DONEGAL WERE BEATEN by Dublin in the Allianz League Division 1 at Croke Park on Saturday night.
The side managed by Rory Gallagher went down 1-10 to 0-7 against the All-Ireland champions.
1 Dublin have shown a willingness to evolve
“YOU know, there are people who go to the Hague for war crimes – I tell you this, some of the coaches nowadays should be up for crimes against Gaelic football,” said RTÉ pundit Pat Spillane at half-time in the 2011 All-Ireland semi-final with Jim McGuinness’s Donegal 0-4 to 0-2 up on Dublin.
Photo caption: Rory Kavanagh of Donegal in action against Denis Bastick from Dublin Allianz Football League, Division 1, Round 6, Dublin v Donegal, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Dáire Brennan / SPORTSFILE
On Saturday, there was a similarly cagey feel with neither side scoring for the first 11 minutes and only four scores in the first 24 minutes. Donegal, probably more so than any other team in the last five years, have given Dublin plenty to think about but the composure shown by Jim Gavin’s team – rather like Pat Gilroy’s in 2011 in the eventual 0-8 to 0-6 success – was enough to win.
There might’ve been a few heckles from the stands and terraces but in a way, you’d think that Gavin enjoyed the challenge.
Although it wasn’t particularly lively for spells, the Dublin manager would’ve been satisfied with how his team’s high-pressing and turnovers upfield eventually put the game to bed when Philly McMahon goaled six minutes from time when Paul Flynn nicked a ball from Mark McHugh.
Gavin has learned from his team’s 3-14 to 0-17 loss against Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final and Dublin are not as naive as they were then. With so much natural athleticism and potency up front, that high-pressing play whilst ravenous for turnovers could be a profitable policy – especially against the teams who like to build play slowly from the back.
2 Donegal got lost without Michael Murphy
FOR Donegal, there were occasions – particularly at the end of the first half and the start of the second – where it looked as though they were infinitely capable of picking off their hosts.
But a bit like McGuinness’s side of 2011, Rory Gallagher’s team on Saturday had forced Dublin to use their head but in the end, Donegal didn’t do enough to win the game.
They’d offered very little from an attacking perspective – apart from an early Eoin McHugh goal chance and then a point from Michael Murphy – but did improve with five points between the 25th and 40th minutes.
Around that spell, Eamon McGee, Rory Kavanagh, Patrick McBrearty and Odhrán MacNiallais all scored and Donegal were briefly 0-6 to 0-5 in front five or so minutes into the second half.
But when Murphy was sent off for a second yellow card, Donegal lost their shape, even though it was still 14 v 14 as James McCarthy was also given his marching orders.
There’s continual debate over where’s the best place to play the Donegal skipper and while his influence close to goal is obvious, without Neil Gallagher Murphy was needed further out the field.
Thirteen days beforehand, Murphy almost single-handedly dragged his team back into the contest against Roscommon in Letterkenny. And after his dismissal on Saturday his worth to the team was also clear.
Rory Gallagher had no qualms with Murphy’s second yellow for a foul on Ciarán Kilkenny but the Donegal manager was not happy with the first caution in an incident with John Small.
“The Dublin player mis-soloed the ball, Michael stood his ground,” Gallagher said. “There’s no point in hiding behind it – Michael gets refereed, in our opinion, slightly different.”
3 Paul Durcan decision could have huge implications
PAUL DURCAN helped Ballyboden-St Enda’s to the Dublin, Leinster and AIB All-Ireland club championship titles since he last lined out for Donegal, against Mayo in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Since then Danny Rodgers from Dungloe, Aodh Ruadh’s Peter Boyle and St Michael’s netminder Mark Anthony McGinley have kept goal for Rory Gallagher’s team and Michael Boyle, who was Durcan’s understudy in recent years, is also on the road to recovery following a cruciate injury suffered last September.
McGinley made his first Donegal appearance on his 26th birthday on Saturday night having been denied the opportunity in the Dr McKenna Cup when he picked up a quad-muscle injury moments before the fixture against Down in January.
None of those who have played in goal in 2016 have let anyone down and all three – McGinley, Peter Boyle and Rodgers – have performed well.
On the evidence of the All-Ireland club final, Donegal are missing Durcan’s kick-outs, which were excellent on St Patrick’s Day. Rory Gallagher said he will speak to the Donegal town native in “early April.”
On Saturday Donegal struggled to win ball at midfield. That’s been a facet of the league games this springtime and with ball retention becoming such an important facet of the modern game, it’s important for Gallagher to know in good time who his No1 will be for the Ulster SFC quarter-final on June 12.
4 The James McCarthy- Martin McElhinney incident
There’s been plenty of opinions already on the incident, where some claim that Dublin wing-back James McCarthy was said to have tried to gouge Martin McElhinney.
The use of television replays – particularly in slow-motion – do provide a different perspective, as Jim Gavin, the Dublin manager, said: “There are lots of incidents in the game, if you slow them down to the tenth of a second playback, things won’t look as pretty as they would in real time.”
Whether in real time or not, though, shouldn’t be a reason to discredit the video footage. However, with the matter dealt with by the referee Conor Lane at the time, it’s unlikely that this one will rumble on and on.
5 Donegal’s early season form will stand to them, but …
Donegal started 2016 like a house on fire in Division 1 with a 3-14 to 0-7 win over Down in Newry, a 2-14 to 1-7 success against Cork at Ballyshannon and then the 1-14 to 1-12 defeat of Mayo in Ballybofey.
Since then there’s been three straight losses – 1-13 to 1-8 in Kerry and then 1-19 to 1-17 when Roscommon won in Letterkenny before Saturday’s Croke Park reversal. Therefore, with Donegal still fourth in the standings, they’ve actually beaten any team below them in the table and lost to those ahead of them.
Even a narrow defeat on Sunday can see Rory Gallagher’s side progress to the last four of the league, although that would almost certainly be against Dublin again at Croke Park again.
With the gap between this weekend and the Ulster SFC some nine weeks Donegal aren’t adverse to the idea of a semi-final, whereas last year Donegal lost to Cork just five weeks before Tyrone came to Ballybofey.
But having won three and then lost three, Donegal more than anything will want to put an end to their run of reversals when they take to the field in Castleblaney.
A chance to relegate the Ulster champions on their own patch ahead of their defence of the Anglo-Celt Cup should also provide a little extra incentive – if it’s even needed.
