Its pretty hard to write this piece without being positive, enthused and excited about the Donegal football team right now. Playing as good as we have for manys a year, implementing an all action type of game plan and we have an intense competition for places with quality on the pitch being backed up with quality on the bench. Then there’s the small matter of having a player who is as good as anyone in the country at this moment - I hope I don’t need to tell you who that is!
But this optimism has to be sounded with a little dose of cautiousness and realism. I’ll come back to that later but for now lets get to the action….
A short trip for the fans last night to Celtic Park to face a Derry side who are enjoying just as promising a start to their new manager’s regime as we are with The Messiah. Both teams came into the match on six points so a result for either would put them in pole position for a league final spot. Many, myself included I must admit, anticipated a typically scrappy Ulster derby - more akin to fare served up next door at the Brandywell but it certainly didn’t pan out that way.
Very blustery conditions to start with suggested the advantage of the breeze would be a big factor in the early scoring. The hosts clocked 1-1 inside two minutes, both coming from long punts carried into Donegal’s goalmouth thanks to the elements. It was a shock to the system but Jim was urging his charges on from the sideline and the scores soon arrived. A double from the St Michaels boys began the comeback; a fine individual effort from Martin McElhinney followed by a smart score by Colm McFadden, who is enjoying somewhat of a new lease of life under his brother in law’s tutelage.
In having such a special talent like Michael Murphy it is crucial that the supporting cast can step up to the plate to take the burden off him should he have an off day. McFadden is playing this role brilliantly thus far (not that Murphy is doing too bad!) and he notched 1-2 from play last night, including a classy finish for a goal in the second quarter.
Such was the strong breeze in the first half both Murphy and Dermot Molloy elected to take their frees from the ground rather then leaving them to chance by going from the hand. It was a wise ploy as they converted all their opportunities and it’s a huge plus for any team to have kickers of their class being able to alternate between kicking out of hand and off the deck.
Their frees and the goal coincided with the wind dying down somewhat, allowing Donegal to take over at midfield and showing Derry to be a pretty average side, showing little improvement from the Crozier and Cassidy eras. Up until then referee Padraig Hughes had done his best to keep Derry in the game, giving the accurate Conleth Gilligan five free taking opportunities and he took all of them. Hughes was blowing for a lot of debatable technical fouls against Donegal and in the second half he seemed to do the exact same only then he called most fouls against the home side. Some may call that consistency but it seemed needless and both sets of supporters were hoping he would let the teams get on with what was turning into a real cracker.
The more control Donegal gained around the middle third, the more forwards Derry retreated back into that area but to no avail, largely due to the amount of breaks that Jim’s lads can win. One of these break-winners is Mark McHugh who employs a particular interesting role on the opposition kick outs. He marks his man as usual, not marking your man wouldn’t be tolerated under the McGuinness work ethic, but if he sees that the ball is not coming his way he immediately leaves his man and sprints back to take up post in front of his full-back line. Time after time he did this and any loose ball that went into the Derry forward line was hovered up by the Kilcar man. He’s not quite the ‘Conductor of the Orchestra’ his father was but he is yet another key component of The Messiah’s master plan. McGuinness is one of the new breed of deep thinking coaches and he has obviously thought a lot about the importance of winning primary possession. He’s not one for leaving things to chance, not a man for hoping that his players win the 50-50 stuff; at present his team don’t give the ball away cheaply so if they can win enough of it from the kick outs it increases their chances of working good scoring positions.
As happened in Navan last week, Donegal did not sit on their half time instead trying to build on their lead. Even after the concession of a penalty, converted by Caolan O‘Boyle, the team looked composed and happy to stick to their game plan and it wasn’t long before we saw the rewards. If McFadden’s goal in the first half was good, his partner in crime managed an even better one to put the game beyond doubt. Michael Murphy was being double teamed, one defender at his back and one standing in front, when a high ball was floated in his direction. Two against one, he still towered in the air above his markers to fetch the ball and before the backs could react he was on the ground, had turned and was heading for goal; a hop and a solo and he unleashed a bullet into the corner of the net. Almost all of the crowd thought the ball had hit the post and cannoned out but in fact Murphy had hit his shot perfectly against the stanchion and with the green flag in the air Donegal knew the game was theirs.
Things didn’t get any better for Murphy’s marker Kevin McCloy; the next time the ball came their way he inadvertently clipped his the Glenswilly maestro’s heels while trying to keep up with him and collected a second yellow card. Murphy added a couple of fabulous frees in the closing minutes and Karl Lacey even had time to leave his man Paddy Bradley to round off the night’s scoring.
So going back to the start, here’s where we are…five games played, unbeaten, top of the table and another win should see us take our place in a Division Two league final on Easter weekend.
Rewind four years, and Donegal have just beaten Kerry in a stunning display at O’Donnell Park and sit pretty at the top of Division One and looking like one of the best teams in the country. A League title follows on a historic day at Headquarters but what also followed that summer was a hammering at Clones by Tyrone and a humiliating qualifier exit to Monaghan at Healy Park.
Donegal teams of the recent past are characterised by brittleness, fragility and indiscipline. There is a real belief that things are different now thanks to our U-21 success last year and the belief that Jim McGuinness is different to what we‘ve had before. Nothing but the best preparation will do, nothing but 100% commitment will suffice.
But even he may be surprised at how quickly the players have adapted and bought into what he wants to do. Without sounding like too much like Enda Kenny, the county board gave him a four-year plan and success in his maiden year is irrelevant. For the time being we can enjoy what we are seeing from our players, try not to look too far ahead and take pleasure in the fact that it’s a great time to be a Donegal football fan, a great time to be a believer, a great time to follow The Messiah!
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