Canty says Cork have already absorbed one Donegal lesson
The Cork icon cites a footballing lesson he and his colleagues picked up in this season’s league as evidence of Donegal’s championship credentials.
“The way they moved the ball from back to front . . . we played them above in their place and the same day they were able to move the ball brilliantly and turned defence into attack.
“We struggled with it that day above. Kerry struggled with it as well. They’ve great finishers in McFadden and Murphy, and McBrearty when he’s up there as well. Their accuracy and conversion rate is very high. They can kick scores from distance.”
Donegal are known for defending in depth, but Canty says that’s not the full story of the Ulster champions.
“I wouldn’t paint Donegal as just pure defence. They defend with numbers but they also try to put pressure on up the pitch.
“I saw Donegal against Kerry. They were very impressive. They got off to a good start, held the lead and were never led again. Kerry came back very strongly but Donegal still recovered and Karl Lacey struck a vital insurance point.
“They turned over Kerry around their ‘45 and around midfield. If they were pure blanket, you’re not able to do things like that. I was impressed that all of their 15 players were able to tackle properly as well. With a packed defence you just have to be patient and bide your time. Then when an opportunity arises, you have to go for it.”
They’re a different side to the team Cork annihilated in the 2009 championship.
“A change of management will do that anyway,” says Canty. “But they set up totally differently. They attacked with huge pace and defended with huge numbers.
“Jimmy McGuinness was always going to have his own ideas. Before he came in they were struggling to win an Ulster championship game but now they have two Ulster titles back to back and that’s no mean feat.”
Specifically, then, what’s the Donegal threat?
“I think this year Michael Murphy was injured early on which affected him in terms of scoring. But McFadden does score a lot, he’s one of the best finishers in the country. If he gets decent ball, he’ll punish you every time.
“With sweepers you have to make sure your decision making is spot on. But the reverse is true. If you feel confident that you can hit the ball, you go for it.”
Canty himself is enjoying a healthy season for a change.
“Any year you stay injury free is a good one. The last couple of years have been tough in that regard. That’s sport. I’m 30 plus now and to be injury free and playing football is great.
“Some would say my career has been littered with injuries, maybe it has but I’m happy where I’m at now.”
He’s not quite as happy with his side’s form.
“It’s alright. Against Kildare we had patches where we were good and then patches where we were not good. They came at us very strong at the end of the first-half and half-time came at a really good time for us.
“You ride your luck a bit. We had a good second-half and finished strongly. But we’re going into an All-Ireland semi-final now and these games are always 50-50. We’ll have a tough day at the office but we’re looking forward to it and we feel we’ve prepared well. If you sit down to analyse it, Kildare missed a couple of chances after half-time. We got the first score through Daniel (Goulding) and that settled us. We went on a bit of a run then. Games turn on small things.”
Small things. Cork have more experience than Donegal in Croke Park. How big or small will that advantage be? “Every time you play there is great. You don’t get up much earlier in the year but at least we had a league semi-final and final there. It’s great.
“Every year you’ve new players on the panel experiencing it all for the first time and that’s great for them. It’s totally different to any other stadium in the country. Any time you play there is special.”
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