Gilroy seizes on big break
Pat Gilroy was surely delighted to get his Dublin side in at the break yesterday for what was the most important half-time team talk in his three-year reign.
His side had played brainless football for the first half and all they had to show for their efforts were two coverted frees from Bernard Brogan. In that 35 minutes they had kicked or handpassed away possession 10 times (with Ger Brennan a major culprit) and been turned over six times in the tackle by Donegal. The defence had conceded four scoreable frees while at the other end they wasted 14 good chances either by kicking wide or dropping attempts short into the goalkeeper.
His three reliables were amongst the guilty parties: Alan Brogan saw five attempts go abegging, Bernard missed 1-2 while Stephen Cluxton failed with two long-range frees.
On a day when the kick-outs were mostly short and virtually uncontested, Dublin won the majority in the first half, 12/7, and the second, 9/3.
So Dublin had as much possession on the restart but were more patient with ball in hand. The change wasn’t immediate but in that second half Dublin managed six points, including two from play, gave away possession eight times and were only turned over three times in the tackle. The defence conceded only one free and that was near the sideline, and up front they only missed five scoring attempts.
Alan Brogan really came into the game after Karl Lacey went off injured and linked the play effectively and cut out his wild shooting.
Brother Bernard created their only two scores from play with a lovely flick to Kevin McManamon and a cross-goal pass to Bryan Cullen, as well as being fouled for two more frees that he converted himself.
As a former free-taker I would give Cluxton great credit for kicking two fine points after missing his first two. He is certainly on my short list for Footballer of the Year.
Apart from the Dublin half-time team talk and the chance to re-group, the introduction of the direct running McManamon for Barry Cahill gave the Dublin attack more penetration. Dublin also lifted their game in response to the harsh sending off of Diarmuid Connolly.
Karl Lacey going off was a big loss to Donegal but they were also running out of legs at the three-quarter stage. They were turned over seven times in the tackle by Dublin in that second half. Being just one year into their training under Jim McGuinness they hadn’t the fitness to stay with Dublin, who are three years into Gilroy’s campaign.
Donegal are a couple of players short if they have to use Michael Murphy out at midfield for 60 minutes of the match. He was belatedly posted to full-forward for the last 10 minutes. While he worked hard, physiologically he doesn’t look the type of player to run for 70 minutes and I was surprised he wasn’t moved closer to goals for rest periods, particularly when Rory O’Carroll went off injured.
However if Colm McFadden’s goal attempt after the break had gone under instead of over the bar it would have put Donegal five ahead and, with their style of defending, it would have put the game beyond Dublin’s reach.
Despite all the criticism I have no problem with Donegal’s style of play and as a former forward I find it a fascinating challenge to see how their defensive system can be cracked. They will improve under McGuinness and while their defensive style draws comparison with Tyrone, they don’t yet have Tyrone’s class up front. While the likes of wing-forward Mark McHugh can defend like Brian Dooher, he is not able to also add the two points a game Dooher could.
Dublin, with wins over Kildare, Tyrone and Donegal, are well stress-tested going into the final — unlike Kerry who, between league and championship, were only tested in the second half of the Munster final.
Dublin will be massively inexperienced compared to Kerry but Gilroy has been brilliant at shielding the team from hype so far and his men have played plenty of big games in Croke Park.
Kerry have plenty to ponder. Their defence will give up far more space than Donegal did yesterday and will need Paul Galvin’s defensive abilities to protect it.
Dublin have one weapon that will trouble Kerry and that is their massive fitness levels. Kerry are favourites — but I give Dublin a chance.
