Dun na nGall Deliver

Croke Park - a win for Donegal and a trophy to boot. A good day’s work all round. The Messiah has delivered what we hope will the first of manys a gift to his people. A vastly improved display from the game against the same opposition just three weeks ago and despite a nervy finish a deserved league title.

The captain as per usual was brilliant. Michael Murphy was unlikely to have trained much at all this week since he picked up his knock while on club duty but still performed like a man born to play on the Croke Park stage. He was given added responsibility in the game, drifting between midfield and his natural full forward position. Donegal were over-run in the middle last time out in Portlaoise, with Brendan Quigley and Padraig Clancy dominant throughout. To stifle this Murphy played the opening few minutes at midfield so that his side could gain some parity; this we did and had registered a couple of scores before the game’s first pivotal moment. The big man was put to the edge of the square and soon after Donegal had a penalty after Murphy went to ground under a challenge from Darren Strong.

Michael Murphy - Donegal - a final - a penalty…….Breffni Park revisited; almost a year on from that fateful day, Murphy was again faced with a vital kick from eleven metres. His first penalty for Donegal was against Derry in 2008 where he rifled the ball home past Barry Gillis and his technique hasn’t changed much since, even after the miss in the U21 decider. Murphy hammered the ball towards the top corner yesterday, as good a penalty as you’ll ever see. The difference this time - instead of a flat timber crossbar you’d see in some older county grounds, a la Breffni, the ball clipped the underside of the metal bar of the Canal goal in Croke Park and nestled in the net.

For a player so talented and with youth on his side, everyone hopes that there are many great days ahead in Croke Park for Michael Murphy. His leadership for a 21-year old has been a feature of his form this year. Just a few minutes into the second half Donegal won a free tight on the Hogan Stand sideline. After a delay of several minutes, as our old friend Marty Duffy consulted with his umpires at the other end of the pitch before sending off Adrian Hanlon, the big man slotted over the free from a near impossible angle; a crucial score as the team had just gone down to 14 men. Duffy (in charge oh his third Donegal game in this campaign, surely that shouldnt happen?) also booked Kevin Cassidy and turned a blind eye to the antics of Billy Sheehan, who took over where he left off in O’Moore Park.

Murphy was an injury doubt coming into the game, along with six of his team-mates; half made it, half didn’t. Karl Lacey was one who did take his place and he was immense throughout. He was unable to play against Laois in the group game a few weeks ago and hadn’t played since. Maybe the break served him well as he was full of energy and was still charging up the field in the dying minutes. He, along with Frank McGlynn, made some vital dispossessions in the second half, turning over Laois ball and driving out of defence.

Colm McFadden secured a second league medal for himself as he continued his great 2011 form. He scored the crucial second goal after being setup by his partner in crime Murphy. He scored two delicious points off his trusty left peg in the first half and worked hard on the occasions when he was the only player inside as Murphy drifted out to midfield.

How a team plays when a man has been sent off is a good indicator of how things are in the camp, how much they’re prepared to work for each other and for the jersey. Each and every one of the players on the pitch yesterday emptied the tank to bring about a victory for Donegal. Paul Durcan produced a fabulous reflex tip over as Laois pushed for an all important goal in the dying minutes.
Marty Boyle had made his first start in Portlaoise a few weeks ago and didn’t really get into the game. His performance this time around was greatly improved and he’s yet another of the Naomh Conaill contingent playing a key role for the county side follwoing their run to the Ulster Club Final last year. Indeed as Dublin and Cork were going through their warm up for the Division One final, the last of the Donegal players were making their way to the winning dressing room; the six Glenties players, including injured compatriot Leo McLoone made their way off together; a lovely moment for the club and they got a great response from the Tir Conaill faithful.


Unfortunately there weren’t too many faithfuls in attendance. Whether it was the long weekend that kept the fans at home or more likely the faithfuls are fairly thin on the ground, there was a paltry scattering of Donegal fans at Headquarters yesterday. Those that did make the journey seem to have inherited the negativity that many of our fans seem to have in relation to the county team.
We have an extremely talented manager at the minute, while also having a very talented team. Allied to that we have some exceptional individual footballers, with Murphy and Lacey in particular being good enough for any team in the country. Yet the team still seems to be criticised from pillar to post for their style of play. The modern game demands a defensive orientated system. There is no team in Ireland achieving success without being able to defend and if that means defending in numbers then so be it.

The Division One final yesterday was an excellent contest between two of the best teams in the country. Yet both were under orders to retreat bodies behind the ball and the break with pace. This is the template for successful teams operating at the higher level of Gaelic Football. Dublin’s metamorphosis under Pat Gilroy has seen them adopt a much criticised defensive make-up yet they still conceded twenty-one points yesterday in their one defeat to Cork. Everyone would like to see their team playing all out attacking football but it just doesn’t work like that anymore. Even Kerry have had to adapt their play to allow half forwards track back to let the start like Copper, O’Sullivan, Donaghy etc shine.

With Donegal reduced to fourteen men, Jim McGuinness felt their best option was to defend the lead they had built up and this they did. It was tight at the end and in truth with a few more minutes Laois would probably have snatched it. The injuries that depleted the team's preperations didnt help matters; this was conveyed by Kevin Rafferty making his first appearance of the year, starting at midfield as Martin McElhinney was moved to half back.

People also criticise when Michael Murphy is taken out from full forward and away from the scoring zone. His deployment is similar to that of Kieran Donaghy; big full forwards often make good midfielders (anyway, good players can play anywhere), at least for certain parts of a game. Their athleticism in the air, ability to pick a pass make them vital to any team. Murphy was excellent on the edge of the square yesterday but he also setup many scores when stationed at midfield. On one occasion he caught a Laois kick out, carried the ball forward, dished it off to McFadden who slotted it over the bar. Murphy is the biggest and strongest player Donegal has so to deploy him at midfield at regular intervals makes sense, especially against a midfield pairing as good as the Quigley/Clancy double act.

So basically I find it astonishing to hear voices around me in the stands giving out about how the team are playing, even though we've just become Division Two winners - but in some ways I’m not surprised either. Donegal fans are a fickle bunch.
We‘ve played with little or no game plan in recent years, even former captain Cassidy alluded to this before. He said it was a case of go out and play your game boys and see what happens. This just doesn’t wash anymore if we have real ambitions of mixing it with the big boys. And that’s exactly what we’ll be doing next year in Division One of the league. Hopefully we’ll also be mixing it with them before 2011 is out as well. Onwards to May 15th and the Championship kicks off at MacCumhaill Park against Antrim.
In Jim We Trust!