Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Battle of Killarney poses Jack O'Connor one of his biggest ever tests
BATTLE OVER: Donegal manager Jim McGuinness shakes hands with Kerry boss Jack O'Connor after the game in Killarney. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor
From the off there has been no shortage of taking points this season. These have incrementally increased with each passing weekend of action. The weekend was no exception. At this rate of progress we will be in for some crescendo by the time we hit late July.
There is only one place to start, the Battle of Killarney. I mentioned on these pages on Saturday that there was an edge to this rivalry and that the Michael Murphy incident coupled with the hammering in the league final meant it could be spicy. It was, and then some. Before the ball was thrown in there were physical confrontations all over the pitch. The half-time incidents were the pinnacle of this but there were flashpoints galore throughout. It would seem that the black card for the third man in to a brawl has been parked as this would have put a stop to matters earlier.
Micheál Burns' red card changed everything. It would be interesting to know how the match officials came to the (correct) decision. At the time of the incident it didn’t appear as if any of them saw it. Had they, would Burns not have received his marching orders prior to the break? Did they use video footage at half-time? If so is this permitted?
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Prior to that we had a great contest in the first half. Donegal got the goal when a simple one-two alarmingly opened up the Kerry rearguard for Ciarán Moore to finish well. Switching in defence can lead to this. Kerry missed their goal chances. Surprisingly, the home side also sat too deep defensively and offered up relatively easy two point shots with the breeze, with Oisín Gallen, Ryan McHugh and Michael Langan all capitalising.
Finbarr Roarty was welded on to Paudie Clifford, meaning there was no way Jim McGuinness and co were going to allow him 76 possessions, to run the game. Kerry were excellent on the Donegal kickout and kept themselves within touching distance, despite the missed opportunities. Dylan Geaney in particular was lively. They were five down at the break but with the breeze to come would have been quite happy. It was all beautifully poised, but then came the half-time post hooter shenanigans that utterly changed the terms of engagement.
Donegal put on a clinic on how to play with the extra man, in attack in particular. Meath did the exact opposite in their match in Cork. (What a response from Cork to their Munster Final second-half no-show by the way). Donegal are one of the best, if not the best team in the country at getting off shots in an 11 v 11 attack. When that became an 11 v 10 there was only going to be one winner, particularly as they already led on the scoreboard. They patiently built their attacks and kept possession outside of the Kerry rearguard. They were happy to go east and west and annoy the home crowd while they were at it. Murphy was central to this control which only increased the frustration.
As the home side trailed they had to push out at some stage and as soon as they did Donegal moved the ball to the spare player often on the far side of the attack to get off the shot. Gallen, Peadar Mogan (twice), Michael Langan and Shane O’Donnell all got scores in these exact scenarios. Donegal’s accuracy was top notch again. They had 83% shot accuracy. It was 90% in the first half with the wind when they only had one wide. As the game went on they picked Kerry off, score by score, play by play. They toyed with the home side. It was an excruciating watch from a Kerry perspective, even when taking the red card into account.
Is there anything in hindsight the home side could have done differently when presented with this scenario? As Donegal held possession at times they eventually pressed out but went in twos and threes to go for the kill. In the process they sold themselves defensively. Once the Ulster men moved the ball away from that bottleneck it was open season and an easy score for them. I felt Kerry should have gone after them individually and guided them in towards the ‘D’. In effect invite the shot, allow it. Try to get a blockdown like Brian Ó Beaglaoich got on Max Campbell or a turnover and go the other way.
Worst case scenario let them have the shot and at least get a chance to get the ball back from a kickout to go the other way. It would shorten the energy sapping possession periods that were all ending in a shot anyway. Additionally it would be proactive and give the crowd something to get behind. As it was the passivity of the approach drained the life out of their challenge and the supporters.
As I was on tv duty in Pearce Stadium for the Galway and Kildare game, I watched the Kerry Donegal match from afar. With the way it materialised I was as well off. Colm Cooper travelled up to the game with me, and we arrived early to watch the Killarney happenings. Salthill man Kieran O’Mahony and his wife Ita treated us like kings and had the match ready to go for us when we landed. We had a good laugh on the way up reminiscing about the good ole days. Not so much on the way down.
We were trying to figure out what we would do in Jack’s shoes. Maybe we were tired after a long day but ideas and actions were thin on the ground. The best we could come up with was get the injured players back. Now. Seán O’Shea’s class, workrate, leadership, personality and drive will definitely be needed from now on. When Jack has been presented with a mid championship challenge in previous All-Ireland winning campaigns he has always had a trump card or two to play.
In 2006, Kieran Donaghy went to full forward and the rest is history. In 2009 he convinced Mike McCarthy to return with the gifted Kilcummin man central to that season's ultimate success. Last year the defeat to Meath in Tullamore led to deep criticism down here that stung them into life. The home draw against Cavan a week out from the All-Ireland quarter-final also helped to get them back on track.
They will be hoping for a similarly favourable draw this time around, in three weeks' time. An away draw against one of the other Division 1 teams wouldn’t be ideal. This is where Jack will really earn his corn. It is where he is at his best. His management group will know by this stage that they are in for a busy few weeks to right the ship and get them back on course. To go back-to-back they now have to win five matches in six weeks, including playing three weekends in a row, concluding with a quarter-final. Considering the current injury profile of the squad it will be up there with Jack’s greatest achievements if they manage it.
Donegal are in great shape going forward but there is of course a major fly in the ointment for the Ulster men. McGuinness now faces an anxious wait to see what the authorities decide to do about his half-time push on Diarmuid O’Connor. He is a smart man and his combative response to Tommy Rooney’s questions afterwards illustrated that he knows he could be in bother. I was surprised he didn’t kick for touch, rather than coming across as defensive. The GAA sat a punitive precedent with the Ger Brennan suspension earlier in the season. As I have mentioned here previously the severity of that punishment did not match the crime. A suspension robbing a manager of sideline matchday privileges is one thing, and appropriate. A ban that means he can’t attend training, or even his children’s matches. is another. It is a similar story here. Yes McGuinness was wrong to get involved, but the push was harmless. Considering the centrality of his importance to the group if he is suspended it is a game-changer.
Pádraic Joyce will be keeping an interested eye on all of this. Galway were impressive in Salthill. In the first half they were sloppy in attack and turned over the ball carelessly which was the only source of Kildare’s scores. Once they tidied that up they played with accuracy and variety. Joyce’s squad is in rude health. For once. For the first time in a number of years he has all of his players available to him, Matthew Thompson excepted. Shane Walsh, Seán Kelly, Cillian McDaid and Damian Comer all look to be fully fit. In previous years, though hobbled with injury, they played. And it compromised their performances. They now look to be at their powerful best. The significance of that can not be overstated.
In Walsh and Comer’s absence, Rob Finnerty has flourished and developed into one of the top finishers in the country. He is continuing this in their presence, no longer deferring to the dynamic duo. On Saturday evening he helped himself to 1-9 from play and but for a great Eoin Sheahan save it could have been more. Importantly, considering the chopping and changing that has gone on this season Connor Gleeson was pressed into action and was good. He has developed a left legged kick to the two pocket which makes it harder to press them. He varied his kickouts throughout and made a good late save from Jack Robinson when called upon.
Overall, they are in a very good place. Unlike some of their big rivals.
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