O’Rourke: Donegal ultimate test
And O’Rourke should know.
For three years he held the reins with his native Fermanagh, taking Armagh to a replay in the 2008 Ulster final, and county titles have been stockpiled with clubs in Derry, Tyrone, Cavan and Monaghan.
All that experience and ability will be needed Sunday as O’Rourke’s Monaghan team faces the current provincial and All-Ireland champions who will be expected to claim a rare hat-trick of Ulster titles.
“They probably are (the ultimate test) at the minute,” said the man from Derrylin. “I suppose they have brought the game to a different level. They have approached the game in a different way and it has been very successful and they have put a lot of thought into it.
“Jim (McGuinness) and Rory (Gallagher) are two very strong thinkers on the game and know their football inside out. That’s obvious from watching their teams and what they have achieved. It’s a massive challenge.”
The brains trust and a talented bunch of players are only part of it.
When O’Rourke took his Monaghan team for a night to Johnstown House prior to their championship opener against Antrim he noted that Donegal had spent five days there that same week.
Matching that financial muscle is beyond Monaghan but the focus this Sunday will be on whether they are able to combat the defensive, physical and mental edge that the Donegal players bring to the table.
The belief is that Donegal cannot be beaten by adopting an open approach. Defence in numbers is the way to go, a belief given added credence by Down’s oh-so-close experience after aping the top dogs in the semi-final.
“I’m not sure about that,” said O‘Rourke. “If you look at all the teams that have played Donegal, different teams have tried it in different ways and none of them have been successful.
“It’s a matter of looking to see what you have yourself, looking to see if you can find any chinks in the opposition’s armour and going out and putting in a game plan that you think gives you the best chance of success.”
Whether Monaghan are the team to succeed where all others have failed since Dublin bettered Donegal in an All-Ireland semi-final two years ago is another thing and the victories over Antrim and Cavan hardly suggest as much.
Still, Monaghan have at least addressed the spiral in which they found themselves for the two years after Seamus McEnaney’s spell in charge came to an end, one that saw them slip from Division One to Three.
Yet O’Rourke felt sure there waspotential amidst such results.
“There is a great passion for football in Monaghan and I knew it is a great football county. As well as that I’d known a few of the boys through (coaching with) Latton. I’d known the Duffy brothers, I’d known Eoin Lennon and boys like that. I knew there was a lot of talent in the county and that there were fellas who would be very committed. As well as that, the fact that they had come so close to winning an Ulster title over the last number of years, there was an experienced nucleus there. There were also a number of fellas coming through. I just thought there was a good mix of fellas and after a couple of years that were disappointing, there would be a drive in them to push the thing on and try and succeed. Lucky enough so far, that has been the case.”
