Crossmaglen won’t forget the ball moves faster than the man
I remember one of my managers ramming the message home by setting up a race. The fastest sprinter in the team was challenged to beat a ball that was kicked between two players. Inevitably, the O’Neills size five won and the speed merchant lost. The lesson was crystal clear: the ball moves much, much faster than the man.In those days, the long, quick, kick pass was considered the most effective way of turning defence into attack. Solo-running was frowned upon. It slowed the play, gave defenders valuable time, and forced forwards to make repeated runs. But in today’s game, that thinking no longer holds much currency.
Nowadays, it’s all about playing the percentages. When teams win possession in defence, they move up the field by running the ball.
It’s Rugby League with a forward pass. The short fist-pass is considered a safer, more reliable mode of transport. A kick pass will not be considered until the attacking team gets to within about 50 yards of the opposition goals. The benefits of this system are entirely obvious. After all, Donegal, the chief exponents of this style of play, are All-Ireland champions. It is not my intention to criticise Donegal’s game plan. Given that so many of their club grounds are subjected to harsh Atlantic winds, Donegal’s footballers have good reason to distrust putting the ball in the air.
Most other counties don’t have the same excuse, yet the nationwide prevalence of the possession-game has become ever so slightly depressing. Virtually every game these days seems to follows the same template. Every manager in the country believes that one size can fit all.
While the absence of original thinking and moral courage among the coaching fraternity is entirely predictable, it’s still saddening. With one notable exception, no-one seems prepared to veer from the script. That one exception is Crossmaglen, the Armagh champions who are vying to win the All-Ireland club title for a third year in succession. Sunday’s clash between Crossmaglen and St Eunan’s, Letterkenny in the first round of the Ulster club championship promises to be a fascinating case study.
Any coach or manager who remains convinced that an old-fashioned kicking game is doomed to fail against modern methods is urged to make their way to the Athletic Grounds.
St Eunan’s are the quintessential Donegal team. I was in Ballybofey last Sunday and watched them beat Glenties in the county final. In terms of strategy, St Eunan’s and Glenties were mirror images of each other. I cannot recall a single occasion when the ball was kicked out of defence by either team. Instead, both were entirely reliant on the fist-pass. The boot was only considered an option when the ball crossed the halfway line.
It should also be acknowledged that both sides were extremely efficient at implementing their respective game plans. When building from the back, St Eunan’s and Glenties nearly always made ground and were rarely dispossessed.
Naturally, both teams defended with a dozen men behind the ball. St Eunan’s were the main beneficiaries of the blanket. Despite being bossed in terms of territory and possession, the eventual winners stayed within touching distance because Glenties struggled to penetrate their massed ranks. While largely outplayed, Letterkenny only trailed by two points as the game entered the 50th minute.When a Lee McMonagle goal allowed St Eunan’s to storm back into the contest, the townies were able to fashion a hard-fought one-point victory.
In many ways, Crossmaglen are the polar opposite of their Donegal counterparts. Whereas St Eunan’s defenders are encouraged to never kick the ball, this is a skill practised exhaustively in St Oliver Plunkett Park.
Full-backs who can actually kick the ball have become such an endangered species that I can still remember Paul McKeown’s superb performance in last year’s All-Ireland final replay against Garrycastle in Breffni Park. The sight of a corner-back executing accurate kick-passes shouldn’t be so memorable. But the fact McKeown’s foot-passing continues to linger in the memory says a great deal about the current game.
On Sunday, St Eunan’s will rely on a game plan which will be used by nearly every county team in next year’s Championship. Fist-passing will predominate their approach play. Because the Letterkenny half-forwards will retreat so far into their defence, their full-backs will have no outlet to kick the ball whenever they do win possession, so they’ll have to rely on the running game.
Therein lies the main difference between Crossmaglen and most other teams. Crossmaglen’s half-forwards play as half-forwards. When a Crossmaglen defender looks up, he will expect to see a half-forward running into space for a kick-pass.
If the half-forward wins the ball, he in turn will be expected to deliver an instant ball towards Oisin McConville or Jamie Clarke. By understanding where they should be positioned, and by practising their movement and kick-passing, Cross can cover the length of the pitch with two or three kicks of the ball.
Apart from being wonderfully effective, it’s an absolute joy to watch.
Moreover, it provides a salient reminder that some of the old creeds still hold true. The ball still moves faster than the man. At least they never forgot that in Crossmaglen.
