So many holes to plug when you’re playing Donegal

Donegal have progressed to the Super 8s largely unscathed, but also largely untested.

Mon, 24 Jun, 2019 - 01:00

Oisin McConville

Donegal have progressed to the Super 8s largely unscathed, but also largely untested.

They are in slightly unfamiliar territory because they’ve got to this stage with no major damage done to them, and no significant injuries.

Last year they were without Paddy McBrearty, Jamie Brennan wasn’t the player he is now, Hugh McFadden didn’t know the role he was playing as well as he does now, and their first game in the Super 8s will be in Ballybofey which will give them a great chance to get two points on the board.

They have a lovely mix now and will accept they’re going to ship scores but they are very, very dangerous up front.

Cavan would have set out to keep McBrearty, Brennan and Murphy out of the game early on, and they did that, but the problem was that instead up popped Ciaran Thompson, the midfielders and the half-backs with the scores.

The caveat with Donegal is that they haven’t been tested well enough, and their defence has not had to stand up to the scrutiny it will come under from here on in, but at this moment in time they seem the most consistent and viable option to Dublin winning an All-Ireland.

If Donegal wanted to know how Cavan were going to set up, all they had to do was look at the changes they made.

Gerard Smith who is a half back and Ciaran Brady who is a man-marking, defensive type of player both came in, so we knew before a ball was thrown in what was going to happen.

In the lead-up, you were wondering what would Mickey Graham do, does he continue this free-flowing style or will he react to the threat posed by Donegal.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I didn’t entirely disagree with his changes, but he didn’t get his match-ups right.

There are so many holes to plug when you’re playing Donegal. They did okay on the big men early but the writing was on the wall once Murphy, Brennan and co started to wield an influence.

Cavan’s plan was to shore things up and hit Donegal with precision and pace late on with Mackey, Murray and Jack Brady but the game was already gone by the time we saw them.

Cavan will have regrets because it was a simple stick or twist, and they just didn’t look comfortable defensively, and they didn’t look comfortable on the counter-attack.

Against Monaghan and Armagh they attacked from minute one; yes they shipped scores but at least they posed more of a threat going forward.

For the opening half here, they were no threat going forward.

Donegal were operating on a different level and had scoring threats coming from everywhere, and Cavan just couldn’t plug enough gaps to close them all down.

One worry for Donegal though is the way they have eased off in the last two games, allowing Tyrone and Cavan back into games that should have been long over as contests.

A four-point win over Tyrone, a five-point win over Cavan, does not do justice to the gulf in class.

It is a significant worry, because being ruthless and clinical is not something you can switch off like a tap.

Look at Dublin’s demolition of Meath in Croke Park yesterday — yes, it took them a while to get there but look how hungry Dublin were for scores at the end.

The impact off the bench needs to be greater for Donegal as well. They need to be driving the thing on more because Dean Rock scored four from play off the bench and was unlucky not to score more.

That is the sort of impact Donegal will need from the subs from here on in, because I thought it was a bit powder puff off the bench from Donegal yesterday.

Cavan will have learned a lot from this but the major thing they will take from it is a need to go back on the front foot a bit more.

They just need to accept they are a team that is going to ship scores because of the way they play — as Donegal do — and trust in the firepower that they have. At least five forwards will be needed up front the next day.

When Raymond Galligan was pressed, the kickouts were under pressure but Cavan are a team that can cause teams a lot of bother, I believe.

Slowly but surely Mickey Graham is finding out what his best team is.

Stephen Murray deserves a start the next day, as does Conor Madden who came on and hit 1-1, and Cian Mackey is still a good option off the bench.

A lot of frailties were exposed yesterday but if they go back onto the front foot and put this to bed quickly, they are a team who will be a major force in the qualifiers, which will be a huge success given where we’ve come from.