hard, giving Brendan Kealy in goal no chance.

Murphy was out in front of his marker Aidan O’Mahony on almost every occasion when the ball came his way, combining strength, pace and skill to get the better of the Rathmore man time after time.
In one attack he produced a moment of class that had to be seen to be believed. With the ball coming his way along the ground, instead of bending his back to pick it up, he dummied and allowed the ball to go through his and his marker's legs and ran around behind O’Mahony to retrieve possession. Pele famously did something similar against Uruguay in the World Cup Finals with his 'runaround' move and with the form Murphy is in at present he wouldn’t look out of place on that kind of stage.

He continued to torment his marker with his best score coming early in the second half when he held off O’Mahony with one hand, collected the ball with other and then spun and fired it over the black spot. His strength in holding off markers is incredible, and allows him to always have at least a yard of space to work with.

The forward line saw plenty of ball today and this was down to the work that went on behind them. Paddy McGrath, Rory Kavanagh and Ryan Bradley were hugely impressive in snuffing out attacks and then bursting out with pace and power; with every passing week the fitness and conditioning of the squad is getting better. A lot of the players, Bradley in particular, enjoy bringing the ball into contact knowing they have such upper body strength to break through tackles and knowing that when they do there is a man on the shoulder to carry it on further.

Patrick McBrearty had another good outing today, playing primarily as a centre forward with licence to dictate and link the play from deep. He could well be playing the ‘McHugh’ role come the Summer as McGuinness looks to develop new plans that will keep opposition bosses guessing. McBrearty has all the attributes to fulfil that deep lying task and allied to his finishing - he popped up for a fine first half score - he has become a much more rounded player.

Johnny Buckley was the standout of the newer Kerry players, following up a good showing against Kildare last week. Otherwise it was the old heads of Tomas O’Se and Kieran Donaghy who took the fight to the home side.

Donaghy played most of the game between midfield and half-forward and won quite a bit of ball around the middle third. Kerry’s problem is that he isn’t inside to receive the ball coming in; stationed on the edge of the square for the last fifteen minutes, he won every ball that came his way, including the possession that led to Kieran O‘Leary‘s missed penalty. Kerry have to somehow find a role for Star that allows him to have an effect on the game both inside and outside the 45. Donaghy made the long journey back home that bit easier for one young Kerry fan, giving him his match day gloves as a present as he took his place on in the dugout following a nasty looking foot injury. With the current turmoil in the camp they can ill-afford to lose the big Tralee man for an extended period.

O’Se is the veteran of the Kerry team and it was a joy to watch him in action today, flying up and down the wing like a rookie. He didnt help his team's cause though with one moment of indiscipline when he introduced himself to one of Donegal’s newest recruits early in the second half; the effervescent Ryan McHugh was on the receiving end of a box in the ribs right under the nose of linesman and O’Se was subsequently sent for an early shower.

Kerry’s other main forward star on show, Darran O’Sullivan, was given the full forward jersey and this provided Neil McGee with a different challenge to what he’s used to. McGee is an old-fashioned full back, physically dominating many of his opponents but today he had to use his intelligence as a marker to ensure O’Sullivan didn’t get a chance to burn him with pace. He did this fairly well and the Kerry sharp-shooter managed just one point, although McGee was relieved of his duties in the second half when the fabulous McGrath was given man-marking duties on O'Sullivan.

Despite a frustrating day for O’Sullivan he showed his class late on after an incident with his new marker McGrath. The former All-Ireland winning captain caught the Ardara man with a tackle around the neck but the corner back kept going and made nothing of it. As they returned to their positions, an apologetic hand was offered to McGrath and it was such a contrast to the nastiness on show in the card-ridden contest last weekend in Healy Park.

The snow falling throughout the game today suggested we were in the depths of Winter and it must feel like that for Kerry with the Summer and Croke Park seemingly a long way off. For Donegal on the other hand, they’re motoring along nicely and slowly but surely they’re getting to where they want to be. Their finest display of last year's odyssey came against Cork in the semi-final and its the Rebels who provide the opposition in Pairc Ui Rinn next weekend.