Laois and Donegal heading in the right direction

THE spoils to Laois, then, but both sides had reason to cheer yesterday when it transpired that they will meet in the Division 2 final later this month and yet again in the top tier in 2012.

That is the bigger picture but neither manager seemed to have anything other than this 70 minutes in mind afterwards. Jim McGuinness and Donegal stewed in their changing-room for an age while Justin McNulty didn’t exactly reach for the champagne.

“The work rate and application of effort from the whole team is something that gives us huge encouragement,” said the Laois boss.

“It was a huge match in terms of preparation for the championship. That is what the league is all about. Getting promotion is a bonus.

“This team has still got a lot of work to do. We are still a long way off from the perfect performance but we will strive to get better with each game we play and championship is ultimately where you are judged.”

Perhaps, but the signs for the 2003 Leinster champions are undeniably positive already. After the long and painful demise from the heights of eight years ago there is a distinct impression that they are once again heading in the right direction.

Only Padraig Clancy and Ross Munnelly survive from the side that claimed provincial medals back in the day and the new, youthful brigade is playing a style of football that would have been anathema to their predecessors under Mick O’Dwyer.

Gone is the devil-may-care, swashbuckling Laois only to be replaced by a more pragmatic and defensively-sound side that frustrated Donegal by sheer dint of numbers and honesty of effort.

They are unlikely to win Leinster this year, not unless they develop a more lethal attack, but it is hard to see teams beat them as easily as Kildare or Meath did in recent summers when there were 15 and 10 points to spare respectively.

In many ways Donegal are their blood brothers. A county enriched by a myriad of talented individuals in recent years but one blighted by accusations of indiscipline and plagued by the knowledge that they have never fulfilled their undoubted potential.

Like Laois, they are also under new management this year and McGuinness has done exceptionally well to guide them through the first six rounds of the league unbeaten, but some old bad habits have resurfaced.

Indiscipline at the back, over-elaboration in the build-up and poor choices up front crippled Donegal in what was generally agreed to be their worst performance of the campaign but they have earned the right to chalk that down as a one-off.

For now, anyway.

Like Laois, they have a liberal sprinkling of unfamiliar faces but in men like Neil McGee, Karl Lacey, Kevin Cassidy, Rory Kavanagh, Michael Hegarty, Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden they boast much more experience and perhaps individual class.

Not that much of it was on evidence yesterday. Not initially, anyway. Maybe it was something to do with the reality that they already had one foot in the top tier and knew it but they lacked the urgency of recent months.

Donegal trailed by 0-9 to 0-3 at the interval after facing the wind and the truth is that Laois weren’t made to show much of their hand in building the lead with Tierney tipping over seven frees.

The officiating of Marty Higgins played a large part in that. The game would end with, by this particular count, 53 frees and nine yellow cards awarded, the majority of them coming in an opening 35 minutes that was choked of any little rhythm.

Things picked up after the turnaround but Tierney seemed to end the tie as a contest when he collected a long pass over his head, turned two defenders and shot low inside the goalkeeper’s near post on 44 minutes.

That left the hosts holding an eight-point lead but Dermot Molloy’s three-pointer capped a good three-minute spell for Donegal which saw them trim the gap by five and it was nip and tuck from there to the finish.

Both sides coughed up another pair of goal chances in a second-half where poor use of the ball at the back created as many opportunities as anything else but Donegal were impeded by a second yellow card for Michael Hegarty after Molloy’s goal.

Coincidence or not, Laois finished stronger with Tierney claiming the last score from a free before another rebounded back off the post with the last act of the afternoon. Had Tyrone put Meath to the sword with something to spare that could have cost Laois but it didn’t.

It didn’t deserve to.

Scorers for Laois: MJ Tierney 1-10 (9f, 1 45), M Timmons, D Strong, P O’Leary, C Begley, J O’Loughlin 0-1 each.

Scorers for Donegal: D Molloy 1-1, C McFadden 0-3 (2f), R Kavanagh, M McElhinney, M Murphy 0-2 (1f), A Thompson 0-1.

Subs for Laois: D Kingston for Sheehan (53), P Cahillane for Munelly (67).

Subs for Donegal: A Hanlon for McElhinney (59).

Referee: M Higgins (Fermanagh).