Donegal are a Division One team - that’s the outcome of today and that’s where we belong. 2013 will see the country’s top eight sides plying their trade in the league’s top tier, something which in truth hasn’t happened for quite a number of years.
The players showed great heart and determination in the second half in Ballybofey and like our other 'must win' games this year against Cork and Mayo you just got the feeling we wouldn’t be beaten. Armagh had their chances of course and will maybe feel that they could have come away with the win but overall the home side looked the better when it mattered most.
Plenty of rain early in the day left conditions fairly treacherous and indeed the referee didn’t seem to take this into account for much of his decision making in the first half. Both teams won some handy frees and with Michael Stevenson finding his range a lot quicker than Colm McFadden, Paddy O'Rourke's men built up a neat cushion.
Two of McFadden’s club mates were taken off before half time although Daniel McLoughlin and Martin McElhinney had been doing as well as anyone in the home attack. Jim McGuinness was looking to bring a bit of structure to his forward unit and the introductions of Dermot Molloy and Patrick McBrearty did add a bit of impetus to his side. McBrearty’s appearance brought to an end a busy week for the Kilcar youngster, as he had attended AFL trials in London organised by former Sydney Swans star Tadhg Kennelly. Neither Brick nor McBrearty had a huge impact on the game but they played their part in the overall team effort.
An inspirational score from Leo McLoone got things going in earnest for Donegal, the Naomh Conaill man had another stormer today before being replaced after shipping a heavy knock late in the game. McFadden pointed a free just before the half time whistle and being two points down at half time wasn’t the worst situation to be in as the teams headed for the dressing rooms.
After a decent match appeared to be breaking out in the first half, the intensity and the hitting was upped considerably in the second and we were treated to a cracking Ulster contest. It was as close as you’ll get to Championship fare at this time of year and the crowd responded in kind with the noise levels going up a few notches.
Armagh stretched their lead to four points at one stage but after that they would add only one more while Donegal would score eight. When we get in the mood our running game is incessant and teams simply cannot cope with our pace and power.
Brian McEniff famously told his charges in 1992 to run at the opposition like the waves hitting Tory and a similar ploy was adopted today. Leading the charge were Rory Kavanagh and Ryan Bradley, who constantly ran at the Armagh defence, prepared to take the hits and put their body on the line. The scores didn’t come immediately, over-elaboration in attack leading to turnovers and poor decision making; the players weren’t deterred though and kept running at the Orchard.
Of course you need possession to do anything and there was only one go-to man to win the ball and that was Big Neil Gallagher. Armagh had no answer to the Glenswilly midfielder as he caught numerous kickouts and was in the mix for any breaks that were going as well. He has really taken his game to another level over the course of this league campaign and is one of the major positives the management team will take out of it.
Another huge plus today was the outstanding performance of Malin’s Declan Walsh. He’s been in and around the panel for a few years now but today he really came of age putting in a great corner back display in place of the absent Paddy McGrath. On a couple of occasions in the second half he showed great maturity and composure by batting down high balls aimed in towards him rather than chancing a risky take over his head.
As Donegal struggled to show their superiority on the score board, Armagh remained dangerous on the break but thankfully the game’s pivotal moment swung in the home side’s favour. A misplaced pass from Rory Kavanagh led to a goal chance for Jamie Clarke (who had been well marshalled throughout by Karl Lacey and the afore mentioned Walsh) who skipped past Paul Durcan but could only find the post with his goal effort from a tight angle.
Mac Cumhaill Park was rocking at this stage and as the ball was scrambled clear the crowd urged the boys on another surge up the field. Its been quite a while since I can remember an atmosphere like it along the River Finn; the old pitch lost a bit of its allure somewhat after three successive Ulster championship exits from 2008-2010 but it had its mojo back today and it was great to hear the Tír Conaill faithful in full voice.
The story had a fitting finale with local lad Martin Reilly knocking over a point that made the game safe; Adrian Hanlon made extra sure with a fisted effort in the dying seconds to make it a three point win.
So overall a good league campaign; the primary aims were to blood new players and tweak the formations and systems and to do this while still keeping our Division One status intact will please everyone concerned.
All minds switch firmly to Breffni Park in six weeks time when national eyes will again fall on Donegal. Jim was asked about this, and the inevitable focus that will be on his players, in his post match interview with Charlie Collins today and was typically honest in his response regarding the media, “some people can give their opinions with dignity and respect, others cant.” It was a wonderfully measured statement and shows that whatever everyone else thinks about him and his team, all Jim cares about is doing the best he can for his county - and beating Cavan on May 20th.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Dubs take the points
Two late goals from Dublin made last night’s encounter look lop-sided but Donegal can be fairly satisfied with their display; with fifteen minutes to go we were right in it.
Similar to last year’s semi final, it was the departure of one of our star performers that ultimately cost us. Then it was Karl Lacey, and to this day there remains that ‘what if’ for the Donegal faithful as to what would and could have happened had he stayed on. Another knee injury last night, this time to Michael Murphy, and when he left the field our chances of a win seemed to go with him.
Prior to that he was once again turning on a master class. Much has been made of the decision to play him in a deep role last August and on the day it didn’t really work. This time around though the country got to see Michael in one of his bravado, tour de force performances. He was catching ball at full forward, winning frees out the field, driving through the Dublin defence - by the time he departed he had notched 0-6 leading to him receiving the man of the match gong from broadcaster Setanta. Its not often that we see a player on the losing side pick up the award so it goes to show how good he was going.
He kicked two from play and his place kicking was excellent, indeed it is encouraging to see him kicking most of his frees off the ground; it’s a dying art in the game and a huge asset to any side who possess someone so proficient in the skill.
He has now racked up 2-19 in his four matches since returning from injury, although whether or not the fifth game will be against Armagh in two weeks is a serious doubt with his knee not looking in good shape when he was forced off. You could see he was revelling in being on the big stage and almost had to be dragged off the pitch by the Donegal doctor. The big players are born to play on the sacred turf in Drumcondra and with Michael in form like this it shouldn’t be too long until we’re back on Jones Road.
With Michael off the field, Paul Durcan’s attempt to mimic Stephen Cluxton’s All Ireland Final heroics didn’t quite work out and he had to endure a long trot back to his goal with the jeers of Dublin fans ringing in his ears. Between the sticks though he had a fine game, stopping three goal chances - the first effort from Eamon Fennell in the first half drew an incredible reflex stop from the big Four Masters man. Indeed he was unfdortuante to see Diarmuid Connolly's late effort squirm past him after another good stop.
While Dublin did manage to post a 2-16 score line, four or five cheap points were conceded by Donegal from turnovers around midfield. After hard work in stopping a Dublin attack or winning a dirty ball in the middle, on numerous occasions this good work was quickly undone and that was particularly frustrating.
Also a worry was our distribution. Dublin kept a sweeper back in front of the full forward line and yet time and again we kicked the ball directly to him. We’re normally more shrewd and clever when faced with this and should have been recycling the ball and probing for an opening. Our first three attacks all ended up being kicked straight to a sky blue jersey and this was quickly followed by three balls dropped short into the hands of Cluxton.
Patrick McBrearty did catch one lovely ball over his head in the second half and forced a smart stop from Cluxton; that was our second goal chance of the game. We saw last year how crucial Colm McFadden’s missed goal chance proved to be and unfortunately again we failed to take any.
Dublin looked impressive on the night, that bit sharper and more clinical as a unit than us. The movement of their forward line was especially eye catching - always available, always running onto the ball at speed and able to take on their man. While Donegal struggled to find their inside men with wayward passing, Dublin made theirs stick.
If you just saw the final score from the game you’d think we’d be on the receiving end of quite a beating but the two late goals put an unfair gloss over proceedings; we didn’t deserve to come out on the wrong side by nine points. The game plan that Jim had devised to beat Dublin last August was working in many ways last night. He has talked since about his bigger men playing around the middle and breaking forward at pace.
Michael did this and even Christy Toye appeared to be finding a bit of form using his height and strength to good effect in the second half. He wasn’t suffocated by blue jerseys as he was last time out and found a lot more time on the ball. He was about to be taken off at one point but slotted over a score, forcing Jim to quickly abandon the switch for a while.
Another good display was that of Leo McLoone. Much has been made of the man absent from the No 7 jersey but we knew all along we had a man good enough to replace him. He’s still not quite back to his best following his injury plagued year in 2011 but after a shaky opening quarter last night Leo showed signs that he’s going in the right direction. He scored a fine point in the first half as did his club mate on the other wing Anthony Thompson. That duo, along with Lacey, drove forward brilliantly and caused real problems for Pat Gilroy’s men. Full back Neil McGee even got in on the act, helping the Donegal revival early in the second period.
Jim would have felt last night that it was worth a chance having a go at Dublin, with a home match to come against Armagh on Easter Sunday, Donegal should have their destiny in their own hands - depending on results in Castlebar and Killarney today a win should hopefully be enough to keep us in Division One.
Once the Orchard meeting is out of the way its full speed ahead to Breffni in late May. The aim will be to get back to Croke Park in August and who knows, the Dubs could be waiting for us again.
Similar to last year’s semi final, it was the departure of one of our star performers that ultimately cost us. Then it was Karl Lacey, and to this day there remains that ‘what if’ for the Donegal faithful as to what would and could have happened had he stayed on. Another knee injury last night, this time to Michael Murphy, and when he left the field our chances of a win seemed to go with him.
Prior to that he was once again turning on a master class. Much has been made of the decision to play him in a deep role last August and on the day it didn’t really work. This time around though the country got to see Michael in one of his bravado, tour de force performances. He was catching ball at full forward, winning frees out the field, driving through the Dublin defence - by the time he departed he had notched 0-6 leading to him receiving the man of the match gong from broadcaster Setanta. Its not often that we see a player on the losing side pick up the award so it goes to show how good he was going.
He kicked two from play and his place kicking was excellent, indeed it is encouraging to see him kicking most of his frees off the ground; it’s a dying art in the game and a huge asset to any side who possess someone so proficient in the skill.
He has now racked up 2-19 in his four matches since returning from injury, although whether or not the fifth game will be against Armagh in two weeks is a serious doubt with his knee not looking in good shape when he was forced off. You could see he was revelling in being on the big stage and almost had to be dragged off the pitch by the Donegal doctor. The big players are born to play on the sacred turf in Drumcondra and with Michael in form like this it shouldn’t be too long until we’re back on Jones Road.
With Michael off the field, Paul Durcan’s attempt to mimic Stephen Cluxton’s All Ireland Final heroics didn’t quite work out and he had to endure a long trot back to his goal with the jeers of Dublin fans ringing in his ears. Between the sticks though he had a fine game, stopping three goal chances - the first effort from Eamon Fennell in the first half drew an incredible reflex stop from the big Four Masters man. Indeed he was unfdortuante to see Diarmuid Connolly's late effort squirm past him after another good stop.
While Dublin did manage to post a 2-16 score line, four or five cheap points were conceded by Donegal from turnovers around midfield. After hard work in stopping a Dublin attack or winning a dirty ball in the middle, on numerous occasions this good work was quickly undone and that was particularly frustrating.
Also a worry was our distribution. Dublin kept a sweeper back in front of the full forward line and yet time and again we kicked the ball directly to him. We’re normally more shrewd and clever when faced with this and should have been recycling the ball and probing for an opening. Our first three attacks all ended up being kicked straight to a sky blue jersey and this was quickly followed by three balls dropped short into the hands of Cluxton.
Patrick McBrearty did catch one lovely ball over his head in the second half and forced a smart stop from Cluxton; that was our second goal chance of the game. We saw last year how crucial Colm McFadden’s missed goal chance proved to be and unfortunately again we failed to take any.
Dublin looked impressive on the night, that bit sharper and more clinical as a unit than us. The movement of their forward line was especially eye catching - always available, always running onto the ball at speed and able to take on their man. While Donegal struggled to find their inside men with wayward passing, Dublin made theirs stick.
If you just saw the final score from the game you’d think we’d be on the receiving end of quite a beating but the two late goals put an unfair gloss over proceedings; we didn’t deserve to come out on the wrong side by nine points. The game plan that Jim had devised to beat Dublin last August was working in many ways last night. He has talked since about his bigger men playing around the middle and breaking forward at pace.
Michael did this and even Christy Toye appeared to be finding a bit of form using his height and strength to good effect in the second half. He wasn’t suffocated by blue jerseys as he was last time out and found a lot more time on the ball. He was about to be taken off at one point but slotted over a score, forcing Jim to quickly abandon the switch for a while.
Another good display was that of Leo McLoone. Much has been made of the man absent from the No 7 jersey but we knew all along we had a man good enough to replace him. He’s still not quite back to his best following his injury plagued year in 2011 but after a shaky opening quarter last night Leo showed signs that he’s going in the right direction. He scored a fine point in the first half as did his club mate on the other wing Anthony Thompson. That duo, along with Lacey, drove forward brilliantly and caused real problems for Pat Gilroy’s men. Full back Neil McGee even got in on the act, helping the Donegal revival early in the second period.
Jim would have felt last night that it was worth a chance having a go at Dublin, with a home match to come against Armagh on Easter Sunday, Donegal should have their destiny in their own hands - depending on results in Castlebar and Killarney today a win should hopefully be enough to keep us in Division One.
Once the Orchard meeting is out of the way its full speed ahead to Breffni in late May. The aim will be to get back to Croke Park in August and who knows, the Dubs could be waiting for us again.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Messiah's Boys Back on Track
A good day at the office for The Messiah’s men in Ballyshannon today and we’re right back in the mix of things in Division One. The way the table is shaping up both relegation and a semi final spot are both possibilities - all that is certain is that everything will boil down to the final game against Armagh on Easter Sunday.
Things started off slowly enough with Mayo looking like we did in the opening stages last week - fresh, fit and full of running. After a fisted effort from Patrick McBrearty, it took an exceptional point from Michael Murphy to really get things going. With Mayo men hanging off him and no sign of a free being awarded, the ball almost got away from the Maestro; but he decided against trying to get the ball back into this hands and instead pulled on it on the volley and drove it over the bar.
Michael had a somewhat frustrating day throughout, getting virtually nothing from the man in the middle. Twice in quick succession in the first half he fielded wonderfully over his head and pivoted as only he can; on each occasion though he was man handled by the Mayo full back Ger Cafferkey yet no free was given. It’s a wonder how he keeps his head sometimes when that keeps happening but credit to him he kept persevering. His final score of the day was another beauty - again looking as if he was being fouled he was almost falling to the ground just as he struck the shot but it still sailed between the posts.
Incidentally, that man in the middle was none other than Mr Marty Duffy. I’m not keen on those GAA folk who go to games with the sole intention of berating the referee and indeed criticising officials is an easy option at times. Yet all that goes out the window when Duffy is involved - he’s useless. An awful referee, he continually slows the game down with inconsistent decisions and never has an official had such a negative impact on supporters, with the feeling mutual between both sets.
He was centre of attention as usual today, straight from the off. Not only does it create an unease amongst the crowd but the players soon get worked up over his calls. Rory Kavanagh felt the wrath of Duffy when he was shown a red card when he gave Kevin McLoughlin what was no more than a dig in the ribs; probably worthy of a red going by the letter of the law but Duffy seemed to guess the decision as he didn’t appear to have seen the incident clearly. One bystander in the stand at Fr Tierney Park commented that Duffy must have very sore arms such is the regularity with which they’re hoisted in the air to signal for a free.
The trying relationship Donegal enjoys with the Sligo whistle blower stems back to the Ulster Championship clash with Derry in 2008. The main talking point that day centred on Derry midfielder Fergal Doherty, who was allowed to stay on the field of play despite a forearm smash to the face of the afore mentioned Kavanagh. How ironic that Kavanagh’s infraction didn’t survive Marty’s card today.
Not even the goalkeepers survived, with both net minders receiving yellow cards which is surely some kind of record - Marty will be happy that his name might be in the history books for that one.
Thankfully despite a shaky start Donegal were able to go and win the game, playing the entire second half with fourteen. Neil McGee was ruled out with flu before the throw in so his brother Eamon stepped in to take his place. This meant Donegal had three corner backs in the full back line and yet Mayo didn’t really capitalise on this as much as they could have. An early high ball caught Eamon out of position and Mayo were able to work a goal but they didn’t do anywhere near enough of this and you’d have to question James Horan’s tactics in this regard.
Mayo were poor today after their early flourish and The Messiah certainly came out on top in this battle of the young gun managers. Horan could certainly have done with some of Donegal’s skill and work rate and if circumstances had conspired differently back in the day maybe they would have. Three of today’s Donegal side - Murphy, Paul Durcan and Martin Reilly all have a bit of Mayo blood in their veins from their parents but thankfully they were in the right jerseys from our point of view.
The home side didn’t need a second invitation though when they had the wind at their backs after the restart and they pummelled Mayo with high ball after high ball. Colm McFadden was the one to drop deep to midfield to create the space for Murphy and McBrearty, a clever move from The Messiah as Mayo would have been expecting the Glenswilly man to play this role. It worked a treat as the scores started to come and Murphy even won a few frees after Marty learned how to spot a foul.
The tactics employed in the second half, including that switch for McFadden, were what won the points for the hosts as they pinned Mayo into their own half of the field. The two men inside worked hard to cut out any short kick-outs allowing Neil Gallagher, who had another stormer, to clean up at midfield. Even when goalkeeper David Clarke did manage to find a defender with a short kick-out, our forwards were quick to press and Mayo were suffocated. Playing against a strong breeze and a strong green and gold wall James Horan’s men couldn’t move past the half way line - their first score of the second half came in the 35th minute.
The critics that have lambasted Donegal for playing so deep would have seen something quite new today had they been watching. Instead of a deep lying defensive line, there was a cordon of men stationed between centre field and Mayo’s 45 metre line, pinning them back in their own half.
The modern defensive game, which has taken many forms over the past decade, will eventually reach a natural evolutionary end in a manner approaching what we saw today. Instead of a deep lying defensive line, it will be much higher up the pitch - so in today’s case when Mayo lost the ball, Donegal didn’t have to travel a hundred yards up the field to the scoring zone, they were already there.
Imagine Donegal’s game plan against Dublin last year but instead of a mass of bodies on their own 45, the bodies are all in the opponents half of the field. We saw a period of play today for about fifteen minutes where Mayo continuously could not get past the half way line, there was a mass of green and gold jerseys waiting for them and they had no answer.
Certain commentators were a bit miffed that Donegal claimed two out of six all stars last year in the defensive positions because of the weight of numbers we have back; but that is a bit of a discredit to the lads because it glosses over the fact that we have some outstanding defenders. Today again they were magnificent, thus contributing to holding Mayo scoreless for almost all of the second half. At one stage late on, Alan Dillon broke through and looked like he had a goal chance but when he looked up to shoot there were six players surrounding him and many of these had just ran back from Mayo’s half of the field. It was total football today with everyone defending and everyone attacking. Allied to great fielding, good passing and fine long range scores it was by far the best performance since the Kildare game.
As we look forward now to next week and a rematch with Dublin there will no doubt be more talk than ever of ‘the system’ although whether we play in a way people expect us to is another matter. Jim said the team learnt a lot from the game in Killarney last week and his language was very telling. He mentioned that when the team faces Kerry again they will be much better prepared - when and not if. He believes his side will be in the shake up once again come late Summer and he fully expects to be meeting the likes of Kerry and Dublin in Croke Park. So there was probably a certain amount of caginess in the display last week and that may happen next week again. Donegal will most likely be safe in Division One if they beat Armagh in the final game so it gives a small bit of leeway for Croke Park. How McGuinness approaches the meeting with the All Ireland Champions will be very interesting indeed.
Things started off slowly enough with Mayo looking like we did in the opening stages last week - fresh, fit and full of running. After a fisted effort from Patrick McBrearty, it took an exceptional point from Michael Murphy to really get things going. With Mayo men hanging off him and no sign of a free being awarded, the ball almost got away from the Maestro; but he decided against trying to get the ball back into this hands and instead pulled on it on the volley and drove it over the bar.
Michael had a somewhat frustrating day throughout, getting virtually nothing from the man in the middle. Twice in quick succession in the first half he fielded wonderfully over his head and pivoted as only he can; on each occasion though he was man handled by the Mayo full back Ger Cafferkey yet no free was given. It’s a wonder how he keeps his head sometimes when that keeps happening but credit to him he kept persevering. His final score of the day was another beauty - again looking as if he was being fouled he was almost falling to the ground just as he struck the shot but it still sailed between the posts.
Incidentally, that man in the middle was none other than Mr Marty Duffy. I’m not keen on those GAA folk who go to games with the sole intention of berating the referee and indeed criticising officials is an easy option at times. Yet all that goes out the window when Duffy is involved - he’s useless. An awful referee, he continually slows the game down with inconsistent decisions and never has an official had such a negative impact on supporters, with the feeling mutual between both sets.
He was centre of attention as usual today, straight from the off. Not only does it create an unease amongst the crowd but the players soon get worked up over his calls. Rory Kavanagh felt the wrath of Duffy when he was shown a red card when he gave Kevin McLoughlin what was no more than a dig in the ribs; probably worthy of a red going by the letter of the law but Duffy seemed to guess the decision as he didn’t appear to have seen the incident clearly. One bystander in the stand at Fr Tierney Park commented that Duffy must have very sore arms such is the regularity with which they’re hoisted in the air to signal for a free.
The trying relationship Donegal enjoys with the Sligo whistle blower stems back to the Ulster Championship clash with Derry in 2008. The main talking point that day centred on Derry midfielder Fergal Doherty, who was allowed to stay on the field of play despite a forearm smash to the face of the afore mentioned Kavanagh. How ironic that Kavanagh’s infraction didn’t survive Marty’s card today.
Not even the goalkeepers survived, with both net minders receiving yellow cards which is surely some kind of record - Marty will be happy that his name might be in the history books for that one.
Thankfully despite a shaky start Donegal were able to go and win the game, playing the entire second half with fourteen. Neil McGee was ruled out with flu before the throw in so his brother Eamon stepped in to take his place. This meant Donegal had three corner backs in the full back line and yet Mayo didn’t really capitalise on this as much as they could have. An early high ball caught Eamon out of position and Mayo were able to work a goal but they didn’t do anywhere near enough of this and you’d have to question James Horan’s tactics in this regard.
Mayo were poor today after their early flourish and The Messiah certainly came out on top in this battle of the young gun managers. Horan could certainly have done with some of Donegal’s skill and work rate and if circumstances had conspired differently back in the day maybe they would have. Three of today’s Donegal side - Murphy, Paul Durcan and Martin Reilly all have a bit of Mayo blood in their veins from their parents but thankfully they were in the right jerseys from our point of view.
The home side didn’t need a second invitation though when they had the wind at their backs after the restart and they pummelled Mayo with high ball after high ball. Colm McFadden was the one to drop deep to midfield to create the space for Murphy and McBrearty, a clever move from The Messiah as Mayo would have been expecting the Glenswilly man to play this role. It worked a treat as the scores started to come and Murphy even won a few frees after Marty learned how to spot a foul.
The tactics employed in the second half, including that switch for McFadden, were what won the points for the hosts as they pinned Mayo into their own half of the field. The two men inside worked hard to cut out any short kick-outs allowing Neil Gallagher, who had another stormer, to clean up at midfield. Even when goalkeeper David Clarke did manage to find a defender with a short kick-out, our forwards were quick to press and Mayo were suffocated. Playing against a strong breeze and a strong green and gold wall James Horan’s men couldn’t move past the half way line - their first score of the second half came in the 35th minute.
The critics that have lambasted Donegal for playing so deep would have seen something quite new today had they been watching. Instead of a deep lying defensive line, there was a cordon of men stationed between centre field and Mayo’s 45 metre line, pinning them back in their own half.
The modern defensive game, which has taken many forms over the past decade, will eventually reach a natural evolutionary end in a manner approaching what we saw today. Instead of a deep lying defensive line, it will be much higher up the pitch - so in today’s case when Mayo lost the ball, Donegal didn’t have to travel a hundred yards up the field to the scoring zone, they were already there.
Imagine Donegal’s game plan against Dublin last year but instead of a mass of bodies on their own 45, the bodies are all in the opponents half of the field. We saw a period of play today for about fifteen minutes where Mayo continuously could not get past the half way line, there was a mass of green and gold jerseys waiting for them and they had no answer.
Certain commentators were a bit miffed that Donegal claimed two out of six all stars last year in the defensive positions because of the weight of numbers we have back; but that is a bit of a discredit to the lads because it glosses over the fact that we have some outstanding defenders. Today again they were magnificent, thus contributing to holding Mayo scoreless for almost all of the second half. At one stage late on, Alan Dillon broke through and looked like he had a goal chance but when he looked up to shoot there were six players surrounding him and many of these had just ran back from Mayo’s half of the field. It was total football today with everyone defending and everyone attacking. Allied to great fielding, good passing and fine long range scores it was by far the best performance since the Kildare game.
As we look forward now to next week and a rematch with Dublin there will no doubt be more talk than ever of ‘the system’ although whether we play in a way people expect us to is another matter. Jim said the team learnt a lot from the game in Killarney last week and his language was very telling. He mentioned that when the team faces Kerry again they will be much better prepared - when and not if. He believes his side will be in the shake up once again come late Summer and he fully expects to be meeting the likes of Kerry and Dublin in Croke Park. So there was probably a certain amount of caginess in the display last week and that may happen next week again. Donegal will most likely be safe in Division One if they beat Armagh in the final game so it gives a small bit of leeway for Croke Park. How McGuinness approaches the meeting with the All Ireland Champions will be very interesting indeed.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Dún na nGall faulter as Kingdom Rule
Donegal were brought back down to earth in Killarney today; after last week’s impressive display against Cork, they were on the receiving end of a Kerry team in full flow, showing off their full array of skills and illustrating all of their forward power. The visitors didn’t do an awful lot wrong in the first half, yet still found themselves five points down at the break.
The start was very encouraging with Patrick McBrearty, Anthony Thompson and Michael Murphy all on target in the first five minutes. Bryan Sheehan then scored three frees in succession and he was majestic all day from placed balls. A goal from youngster Patrick Curtin and suddenly Donegal were chasing the game.
Michael did his best, adding a further two scores before the break but Kerry had brought their shooting boots. Anthony Maher scored a huge effort from the centre of the field while Kieran Donaghy scored two carbon copy points, both from the right wing with the outside of his boot; the Tralee man excelling in his wing forward berth, just as he did to such good effect early in the All Ireland Final last year.
Both teams set up similarly as regards defensive structures - both half forward lines dropped deep leaving three men inside. But Kerry pushed up high on Donegal instead of sitting back and indeed it seems the obvious ploy when faced against a deep lying team but very few actually do it. In last year’s semi final Dublin played a similar game to us, leaving three men back marking Colm McFadden when it seemed that pushing their forwards onto Donegal would have broken the deadlock. It certainly worked for Kerry today as Donegal struggled to get out of their half at times.
Whatever tactics Kerry play though, a key trait that has held true over the years has been to let the ball do the work and they can conserve so much energy with how they do this. They played at their own pace throughout while Donegal had started brilliantly but ran out of steam somewhat and indeed they looked as though they lost a bit of focus following some flash points before half time.
As Leo McLoone made a burst forward and laid off a ball he was caught high by Paul Galvin and Leo’s team mates were incensed that the referee waved play on. Galvin was eventually booked but in the very next attack McLoone was again the target of a high tackle, this time from Sheehan, and again he needed treatment.
The Naomh Conaill man of course suffered that horrendous injury in the club championship last year, fracturing a cheek bone and any high challenges he faces, never mind two in two minutes, cant bring back any good memories. This may have been behind Jim McGuinness’ decision to take him off at the interval.
If Donegal lost a bit of composure at that point, Kerry had plenty of it and less than a minute after the restart the game was put to bed when Sheehan stroked home a penalty - that gave them an eight point lead and it was effectively game over.
Donegal responded after the penalty but their finishing let them down, four wides in quick succession would prove costly as they were just too far behind to take advanatge when Murphy drilled home a penalty.
Soon after that, another pivotal turning point when Eamonn McGee was shown a second yellow and that was definitely that. Kerry enjoyed the last quarter and showed all the flair you’d expect of them as they racked up a score that you wouldn’t expect a McGuinness side to concede.
Neil Gallagher did well at midfield for Donegal, winning some fine fetches but overall the hosts won far more breaks around the middle and Galvin and the O’Sullivan’s, Darran and Declan, were quick to feed the inside forwards.
Michael can be pleased with his own performance - up against Marc O’Se for much of the game he scored 1-5 on the limited ball that came his way. Kerry even brought on a sub in the shape of Aidan O’Mahony to sit as a sweeper in front of Michael for the closing stages for fear that he would add to his tally.
One Kerryman showed no fear or indeed manners though as the crowd made its way out of Fitzgerald Stadium - despite a few hundred people walking up the Lewis Road one gentleman decided to relieve himself rather than using the stadium’s excellent toilet facilities - and they call us Donegal wans a rare breed!
There’ll be none of that next week as we’re back home again - Mayo come to Ballyshannon where it’ll be back to the drawing board and a win next week is vital for our Division One survival prospects. The table is looking very tight with plenty of teams vying to avoid the drop - hopefully a positive result next week can take the Messiah’s troops out of that bracket.
The start was very encouraging with Patrick McBrearty, Anthony Thompson and Michael Murphy all on target in the first five minutes. Bryan Sheehan then scored three frees in succession and he was majestic all day from placed balls. A goal from youngster Patrick Curtin and suddenly Donegal were chasing the game.
Michael did his best, adding a further two scores before the break but Kerry had brought their shooting boots. Anthony Maher scored a huge effort from the centre of the field while Kieran Donaghy scored two carbon copy points, both from the right wing with the outside of his boot; the Tralee man excelling in his wing forward berth, just as he did to such good effect early in the All Ireland Final last year.
Both teams set up similarly as regards defensive structures - both half forward lines dropped deep leaving three men inside. But Kerry pushed up high on Donegal instead of sitting back and indeed it seems the obvious ploy when faced against a deep lying team but very few actually do it. In last year’s semi final Dublin played a similar game to us, leaving three men back marking Colm McFadden when it seemed that pushing their forwards onto Donegal would have broken the deadlock. It certainly worked for Kerry today as Donegal struggled to get out of their half at times.
Whatever tactics Kerry play though, a key trait that has held true over the years has been to let the ball do the work and they can conserve so much energy with how they do this. They played at their own pace throughout while Donegal had started brilliantly but ran out of steam somewhat and indeed they looked as though they lost a bit of focus following some flash points before half time.
As Leo McLoone made a burst forward and laid off a ball he was caught high by Paul Galvin and Leo’s team mates were incensed that the referee waved play on. Galvin was eventually booked but in the very next attack McLoone was again the target of a high tackle, this time from Sheehan, and again he needed treatment.
The Naomh Conaill man of course suffered that horrendous injury in the club championship last year, fracturing a cheek bone and any high challenges he faces, never mind two in two minutes, cant bring back any good memories. This may have been behind Jim McGuinness’ decision to take him off at the interval.
If Donegal lost a bit of composure at that point, Kerry had plenty of it and less than a minute after the restart the game was put to bed when Sheehan stroked home a penalty - that gave them an eight point lead and it was effectively game over.
Donegal responded after the penalty but their finishing let them down, four wides in quick succession would prove costly as they were just too far behind to take advanatge when Murphy drilled home a penalty.
Soon after that, another pivotal turning point when Eamonn McGee was shown a second yellow and that was definitely that. Kerry enjoyed the last quarter and showed all the flair you’d expect of them as they racked up a score that you wouldn’t expect a McGuinness side to concede.
Neil Gallagher did well at midfield for Donegal, winning some fine fetches but overall the hosts won far more breaks around the middle and Galvin and the O’Sullivan’s, Darran and Declan, were quick to feed the inside forwards.
Michael can be pleased with his own performance - up against Marc O’Se for much of the game he scored 1-5 on the limited ball that came his way. Kerry even brought on a sub in the shape of Aidan O’Mahony to sit as a sweeper in front of Michael for the closing stages for fear that he would add to his tally.
One Kerryman showed no fear or indeed manners though as the crowd made its way out of Fitzgerald Stadium - despite a few hundred people walking up the Lewis Road one gentleman decided to relieve himself rather than using the stadium’s excellent toilet facilities - and they call us Donegal wans a rare breed!
There’ll be none of that next week as we’re back home again - Mayo come to Ballyshannon where it’ll be back to the drawing board and a win next week is vital for our Division One survival prospects. The table is looking very tight with plenty of teams vying to avoid the drop - hopefully a positive result next week can take the Messiah’s troops out of that bracket.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Now We’ve Started!
Donegal finally got their league campaign up and running and not for the first time it was down to one man - Michael Murphy. Making his first appearance in his county jersey since the defeat in Croke Park in August, the maestro looked fit and sharp despite his lay off after groin surgery.
And he didn’t take long to make his presence felt - 11 seconds to be precise.
After Neil Gallagher won the throw in, Karl Lacey made the first of several bursts from his centre back berth to get on the ball. The All Star drove it towards Murphy on the edge of the square and just as he did against Derry in Celtic Park last year, it was catch-pivot-bang in one beautiful movement. Quite a way to announce his return and he kept it up throughout the game, finishing with 1-3 and was instrumental in many of Donegal’s better movements.
Reports earlier in the year suggested that young Michael was spending considerable time practising with his weaker left foot and judging by his score early in the second half it seems to be paying off, as he posted a beauty off his ciotog while under pressure from two Cork defenders.
Cork will be disappointed that they didn’t have their defensive alignment sorted out at the throw in for the early goal but if anyone can capitalise on such situations it’s Jim McGuinness. As usually happens with Donegal the third full forward, in today’s case David Walsh, comes out to midfield from their original corner forward position but this doesn’t happen until after the throw in. This denies the opposition the opportunity to use the extra corner back as a sweeper straight away as they await to see how the forward line assembles itself. Today it worked perfectly, leaving Murphy with one-on-one with his man, Eoin O’Mahony, and there’s only one result when that happens.
Its an interesting insight into the McGuinness mind, similar in a way to how he famously told Christy Toye to run straight for goal when coming on as a substitute against Kildare last year in the hope that he wouldn’t be picked up - seconds later he rattled the net. He devises many little snippets of tactics such as this, the opportunity may not always present itself but if it does, his boys are ready.
Walsh did come out to the middle third soon after and Cork boss Conor Counihan instructed the spare man, Ray Carey, not to follow him and instead act as a screen in front of Murphy and Colm McFadden. This didn’t really work as the hosts played the ball down the channels instead of down on top of the deadly duo as the sweeper would have been anticipating.
Even with Walsh around the middle Cork got to grips at midfield as the first half wore on, David's namesake Aidan doing particularly well, and this was cue for Murphy to come a little deeper. Immediately the sweeper was abandoned as Cork went man for man around the middle. This shows the impact Murphy has not only on Donegal but on our opponents; wherever he is positioned dictates how the opponents set up their defence and what match ups they employ. If Cork thought they might get a breather with the big man out the field though thats not how it panned out - the Glenswilly man was involved in everything, and at one stage even caught a ball over his head in the full back position and set the team on their way again.
Much of Cork’s success in recent years has been built on their physical presence and ball winning ability at centre field and any game against them will largely depend on the amount of ball a team can win in this sector. In spite of Walsh (the Cork version) and to a lesser extent Graham Canty doing well to manufacture breaks and win possession, Donegal’s pairing of Neil Gallagher and Rory Kavanagh bossed the area overall and they can be satisfied with a good day’s work.
Kavanagh though was fortunate early in the game that the referee missed a right handed jab he landed on Canty although it wasn’t the only thing man in the middle, Padraig O’Sullivan, overlooked. He brandished five yellow cards in the first half alone in a game where in truth there was no need to stop the game as much as he did let alone book players, Kavanagh’s indiscretion apart. Two of the top teams in the country went toe to toe and unfortunately O’Sullivan prevented a decent game from being a very good one.
The Kerry whistler was a late replacement because the match was actually due to be overseen by our old friend Marty Duffy, so maybe it could have been worse.
On numerous occasions the Donegal forwards were being fouled when running for the ball but these misdemeanours went unpunished. One particular example saw Murphy running towards the ball with both his arms spread out to illustrate to the ref that he was being held; he still won the ball, turned his man and after being tugged back again, Cork came away with possession - yet no free.
In the end thankfully the referee had no outcome on the result and Donegal now sit on two league points, in 5th place in the table. Only two points separate top and bottom in the division so relegation and qualification for a league semi final are both possible scenarios at this stage. A league semi final looked a long way away after the display against Laois but with the cavalry returning today there was a very obvious lift in performance.
The low score line will no doubt lead to the national media assuming that this was a Donegal defence-fest but in truth had the those up front been a bit sharper they could have posted a huge score. McFadden, Lacey and Paddy McBreaty all had second half goal chances while there could have been at least a further ten points added if the wides and shots dropped short had been turned into scores.
Full back Neil McGee had a fine game on one of the country’s leading marksmen Donncha O’Connor, restricting him to just a single point. McGee’s brother Eamon was taken off in the first half along with Creeslough’s Christy Toye which suggests that these two aren’t quite up to speed yet after their injury lay offs.
Lacey was at his superb best yet again, it seems to be that every day with him over the past while - he just cant seem to play anything but brilliantly. He hit his customary score from half back to put Donegal three points up near the end and the home crowd raised a big cheer from the stand at MacCumhaill Park when local lad Martin Reilly sealed the win with a fine point on the run soon after.
There was certainly a spring back in the step of the Donegal faithful as they left the ground today; that was the team’s first win since that epic against Kildare. A performance like today's against one the country’s ‘big three’ bodes well for more days like that come the Summer. Another giant awaits next week….bring on the Kingdom.
And he didn’t take long to make his presence felt - 11 seconds to be precise.
After Neil Gallagher won the throw in, Karl Lacey made the first of several bursts from his centre back berth to get on the ball. The All Star drove it towards Murphy on the edge of the square and just as he did against Derry in Celtic Park last year, it was catch-pivot-bang in one beautiful movement. Quite a way to announce his return and he kept it up throughout the game, finishing with 1-3 and was instrumental in many of Donegal’s better movements.
Reports earlier in the year suggested that young Michael was spending considerable time practising with his weaker left foot and judging by his score early in the second half it seems to be paying off, as he posted a beauty off his ciotog while under pressure from two Cork defenders.
Cork will be disappointed that they didn’t have their defensive alignment sorted out at the throw in for the early goal but if anyone can capitalise on such situations it’s Jim McGuinness. As usually happens with Donegal the third full forward, in today’s case David Walsh, comes out to midfield from their original corner forward position but this doesn’t happen until after the throw in. This denies the opposition the opportunity to use the extra corner back as a sweeper straight away as they await to see how the forward line assembles itself. Today it worked perfectly, leaving Murphy with one-on-one with his man, Eoin O’Mahony, and there’s only one result when that happens.
Its an interesting insight into the McGuinness mind, similar in a way to how he famously told Christy Toye to run straight for goal when coming on as a substitute against Kildare last year in the hope that he wouldn’t be picked up - seconds later he rattled the net. He devises many little snippets of tactics such as this, the opportunity may not always present itself but if it does, his boys are ready.
Walsh did come out to the middle third soon after and Cork boss Conor Counihan instructed the spare man, Ray Carey, not to follow him and instead act as a screen in front of Murphy and Colm McFadden. This didn’t really work as the hosts played the ball down the channels instead of down on top of the deadly duo as the sweeper would have been anticipating.
Even with Walsh around the middle Cork got to grips at midfield as the first half wore on, David's namesake Aidan doing particularly well, and this was cue for Murphy to come a little deeper. Immediately the sweeper was abandoned as Cork went man for man around the middle. This shows the impact Murphy has not only on Donegal but on our opponents; wherever he is positioned dictates how the opponents set up their defence and what match ups they employ. If Cork thought they might get a breather with the big man out the field though thats not how it panned out - the Glenswilly man was involved in everything, and at one stage even caught a ball over his head in the full back position and set the team on their way again.
Much of Cork’s success in recent years has been built on their physical presence and ball winning ability at centre field and any game against them will largely depend on the amount of ball a team can win in this sector. In spite of Walsh (the Cork version) and to a lesser extent Graham Canty doing well to manufacture breaks and win possession, Donegal’s pairing of Neil Gallagher and Rory Kavanagh bossed the area overall and they can be satisfied with a good day’s work.
Kavanagh though was fortunate early in the game that the referee missed a right handed jab he landed on Canty although it wasn’t the only thing man in the middle, Padraig O’Sullivan, overlooked. He brandished five yellow cards in the first half alone in a game where in truth there was no need to stop the game as much as he did let alone book players, Kavanagh’s indiscretion apart. Two of the top teams in the country went toe to toe and unfortunately O’Sullivan prevented a decent game from being a very good one.
The Kerry whistler was a late replacement because the match was actually due to be overseen by our old friend Marty Duffy, so maybe it could have been worse.
On numerous occasions the Donegal forwards were being fouled when running for the ball but these misdemeanours went unpunished. One particular example saw Murphy running towards the ball with both his arms spread out to illustrate to the ref that he was being held; he still won the ball, turned his man and after being tugged back again, Cork came away with possession - yet no free.
In the end thankfully the referee had no outcome on the result and Donegal now sit on two league points, in 5th place in the table. Only two points separate top and bottom in the division so relegation and qualification for a league semi final are both possible scenarios at this stage. A league semi final looked a long way away after the display against Laois but with the cavalry returning today there was a very obvious lift in performance.
The low score line will no doubt lead to the national media assuming that this was a Donegal defence-fest but in truth had the those up front been a bit sharper they could have posted a huge score. McFadden, Lacey and Paddy McBreaty all had second half goal chances while there could have been at least a further ten points added if the wides and shots dropped short had been turned into scores.
Full back Neil McGee had a fine game on one of the country’s leading marksmen Donncha O’Connor, restricting him to just a single point. McGee’s brother Eamon was taken off in the first half along with Creeslough’s Christy Toye which suggests that these two aren’t quite up to speed yet after their injury lay offs.
Lacey was at his superb best yet again, it seems to be that every day with him over the past while - he just cant seem to play anything but brilliantly. He hit his customary score from half back to put Donegal three points up near the end and the home crowd raised a big cheer from the stand at MacCumhaill Park when local lad Martin Reilly sealed the win with a fine point on the run soon after.
There was certainly a spring back in the step of the Donegal faithful as they left the ground today; that was the team’s first win since that epic against Kildare. A performance like today's against one the country’s ‘big three’ bodes well for more days like that come the Summer. Another giant awaits next week….bring on the Kingdom.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Donegal beaten at their own game....
Donegal were served a dose of their own medicine today as they ran into a blue and white Laois wall at O’Donnell Park. For the majority of the game they could find little or no way through the O’Moore rearguard while at the same time leaving plenty of room for the visitors at the back and they took full advantage. If ever a scoreline gave a false impression of proceedings the 2-9 to 2-6 total at the end did just that. It was flattering on Donegal who were never in the game at any stage.
Laois popped over some fine early scores, capitalising on a lethargic Donegal start, in what was a similar pattern to that of last year’s encounter in Portlaoise. On that day MJ Tierney led the way in the point scoring stakes, today though it was Ross Munnelly who produced some memorable points to set his team on their way.
A reshuffle before throw-in saw Neil Gallagher positioned on the edge of the square as Jim McGuinness set out his stall early. Long ball after long ball was pumped in on top of the Glenswilly man and while this had worked to good effect on many occasions during his club’s wonderful Championship campaign last year, it didn’t bear fruit today. Laois had a sweeper in front of him and unfortunately he saw more of the ball than Gallagher. At the other end though Laois’ midfielder-cum-full forward Padraig Clancy had an excellent day, scoring 1-1 and leaving his fingerprints over many of the visitors’ scores.
Parallels can certainly be drawn with last year when both these sides plied their trade in the second tier; then, as now, Laois looked to be flying at this time of year, beating Donegal and Derry among others on their way to promotion. However they flattered to deceive in the Championship and you’d certainly have to wonder about the training regimes of both teams at present.
Rory Gallagher spoke afterwards about how far behind Donegal are on other teams in relation to sharpness and fitness and the evidence was in plentiful supply today. The lads are still likely to be undergoing tough training sessions with emphasis on conditioning for the summer ahead rather than on attaining a certain level of sharpness and improving touch and control. Some of the heavy legs and rustiness that we saw during the McKenna Cup are still evident in some of the players.
As Down showed last week, the half back line dictates most of the play in modern Gaelic Games and while the Mournemen got a large number of scores from this unit, Donegal today couldn’t repeat the trick. The absence of Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden is being keenly felt at present; it was hoped that others amongst the forwards would be able to step up and fill the gap this hasn’t happened yet.
When the dynamic duo are in the side the whole focus of Donegal play is to stop the opposition scoring, turn over possession and get the ball into the inside line and they will do the rest. The ideas employed to cope with their absence aren’t quite coming off right now and the onus is on the half back line of Karl Lacey, Anthony Thompson and Leo McLoone to get forward and support. Today we saw this but it led to large gaps at the back and Laois were able to pick off scores at ease any time a Donegal move broke down.
Aside from the condition of the teams though and also the non-availablility of key players, overall today there were just too many unforced errors and too much sloppiness and this led to the huge eleven point lead that Laois enjoyed at one stage. The team stuck at it though and kept the effort up and were eventually rewarded with a couple of goals, even though the first appeared to have stayed on the line rather than rolling over it.
Young Martin Reilly did well throughout as did the energizer bunny that is Mark McHugh. These two, along with Paddy McGrath and Ryan Bradley, put in a Trojan amount of work but unfortunately too many of their team mates did not reach the required level of performance.
While the league position we find ourselves in and the general level of display is disappointing, the most worrying aspect of today’s game was the sight of Lacey hobbling off with what could be a reoccurrence of the knee injury he sustained at Croke Park last August. There’s been no update as of yet on what the injury is but he is certainly in the indispensable category and it would be a huge blow if he were to spend some time on the treatment table.
The mini break that now takes place in the league should allow Donegal to ease down on the heavy training and get back to achieving a better level of performance. That will most definitely be needed as we face into a daunting set of fixtures against Cork, Kerry, Mayo and Dublin. The next three weeks will be critical in the team’s 2012 development and will have a big baring on what division we’ll be playing our league football in next year. The Messiah has work to do.
Laois popped over some fine early scores, capitalising on a lethargic Donegal start, in what was a similar pattern to that of last year’s encounter in Portlaoise. On that day MJ Tierney led the way in the point scoring stakes, today though it was Ross Munnelly who produced some memorable points to set his team on their way.
A reshuffle before throw-in saw Neil Gallagher positioned on the edge of the square as Jim McGuinness set out his stall early. Long ball after long ball was pumped in on top of the Glenswilly man and while this had worked to good effect on many occasions during his club’s wonderful Championship campaign last year, it didn’t bear fruit today. Laois had a sweeper in front of him and unfortunately he saw more of the ball than Gallagher. At the other end though Laois’ midfielder-cum-full forward Padraig Clancy had an excellent day, scoring 1-1 and leaving his fingerprints over many of the visitors’ scores.
Parallels can certainly be drawn with last year when both these sides plied their trade in the second tier; then, as now, Laois looked to be flying at this time of year, beating Donegal and Derry among others on their way to promotion. However they flattered to deceive in the Championship and you’d certainly have to wonder about the training regimes of both teams at present.
Rory Gallagher spoke afterwards about how far behind Donegal are on other teams in relation to sharpness and fitness and the evidence was in plentiful supply today. The lads are still likely to be undergoing tough training sessions with emphasis on conditioning for the summer ahead rather than on attaining a certain level of sharpness and improving touch and control. Some of the heavy legs and rustiness that we saw during the McKenna Cup are still evident in some of the players.
As Down showed last week, the half back line dictates most of the play in modern Gaelic Games and while the Mournemen got a large number of scores from this unit, Donegal today couldn’t repeat the trick. The absence of Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden is being keenly felt at present; it was hoped that others amongst the forwards would be able to step up and fill the gap this hasn’t happened yet.
When the dynamic duo are in the side the whole focus of Donegal play is to stop the opposition scoring, turn over possession and get the ball into the inside line and they will do the rest. The ideas employed to cope with their absence aren’t quite coming off right now and the onus is on the half back line of Karl Lacey, Anthony Thompson and Leo McLoone to get forward and support. Today we saw this but it led to large gaps at the back and Laois were able to pick off scores at ease any time a Donegal move broke down.
Aside from the condition of the teams though and also the non-availablility of key players, overall today there were just too many unforced errors and too much sloppiness and this led to the huge eleven point lead that Laois enjoyed at one stage. The team stuck at it though and kept the effort up and were eventually rewarded with a couple of goals, even though the first appeared to have stayed on the line rather than rolling over it.
Young Martin Reilly did well throughout as did the energizer bunny that is Mark McHugh. These two, along with Paddy McGrath and Ryan Bradley, put in a Trojan amount of work but unfortunately too many of their team mates did not reach the required level of performance.
While the league position we find ourselves in and the general level of display is disappointing, the most worrying aspect of today’s game was the sight of Lacey hobbling off with what could be a reoccurrence of the knee injury he sustained at Croke Park last August. There’s been no update as of yet on what the injury is but he is certainly in the indispensable category and it would be a huge blow if he were to spend some time on the treatment table.
The mini break that now takes place in the league should allow Donegal to ease down on the heavy training and get back to achieving a better level of performance. That will most definitely be needed as we face into a daunting set of fixtures against Cork, Kerry, Mayo and Dublin. The next three weeks will be critical in the team’s 2012 development and will have a big baring on what division we’ll be playing our league football in next year. The Messiah has work to do.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Donegal Downed in Newry
A frustrating evening for the Donegal contingent at Pairc Esler in Newry, a one point defeat when a draw was certainly within reach. In an entertaining encounter under lights, both teams played some excellent football and both deserved a share of the spoils. The home fans left happier though and next week’s home tie with Laois is now in the must-win category for Donegal.
Down were lively early on, determined to run at Donegal and were quick to register points on the board. The battle around the middle made for interesting viewing with Neil Gallagher and Dan Gordon having a great contest. The impish Conor Laverty, named at full forward, played a deep playmaking role to good effect and was involved in much of the good work from Down early on. The home side found themselves five points clear after a goal from Liam Doyle but Donegal responded well and began to take control around the middle.
Donegal played a pressing game high up the field and it led to a couple of scores as they clawed their way back into the game. Mark McHugh was prominent throughout this period, getting his name on the score sheet twice in a matter of minutes following the concession of the goal. McHugh, a surprise starter following a muscle injury sustained last week, is widely regarded as a hard worker and skilful ball carrier after his sweeper role last year but he’s also a fine half forward and is well able to take his scores.
His club, Kilcar, will be hoping he can keep doing that as himself and Patrick McBrearty are in Ulster U21 club action tomorrow; with both on song you wouldn’t bet against them. The younger of the duo McBrearty, showed well for the ball over the course of the game and looked dangerous when running at defenders, something we will hopefully see more of during the league.
The pressing game is just another layer of the McGuinness defensive system and it was employed tonight in a similar way to last year’s championship game with Cavan. Despite what the national media would have you believe its not as simple as putting everyone behind the ball; Jim is an astute manager and not a one trick defensive pony of a coach.
One consequence of the modern game of packed defences is the accuracy with which passes have to be made in the opposition‘s half of the field. The little dink pass over one line of defence, a drilled pass into a man in the full forward line - they’re fantastic skills to see when executed well and Ryan Bradley, Martin McElhinney and Leo McLoone all gave us fine examples as indeed did the Mourne men.
Stephen Griffin had another frustrating night in a Donegal jersey - he did almost everything right but things just don’t seem to fall for the Nauls man. On four or five occasions he positioned himself well to receive the high ball coming in but each time the ball managed to squirm from his grasp. He backs into defenders correctly, uses his strength, gets his hands up but the ball just always finds a way to escape from his hands.
With Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden on the sidelines at present, the free taking duties were rotated with Griffin, McBrearty and substitute Dermot Molloy all having a go. So too did goalkeeper Paul Durcan but the Cluxton experiment didn’t quite work tonight with the big Four Masters man seeing both his attempts go wide. He’s been known to be a regular scorer for his club, even playing outfield on occasion, so we may see more of this as the year goes on.
One huge positive from a Donegal point of view was the return to competitive action of Karl Lacey. The man is just a joy to watch, an incredible footballer. At the peak of his powers right now he invariably takes the right option, rarely if ever gives the ball away and has that brilliant knack of being in the right place at the right time. There’s always that ‘what if’ in the back of our minds in relation to his departure early in the second half of last year’s tussle with Dublin.
Leo came more into the game in the second half, driving forward from half back along with Lacey and Anthony Thompson. Paddy McGrath was excellent on the night, both in his defensive duties and in his support play on the right flank.
The last ten minutes were set up for a grandstand finish when Martin McElhinney finished off an intricate move to finish to the net. Down edged in front with a couple of quick points, including one particularly dubious effort with Laverty clearly picking the ball up off the ground before offloading. Brick had a great chance to level it but his effort floated wide and soon after he had a placed ball to square things up but unfortunately the result was the same.
Its never good to start your league campaign with a defeat but Donegal have the perfect fixture next week, with Laois visiting O’Donnell Park, to get off the mark and get two points on the board. There were a lot of good aspects of our play tonight and considering we were short of our main attacking options overall the display was good. A similar display next week should lead to a win.
Down were lively early on, determined to run at Donegal and were quick to register points on the board. The battle around the middle made for interesting viewing with Neil Gallagher and Dan Gordon having a great contest. The impish Conor Laverty, named at full forward, played a deep playmaking role to good effect and was involved in much of the good work from Down early on. The home side found themselves five points clear after a goal from Liam Doyle but Donegal responded well and began to take control around the middle.
Donegal played a pressing game high up the field and it led to a couple of scores as they clawed their way back into the game. Mark McHugh was prominent throughout this period, getting his name on the score sheet twice in a matter of minutes following the concession of the goal. McHugh, a surprise starter following a muscle injury sustained last week, is widely regarded as a hard worker and skilful ball carrier after his sweeper role last year but he’s also a fine half forward and is well able to take his scores.
His club, Kilcar, will be hoping he can keep doing that as himself and Patrick McBrearty are in Ulster U21 club action tomorrow; with both on song you wouldn’t bet against them. The younger of the duo McBrearty, showed well for the ball over the course of the game and looked dangerous when running at defenders, something we will hopefully see more of during the league.
The pressing game is just another layer of the McGuinness defensive system and it was employed tonight in a similar way to last year’s championship game with Cavan. Despite what the national media would have you believe its not as simple as putting everyone behind the ball; Jim is an astute manager and not a one trick defensive pony of a coach.
One consequence of the modern game of packed defences is the accuracy with which passes have to be made in the opposition‘s half of the field. The little dink pass over one line of defence, a drilled pass into a man in the full forward line - they’re fantastic skills to see when executed well and Ryan Bradley, Martin McElhinney and Leo McLoone all gave us fine examples as indeed did the Mourne men.
Stephen Griffin had another frustrating night in a Donegal jersey - he did almost everything right but things just don’t seem to fall for the Nauls man. On four or five occasions he positioned himself well to receive the high ball coming in but each time the ball managed to squirm from his grasp. He backs into defenders correctly, uses his strength, gets his hands up but the ball just always finds a way to escape from his hands.
With Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden on the sidelines at present, the free taking duties were rotated with Griffin, McBrearty and substitute Dermot Molloy all having a go. So too did goalkeeper Paul Durcan but the Cluxton experiment didn’t quite work tonight with the big Four Masters man seeing both his attempts go wide. He’s been known to be a regular scorer for his club, even playing outfield on occasion, so we may see more of this as the year goes on.
One huge positive from a Donegal point of view was the return to competitive action of Karl Lacey. The man is just a joy to watch, an incredible footballer. At the peak of his powers right now he invariably takes the right option, rarely if ever gives the ball away and has that brilliant knack of being in the right place at the right time. There’s always that ‘what if’ in the back of our minds in relation to his departure early in the second half of last year’s tussle with Dublin.
Leo came more into the game in the second half, driving forward from half back along with Lacey and Anthony Thompson. Paddy McGrath was excellent on the night, both in his defensive duties and in his support play on the right flank.
The last ten minutes were set up for a grandstand finish when Martin McElhinney finished off an intricate move to finish to the net. Down edged in front with a couple of quick points, including one particularly dubious effort with Laverty clearly picking the ball up off the ground before offloading. Brick had a great chance to level it but his effort floated wide and soon after he had a placed ball to square things up but unfortunately the result was the same.
Its never good to start your league campaign with a defeat but Donegal have the perfect fixture next week, with Laois visiting O’Donnell Park, to get off the mark and get two points on the board. There were a lot of good aspects of our play tonight and considering we were short of our main attacking options overall the display was good. A similar display next week should lead to a win.
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