Donegal: A short shelf life?

That the abiding image of the All-Ireland final should be a traditional catch and kick is remarkable, but perhaps we shouldn’t be all that surprised by Michael Murphy’s early goal last weekend given the evolution the grand old game has undergone these past few months.

This time last year we thought we had Donegal figured out as team of defensive drones obediently carrying out the orders of Master Jim. Little did we know, nor could we have known, what they were about to become.

The austere defensive structures are still in place. Apart from last Sunday’s game, when they gave up eight or nine kickable frees, they foul even less now and most significantly of all, they have brought the art of the dispossession followed by counter-attack to a level far beyond all of their rivals.