Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Kerry injuries, Donegal form and Mayo tactics — who’s shaping the All-Ireland race?
Jason McGee's return to fitness has been a major boost for Donegal. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
The last of the big dogs — Kerry, Donegal and Galway — make their championship bows this weekend. While all will be focused on the here and now it is a mere 13 weeks to the All-Ireland final. I expect at least one if not two of this trio to be still standing by the end of July.
There is so much going on across Gaelic games at the moment it can be a struggle to keep up. Before even considering this weekend's action the news cycle this week provided stories galore as injury updates abound. Kerry have an injury epidemic but with regard to the big picture Ben Crealy’s loss for the rest of the season is massive. He is hugely important to Armagh, even more so with Niall Grimley and Rian O’Neill on sabbaticals and Callum O’Neill also injured. Andrew Murnin is named to start, but remains a doubt. Ethan Rafferty for midfield anyone, even though he has been selected in goals?
Mayo and Roscommon is the biggest game of the weekend, with Donegal’s home clash with Down the most significant. Should Down lose they will need Kildare to beat a buoyant Westmeath next weekend to avoid swapping places with the Lakesiders in the Tailteann Cup. While the provincial championships are having a moment, there are some lopsided clashes this weekend, where it will be surprising if Cork don’t comfortably see off Tipperary, Armagh beat Fermanagh and Galway account for Leitrim to reach their 11th Connacht final in a row, as they seek a fifth consecutive provincial title.
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Away from these fairly predictable ties a few of the following discussion points may be relevant.
Since Andy Moran took the reins in his home county he has them playing a high-octane brand of football which suits their identity. He is drawing on the spirit of the teams he played on himself. They are adventurous and open. They are great to watch. Whether they have the mix right is another thing.
Mayo actively worked on two-pointers throughout the league, finishing with 25 twos. For reference, they kicked 15 across the entire season last year. Last day out against London they kicked a further seven, more than doubling last season's output already. The emphasis is clear, just as it was last year when Moran was involved with Monaghan. However, it was interesting to hear him say that he felt they overdid and forced it against London.
Another pillar of his approach so far has been their willingness to kick the ball to the front three. Because of their over exuberance in two-point shooting across the water he will be looking for a more balanced approach this weekend. When they get opportunities they will go fast to the front three, but when attacks slow down into the 11 v 11 it will be interesting to see what they do. Will they be willing to use kick passes here?
Kobe McDonald is named to start and this is one of his strengths where he kicks inside, even as they build slow attacks. The other aspect I will be keeping a close eye on this weekend is how Mayo defend. Their man-on-man defence was badly exposed in Tralee in the league game against Kerry. On the night I felt it was more to do with a lack of energy and intensity than being a systematic failure. They were slow to get back and help when their man was out of a play. The quality of the Roscommon forwards, even without the suspended Daire Cregg, will give this system a fair testing.
Kerry were going nicely during the league. While shorn of regulars they were winning games and blooding players. Armin Heinrich, Cillian Trant and Keith Evans all progressed nicely and have made themselves live championship options, with all three being named on the left flank of the starting team for Ennis on Saturday.
The league final performance came from left-field. A fresh and motivated Donegal dismantled them. Losing wasn’t the worst thing, but the manner won’t have thrilled any of Kerry's inner circle. An air of invincibility that was starting to emerge around them was blown to smithereens. Donegal illustrated to all of the top teams how to get at Kerry. Press their kickouts, don’t turn over the ball, and use the goalkeeper to deal with their decoy inside players in a set attack. Not every team can execute these strategies as well as Donegal but it gave everyone else hope.
At this stage the All-Ireland champions' casualty list is well known. They are without nine starters from the All-Ireland final in Ennis. Short-term it isn’t a tragedy. However, the fact that so many players of significance have played so little football this year is far from ideal. Shane Ryan, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Gavin White, Diarmuid O’Connor and Paudie Clifford have either zero or minimal minutes. General fitness and match fitness are very different things, and while the former is important the latter is key.
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Win Saturday and they settle into their familiar pattern of a match every two weeks, most likely starting with Cork in fortnight. There are few opportunities there to forge minutes into important players. The three group games that previously would have allowed them gradually build towards the quarter-finals are no more. The championship is much more cut-throat from the off this year, which is for the better. One of many challenges to be negotiated as they set out in defence of Sam.
Clare have often tested Kerry in Cusack Park — in 2004, 2014, 2017 and 2019 in particular. They never got the job done though and they were better Clare teams than the current iteration. The closest they came was 2014 when the visitors won by four. This year they had an unsatisfactory league, finishing just above the relegation zone in Division 3 and haven’t won a match since the last day of February. They lean heavily on Mark McInerney, Eoin Cleary and Aaron Griffin from a scoring perspective. I expect Kerry to nail down these three to limit their impact. If they do, and regardless of what the excellent Brian McNamara does in the middle of the field, Kerry to comfortably win.
Right now Donegal have what the Americans call the clutch gene. There is a sense of inevitability about their performances, and therefore their results. There is very little to fault in their game. They have improved since last year, both tactically and personnel wise. As well as the addition of quality youngsters like Max Campbell and Shea Malone, Jason McGee’s return to full fitness and availability has given them a fantastic boost in the middle of the field. He is a huge kickout target for his own side, but also affords them the opportunity to really press the opposition kickout, with Hugh McFadden supporting him as they did in the league final.
Jim McGuinness is also withdrawing Michael Murphy to act as a further aerial midfield disruptor. Rather than chasing lively backs looking for short kickouts he is now a wrecking ball under long kickouts. Cleverly, McGuinness has pressed his quicker players into the full-forward line for that press to make it a lot trickier for the opposition to get away shorts. Down are excellent at shorts and Ronan Burns will test this press to the hilt in Letterkenny, which will be fascinating to watch. He is willing to take risks that most other keepers wouldn’t countenance.
When Donegal get the ball they are so slow to give it back. Generally they get a shot off. They had a mere five turnovers in the league final. The pace, chemistry and certainty of their attack through the hands is bewitching and difficult to defend against. They are the market leaders for those attacks.
The other shift in the Ulster champions this year has been the way they are defending. They are engaging with players further out and putting pressure on the ball carrier. In last year's encounter they were willing to sit off Down for long periods and gave them opportunities to build attacks. I expect a difference this time round. As well as that their discipline in defence is different level. They conceded no score from frees in the league final, reflecting a pattern that was evident throughout the league. The only outlier was Kerry’s visit to Ballyshannon when they got nine points from frees, with Seanie O’Shea excelling. Monaghan, Roscommon, Galway, Armagh and Mayo were all limited to three from placed balls. That level of discipline, coupled with the improbability of them turning over the ball makes them an exceedingly difficult team to play against.
In this century, only Armagh have achieved an Ulster three-in-a-row. Previous to that it was Down in the early sixties. Monaghan undid McGuinness in 2013 when they were also in line for a three in a row. They will take stopping this time.
