The infamous All-Ireland Semi-Final of 2011 was a seminal
moment for Gaelic football and is regarded by many as a turning point for the sport;
today’s encounter in Letterkenny was possibly the closest we’ve seen to a re-run
of it. That occasion in Croke Park, just like today, produced fourteen scores
and Donegal suffered the same fate on both days, two-point defeats.
Since Kerry plundered Sam last September, the challenge for
Donegal has been to try to learn how to cope with teams who reflect their own
gameplan back through the mirror. Monaghan set up as expected today and for a
while at least it seemed as if the hosts had a defined plan to deal with it –
keep possession no matter what, entice the opposing rearguard to move forward
and create space behind them. Malachy O’Rourke’s team on the other hand were
under orders to retain their shape, mark their zone and forget about pressing
the ball. It is a game of chess and it’s little wonder that there’s no Sky
Sports Chess channel as part of our TV packages - it does not make for good
viewing.
Monaghan’s discipline in not edging out to oncoming attackers
was in contrast to Donegal’s players, who hassled and harried the ball when
defending. Playing at home they felt as if they had to take the initiative and
show some urgency, yet in doing this they left tiny pockets of space and that
was all the visitors needed to get a couple of vital scores in the closing
quarter.
The players were steadfast in their commitment to keep the
ball and in a way it is encouraging that they are so keen to heed the message of
their management – after all that is exactly why this group has been so
successful. They’re a selfless bunch, are prepared to do what is asked of them
and are not afraid of being unpopular. Despite the constant cries of derision from
the O’Donnell Park crowd they kept moving the ball patiently hoping for an
opening.
There’s the problem though – hoping. As the first half wore
on, there didn’t seem to be any conviction or anywhere near enough drive in the
movements and most attacks petered out. Twice the players succumbed to the
spectators’ wishes and kicked the ball in long after sustained periods of futile
probing – one went straight out over the end line, the other was a bad ball that
Frank McGlynn tried to make the best of but with two defenders around him it
came to nothing. The kicks were at least greeted with some sarcastic cheering.
As in Ballyshannon last week, the wind again played a huge
role in the game. Blowing across the field as well as down towards the river
end of the ground, it made shooting from any distance extremely hard to judge
and made some of the players look very ordinary. Michael Murphy, Rory Beggan
and Odhran MacNiallais all missed frees that they would normally expect to
score as all day players struggled to get their angles right. Paul Finlay fared
the best out of all the free takers and Beggan did nail a marvellous free near
the end to nudge his side in front but that was the exception rather than the
rule today with some woeful shooting on view from both sides.
So essentially Donegal were doing the right thing because
kicking, whether shooting or passing, meant giving the ball immediately back to
Monaghan – that’s the way it would be viewed from a coaching perspective. If the
wind is stopping you from shooting from distance, if you can’t create a scoring
chance from kicking to the forwards and you’re faced with a wall of thirteen or
fourteen men that is preventing you from running or hand passing your way to
goal then what do you do? Few of us in
the crowd had the answer and it was grim viewing trying to figure it out. Who’d
be a manager?!
Tyrone played the same way in Croker last night and created
a huge amount of chances and scoring opportunities, mainly because Dublin were
flummoxed and fell into their trap; had Mickey Harte’s charges brought their shooting boots they would
have won at a canter. The Red Hand men are the original architects of this
style of play and are good at it – yet their sole defeat thus far was against Monaghan.
It’s no coincidence that the Oriel’s two league wins have come against fellow
Ulster opposition – while Tyrone and Donegal can mix it with the likes of
Dublin, Cork or Mayo, Monaghan revel in battles against those they know best.
With the strong breeze at Donegal’s backs in the second half
there was a change of tack as Neil Gallagher began driving the ball long into Murphy.
It paid dividends with the goal – astonishingly our only score of the second
half – yet time and again when Michael collected near-impossible passes
launched his way, he was mauled to the ground by defenders with little or no
sign of his own team mates in support. What appeared a good tactic didn’t work
all that well either and that must be a concern as it is one of the team’s
primary weapons.
Rory Gallagher introduced runners off the bench in the shape
of Martin McElhinney, Anthony Thompson, Daniel McLaughlin and Eoin McHugh in an
effort to make a quicker and slicker transition from defence to attack but with
Monaghan retreating and conceding almost all of Paul Durcan’s kick outs they
ensured that there was no chance of a quick Donegal restart catching them
off-guard at the back. Thompson did have a late chance to level the game but
the breeze again made it difficult and his shot was dragged wide.
Prior to that it looked as though the game may have been
heading for a draw and it would have been a case of neither team deserving to
win but Monaghan got their noses in front and with a game to come against another
provincial rival in Derry, they will have their eye on retaining their spot in the
top tier.
As for Donegal, is this where we hit the panic button? Are
we finished? Has The System had its day? On today’s evidence the answer would
be yes all around but today is just that – one day.
Any rash judgements need to be put in context. Granted the
seventy minutes this afternoon were as poor as we’ve seen from green and gold
jerseys for quite a long time but it was just one game. This time last year,
Derry were being viewed as world beaters as they lit up Division One yet now
they are propping up the table. At the same time Donegal got wake up calls in
the shape of a last gasp draw with Meath followed by a loss against Down in
Newry.
Also, after many defeats stories often emerge about heavy training undertaken in the preceding days which have
a big effect on performances – reversals against Laois and Kerry in 2012 and
last year’s league final against today’s opponents spring to mind.
Rory was conspicuous by his absence on the airwaves in the
hour following the game with none of Highland, RTE or Newstalk managing to get
a hold of him. It’s quite possible that the door to the home
dressing room was firmly shut as the players were read the riot act and
individuals asked a lot of searching questions of themselves.
One manager who did make it onto the radio was Clare boss
Davy Fitzgerald. His team are nought from three so far in the league yet he was
calm and contented as he was asked the tough questions. It’s all about Summer for
him and he isn’t getting too upset about a few defeats at this early stage of
the year – maybe there’s a lesson there.
On most other occasions a trip south to the Kingdom would be
a daunting one but right now they could be the ideal opponents for these
players to face as they seek to redeem themselves after today’s no show. Kerry
are the one team that this Donegal panel will not need any extra motivation for.
That is the challenge for next Sunday; as for this week the
best thing to do is forget about it - because it was very forgettable.
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