Donegal get most from McHugh

It was meant to be the battle that would dictate the destination of Sam Maguire.

Mayo’s Kevin McLoughlin versus Donegal’s Mark McHugh: the two engines of this year’s championship in a battle to win the game.

It didn’t work out as predicted but Donegal’s ability to switch McHugh’s natural strengths from an offensive to defensive role in the second half forced Mayo to play a game they didn’t want to.

McLoughlin was first on the ball with quick link play down the wing. But then he disappeared and Mayo’s chances almost went with him.

He spent most of the next 12 minutes chasing Donegal players without reward. Mayo’s decision to play a man-on-man game in defence to try limit the effectiveness of McHugh, Anthony Thompson and Rory Kavanagh’s running game out the field also meant sacrificing their talisman.

By the time he finally got on the ball again, Donegal were 2-1 to 0-0 up. McHugh did all the simple things right for Jim McGuinness’s side in that period. Nothing fancy. He just patrolled along his half-back line as his full-back line dominated Mayo. And once they won possession, he was on hand to start the attack.

His running off the ball forced Aidan O’Shea and Barry Moran to turn and sprint towards their own goal. Combined with Thompson’s equally selfless acts, they were tiring out two of the Connacht side’s key men.

In attack, he again provided a link punting balls down the wing; on one occasion, slipping a tackle to close on goal only for Lee Keegan to haul him down for a free, which Colm McFadden converted.

Game over, or so we thought. James Horan switched Kevin Keane and Ger Cafferkey. With McFadden and Michael Murphy shackled, the pressure valve was reversed.

McLoughlin started coming into it and his touches were telling. Cafferkey’s interceptions allowed him to get on the ball. A few rampaging runs up the wing provided an outlet for a team under pressure and his point after 15 minutes started a Mayo comeback from seven points down. They pressed on Donegal and McLoughlin found the gaps where his ball-carrying game is so crucial. McHugh slipped into anonymity. His side were starting to panic and his crossfield kick to goalkeeper Paul Durcan was almost intercepted by Cillian O’Connor. By the break, McLoughlin was a man of the match in waiting while McHugh was struggling.

But in the Donegal dressing room, with a three-point lead in their favour, they switched McHugh to a more orthodox defensive role. Sweeping along his defence he was tasked with stopping the runners from deep and plugging holes created by McLoughlin.

It worked. Both men only touched the ball five times each in that second half. But by sacrificing McHugh’s game, they cut out the effectiveness of balls into wings where Mayo’s Enda Varley and Michael Conroy had been finding joy. James Horan had to switch his tactics. O’Shea, by now tiring fast in the middle from his efforts to track McHugh in the first half, was out in on the edge of the square and Jason Gibbons was given the midfield role.

McHugh was again tasked with defensive duties. He picked up the free Mayo man so one of his defenders could stand in front of O’Shea to help out Neil McGee. It meant those Hail Mary balls in the final minutes were not going to be answered. Donegal stood impregnable. McLoughlin faced a wall of green and gold jerseys, McHugh picked up an All-Ireland winners medal.