Donegal to ease past Down

Donegal head into their Ulster semi-final with Down on Sunday, as resounding hot favourites, and buoyed on by an impressive victory over Tyrone. In the lead up to the clash on May 26, many commentators had suggested that Donegal would struggle against an in-form Tyrone team. However, Donegal's emphatic victory sent a message to the country, that the Champions would not be giving up their crown without a fight.

Down were also unfancied for their quarter-final, but produced an excellent display to beat Derry in Celtic Park. Like Donegal, they went into that game after suffering relegation from Division 1, but they showed tremendous spirit to come from behind and record a five-point victory in a fantastic game of football. Although it was probably the best game of the season to date, there is no hiding from the fact that the match lacked intensity. Derry did not put enough pressure on their opponents and Down will always fancy their chances in a shoot-out.

James McCartan’s side have developed a reputation for being soft in recent years. Every good performance they have delivered seemed to be followed by a dismal display.  Their defence is regarded as one of the weakest in the country, and in four years under McCartan they do not appear to have resolved this issue in any way. They reached the All-Ireland final in 2010, but have fallen away drastically since then, and they are no longer considered one of the top eight teams in Ireland. Their temperament is weak and Donegal will try to break them mentally, like they did in last year’s Ulster final when they beat Down by 11 points.

 

While Down’s temperament is questionable, Donegal’s is certainly not. They delivered a statement of their intent in their comprehensive win over Tyrone in the Ulster quarter-final. Pundits were quick to write off Donegal’s chances before the game, with many pointing to their relegation from Division 1, as the first indication of their imminent decline. However, Donegal showed that they haven’t lost any of their hunger, and to keep Tyrone scoreless for 33 minutes in the second half is a remarkable feat. This tells us that they are just as resolute in defence this year, as they were last.

Donegal could have succumbed to the pressure with Karl Lacey absent for most of the game, and Frank McGlynn departing early through injury. However, they remained composed and their replacements showed their capabilities. One of the main observations during Donegal’s disappointing league campaign was that they did not have enough depth in their panel, but the important roles played by Declan and David Walsh, Martin O’Reilly and championship debutant Ross Wherity showed that Donegal do have players pushing hard for starting positions.

The form of Paddy McBrearty will give Donegal folk great confidence as Sunday approaches. He looks like a completely different player this year, and since he was left out of the league game against Tyrone in Omagh, he has really lifted his performances. He was brilliant against Tyrone in the championship, and then backed that it up with two stellar displays for Kilcar in the club championship. I attended the second of those games against St Michaels, and he was sensational, kicking points from all angles. McBrearty’s improvement will likely enable Michael Murphy to drift further out the field. While I feel Murphy is at his best on the edge of the square, his selflessness will ensure that there is no drop in his performance. His presence around the middle of the field could be crucial against Down, especially with his Glenswilly teammate, Neil Gallagher missing out through injury.

Down will be targeting the midfield as a sector in which they can dominate. Their midfield duo of Kalum King and Kevin McKernan were superb against Derry, and with Ambrose Rogers playing at wing-forward they have a lot of options for kick-outs. McKernan kicked four fantastic points against Derry, and Donegal will have to curtail his influence. Down won the midfield battle against Donegal in the first half of last year’s Ulster final, and it took the arrival of Neil Gallagher to steady Donegal. However, Jim McGuinness will not have the luxury of introducing the Glenswilly man this weekend.

Donegal have named Ryan Bradley in midfield, and assuming he does line out in that position, it is a massive game for the Buncrana man. Bradley has struggled badly this year, and is in danger of losing his place in the team. The last time he performed to a high level in a Donegal shirt was against Down in last year’s Ulster Final. He has played his best football for Donegal when he has played at midfield, so Gallagher’s misfortune may benefit Bradley.

Down have always produced good forwards, and in Donal O’Hare, they have one of the best young talents in the country. He was excellent in the league in a team that was struggling, and he has bulked up significantly this year. He showed what he was capable of in the game against Derry, but he will be in for a tough afternoon, with one of the McGee brothers likely to be shadowing him. Benny Coulter did not have a good game against Derry, and he is now nearing the end of his career. However, he is still a threat, and will punish any errors made by the Donegal defence.

 

Down’s best player is their captain, Mark Poland and if they can nullify his effect, they will win the game. Poland is Down’s playmaker and almost all of their attacks go through him. He has great composure on the ball and rarely gives away possession. When they looked to be dead and buried against Derry, Poland took the fight to the Oak Leaf men scoring 1-1 and creating a goal. If Donegal can stop him dictating play, it will severely weaken the Down forward line.

It is on the other side of the pitch where Down tend to come up short. Derry had only one top quality forward in Eoin Bradley, yet Down struggled to deal with him. They decided to play with Peter Turley as a sweeper, but he was ineffective in that role and offered no protection to their full back line. Donegal have three forwards of Bradley’s ability, so Down will need to lift their game if they are to stop Donegal. They will also have to stop conceding goal opportunities if they are to have any chance of winning. Derry could have scored three goals against them in the first-half, and Donegal will punish them if they are afforded goal chances.

Down have brought in renowned coach Niall Moyna this year and reports are that he has them in great shape. Moyna has an impressive record with DCU in the Sigerson cup, and he will have devised a plan to try and stop Donegal. The question is have they got the quality in their panel to stop Donegal? I don’t think they have the firepower to break down Donegal’s rigid defence, and I think their defence will struggle against Donegal’s in-form forward line. With McGuinness at the helm, it is hard to envisage his team becoming complacent and I expect Donegal to win by at least six points.

 

Donegal to show why they are still the best

2012 was an incredible year for myself and all followers of the Donegal GAA team. We watched a group of also-rans rise to become champions with some outstanding performances. I think back to Durcan’s save against Tyrone, Lacey’s wonder minute against Kerry, big Neil’s high fielding against Cork and Murphy’s goal against Mayo, and I can’t help but smile. They were immortal moments and I don’t know if anything in life will ever surpass watching Michael Murphy lift the Sam Maguire cup on that sunny Sunday afternoon last September.

However, as great as it was, eventually you have to move on. I felt this was something that the Donegal supporters and players to an extent, struggled with during the league. Donegal were the All-Ireland champions for 2012, but once we hit the turn of the year, that position vacated, and the competition to be the best team in the country started all over again.

 Sometimes, the All-Ireland champions can start the following season’s championship complacently, but I can’t see that happening this year, after Donegal were paired with Tyrone. Donegal have played and defeated the Red Hands in both of the last two seasons, but the general consensus is that Tyrone are the one team that have really troubled Donegal during Jim McGuinness’ reign. I think this is a bigger game for Mickey Harte’s team than Donegal. Last year it was said they were going through transition, but a good league campaign this spring has propelled them back to the top table.

Mickey Harte is one of the greatest managers that the GAA has ever seen, and will forever be viewed as a legend within Tyrone and the wider GAA community. Yet make no mistake about it, if he suffers defeat to McGuinness and Donegal for the third time in three seasons on Sunday, his reputation will be tarnished. Harte and Tyrone will be desperate to beat Donegal and I sense they will need to win to be truly seen as one of the challengers for the All-Ireland this year.

The main question is where have they improved from last year to beat Donegal? People might say Donegal will not be at the same level as 2012, but Tyrone can’t control that. They can only deal with their own form. Sean Cavanagh is back and that is a massive bonus to them, while their defensive set-up appears to be sharper this year. Their big coup is the unearthing of Niall Morgan. His arrival is a potential game changer as he proved to be a reliable free-taker during the league. He has the ability to kick points from anywhere inside 55 metres, which will mean that Donegal will have to organise their blanket defence further up the field. This will allow more room for Tyrone’s forwards. It should be remembered that Tyrone are not the only team with a good free-taker. Against Cork in last year’s semi-final, Cork’s place ball experts were expected to be the primary reason for Donegal’s downfall, but they weren’t given the opportunities. They were only permitted one scoreable free in the entire game, and Donegal will have been working hard on disciplined tackling.

 

Tyrone’s forwards impressed throughout the league, but I’m not convinced they’re as good as the media has made them out to be. Conor McAliskey is a nice footballer and can take a score but Eamon McGee had him in his pocket when they met in the league. Martin Penrose had a quiet league and doesn’t seem to be at the level he was at over the last 3 years. Stephen O’Neill is playing his best football for years, and scored 1-1 against Neil McGee in the league. But these scores arrived when Donegal were down to 14 men, and there was a lot of space in front of him. On Sunday, it will be claustrophobic in the forward line and Donegal will not allow them easy access to O’Neill. Tyrone rotated their forward line frequently during the league, which makes me think that Harte is not sure who his best six forwards are.

Donegal’s poor league form is touted as a reason for why they won’t win this match, but I don‘t think it will have a big bearing on the game. Donegal were relegated without much of a fight. They lacked fitness and spent the majority of the league lumping Hail Marys into Murphy and hoping for the best. I can’t see them using this tactic again. Jim McGuinness is one of the greatest managerial brains in sport and he has known since last October that his side will be facing Tyrone. He will have been working meticulously on a gameplan since then. It will be a different Donegal team that takes to the field on Sunday, than the one we seen during the league.

Tactics will play a big part in the game on Sunday. Donegal will close off the middle of the field and I expect Tyrone to use the wings to attack them. They did this in the first 20 minutes of last year’s semi-final and got joy with Mark Donnelly scoring a point and Joe McMahon almost getting a goal. Cork adopted a similar tactic in their league game with Donegal this year, pushing their wing backs as far out to the sidelines as they could, to stretch Donegal. It didn’t make for exciting play, and they endured a lot of frustration at the start of the game but eventually they started to make progress and went on to win the match.

Donegal have named the same starting line-up as last year’s All-Ireland final, but no-one outside the panel knows exactly how they will start. There have been rumours circulating about the unavailability of Karl Lacey, Mark McHugh and Frank McGlynn. I believe that Donegal could cope without one of these players, but would be worried if two or even three of them were not fit to take the field. They were three very important players for Donegal last year carrying the ball out of defence, and that will be important on Sunday as well.

Lacey’s role in particular, is key to the game’s outcome. He was Footballer of the year in 2012 and probably Donegal’s most effective player so far during McGuinness’ tenure. I think the two most important periods in this match will be the first ten minutes and the final ten minutes. Against Dublin in the final round of league fixtures, they looked leaderless in the absence of Lacey. Ironically, Tyrone used a tactic in the All-Ireland final of 2003, which I think Donegal should use against the Red Hands on Sunday. Their inspirational captain, Peter Canavan, was injured going into the game and would not be fit to play the full 70 minutes. So Tyrone played him to half-time, replaced him and then brought him back on for the critical last ten minutes. This is how I feel Donegal should utilise Lacey, if he is not fit to play the whole game.

It’s going to be an intriguing battle, and I expect the first ten minutes to be the most ferocious opening to a game ever in MacCumhaill Park. Donegal are favourites with the bookies, but a lot of the country’s renowned pundits have backed Tyrone. They think that McGuinness’ double-jobbing is an issue, and that Donegal will not be able to replicate the hunger and desire which set them apart in 2012. True champions can rise to the challenge when people start to doubt them and I think Donegal will show that they are still the best team in the country on Sunday.

Donegal to win by four points.