Éamonn Fitzmaurice: A tough watch - football must stop being a slave to stats
ENTERTAINING CONTEST: Dara Moynihan of Kerry is tackled by Johnny McGrath of Galway during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Prior to Sunday, much of the football played across the league had disappointed. I was in Castlebar on the first night for Mayo and Galway and enjoyed an entertaining contest brimmed full of intensity. But one would have to be surprised by some of the football we have seen since, particularly bearing in mind the positive route that football, in general, seemed to have taken over the last couple of seasons.
In this Allianz League, many teams went for a model where they deployed an ultra-defensive shape out of possession and relied on counter-attacks and set plays for their scores. What often resulted was long periods of over-and-back possession football as teams guarded against turnovers and being counter-attacked. There was no element of risk in teams' play and scores featuring a couple of kick passes in a row to open up a defence were all but extinct.
Individual moments of brilliance in games kept us engaged but, in truth, much of what we were enduring was a tough watch. It had come to the point where the real necessity of rule changes would have to be discussed, once more ad nauseam - a defined amount of players kept inside the attacking 45 metre line, a halfway line rule, a shot clock etc.
As football became more basketball-like, many of the solutions could probably be derived from that game. The ironic thing about this style of football is it is probably data-driven where teams are slaves to the numbers in a results-driven game. However, the most important piece of data that trumps everything else is who actually won the match. Most of the time the ultra-defensive gameplan does not get the job done.
I mentioned on these pages last week that with the change of time and the arrival of the cuckoo, hopefully we would see a return to more enjoyable and open football. Thankfully in the final round of games, that may be the case and we will not have to go down the rule change route.
In general, the matches, most of which had a lot on the line, were played in the right spirit with teams going out to win rather than not to lose. Long kickouts to contests and plenty of mistakes added to the excitement. The tv coverage on TG4 from Salthill epitomised this, where two teams have the balance right between defence and attack. Both get plenty back out of possession but critically they leave bodies up the field when they force turnovers to transition at pace using the kick.
Both teams were also willing to go long with their kickouts at stages. The advantage of winning your own kickout long are obvious and Galway, with Matthew Tierney to the fore, excelled at this. I have been impressed with Galway in this league. They have continued their development from 2022 and now they look a match for anyone. They have deepened their squad, have the meanest defence in Division 1 and are maturing all the time.
As time goes on they will need to score more, but with the forwards at their disposal this should not present Pádraic Joyce et al with too much of a challenge. Their game management has improved considerably since last season, but also between the start and the finish of the league. First night out they threw a point away against Mayo as they allowed Ryan O’Donoghue the late chance to equalise in McHale Park. Against Kerry, they were more ruthless and streetwise in possession as they protected their lead and saw out the game.
Their final score, which put four points between themselves and Kerry, highlighted this perfectly. Initially they forced a turnover on Tony Brosnan in their own ‘D’ in the 63rd minute. As is their wont they immediately counter-attacked at pace but were short bodies upfront so recycled the ball and held possession. At this stage, Kerry had got everyone back goal side and Galway were happy to play keep-ball. Bit by bit they pulled Kerry out the pitch stretching them up into the Galway half. The Tribesmen appreciated that Kerry had to come out and go after the ball as the clock wound down and they exploited this brilliantly. Eventually, when the time was right, Seán Kelly got on the ball and played a 1-2 with Johnny Heaney, taking out six Kerry players and burst up through the middle of the pitch. He slipped in Peter Cooke who Seán O’Shea fouled to give Shane Walsh a tap-over free.
Kerry reacted with a Paudie Clifford point and pressed Bernard Power’s next kickout. Power (who did well throughout) hit Daniel Flaherty with an accurate restart. Flaherty took a mark and bought himself the time and space to deliver an accurate kick pass to Matthew Tierney, thus lifting the siege. Galway held on to the ball for the remaining two minutes of the game. The game management and maturity were impressive, as was the appreciation of Seán Kelly of the right moment to inject the pace into their move for the foul on Cooke. They are getting a lot right at the moment and their final with Mayo next weekend should be a great game as the two form teams in the country come head to head.
The fact that they will possibly meet three weeks later in Salthill in a Connacht semi-final won’t make any difference as the great rivals both go all out for national silverware.
DROP CAP
Deep down, Kerry will be relieved not to have made the league final. Predictably, they look tired and worn from the road. A team holiday, four huge away trips and extended club seasons all fed into what was always going to be a challenging league. They played some good football in fits and starts in different periods of games but they know there is plenty of work to be done to get ready for championship.
As well as maintaining their Division 1 status, Tony Brosnan, Barry O’Sullivan and Donal O’Sullivan have all staked realistic claims for championship spots. Darragh Roche and Stefan Okunbar were in that bracket also until they got injured. Gavin White, Paul Geaney and Diarmuid O’Connor are back and, presumably, Stephen O’Brien and Brian Ó Beaglaoich are not too far away. They will be looking to regain the confidence and consistency of performance that served them so well in 2022. Four weeks to regenerate is just what Jack would have ordered, possibly starting with a week off before their training camp in Portugal.
Many counties don’t have this luxury as championship swings over the horizon in a fortnight. It is from now on that they need to start to go up through the gears and they will.
Elsewhere in Division 1, this has been a strong league for Roscommon and Tyrone have finished well. Tyrone seem to be coming right and if they time their run as well as they did in 2021 they will be an item again. Monaghan did what Monaghan do and survived on the last day, and showed some nice form in doing so. Conor McManus is still a joy to watch and continues to deliver big scores for his county. Armagh dropped through the trap door with Donegal as a result of Monaghan’s surge. This is a setback to the McGeeney project and they will need a big championship to regain the momentum they had last year.
In general the other divisions ended up along predicted lines. Oisín McConville managing to get Wicklow promoted on his first attempt is noteworthy. The new structures now mean that this no longer needs to be the highlight of their season. They can realistically compete in the Tailteann Cup.
Oh, and by the way, Stephen Cluxton is back.
