Donegal deliver, but there will be no plaudits
A scoreline and contest more typical of Clones in June or July than Croke Park in August and one that makes you fear for Donegal in the All-Ireland semi-final given the fare that followed from Dublin on Saturday.
There was no denying it.
Selector Damian Diver held his hands up on behalf of everyone in the Donegal squad afterwards when conceding the performance just didn’t cut the mustard and defender Eamonn McGee laid on the mea culpas just as thick.
“It’s not often you win a quarter-final and you’re disappointed,” said the 30-year old. “I suppose it’s a good way to be going into a semi-final. We have a lot of work to do and I’m sure there’ll be a few tough words said whenever we get to sit down and watch that one.”
There are any number of areas of concern for the Ulster champions as they contemplate the task ahead. Getting their own house in order is a must and that is before they look to address the ways and means of combating the All-Ireland champions. Among Donegal’s strengths in 2012 and earlier this summer were their intensity and defence and both areas left something to be desired against an Armagh side not especially renowned for its attacking threat.
Paul Grimley preached patience to his team ahead of this one and it showed. Time and again they ran to a standstill before surveying the sod and playing the percentage pass. Basketball-type football, Grimley called it.
Dublin’s attacking capabilities are well-known and any repeat of the looseness that allowed Armagh to penetrate here, particularly in the first 20 minutes, and the game will be over. After all, Dublin needed only 10 minutes to beat Monaghan.
Fix that and Donegal are still left with the fact Michael Murphy is their only stand-out forward this season and even he had to spend too much time applying for work around the middle third to score more than a single point from play. Paddy McBrearty did slot two vital points in the second-half, the latter proving the winner, while Colm McFadden claimed two frees and another from play, but neither man is operating at a level commensurate with their reputation right now.
Diver spoke about Donegal’s strength in depth being the best since McGuinness took over, yet they lack anything like the quality needed to suggest they could replace both McFadden and McBrearty were it required on the biggest of occasions. Twenty errant shots on Saturday, half from their full-forward line and three from Murphy, told its own tale.
“One of the things that stuck in my mind at the time was we were being very, very wasteful,” admitted McGee. “Normally it’s not like us because we work every night in training on shooting and being economical with it.
“Jim (McGuinness) coaches that point — not to shoot unless you’re at least 90% sure. We’re going to bear the brunt of it on Monday and I’m not looking forward to it.”
And yet, there were positives too. Donegal claimed a 1-5 to 0-6 half-time lead despite being poor for most of that period and Odhran MacNiallais’ opportunistic goal 23 minutes in highlighted their ability to dig themselves out of a hole. That was apparent again 10 minutes from time when, despite a strong third quarter, they found themselves a point adrift after Stefan Campbell’s fisted effort rebounded off a post and onto Paul Durcan’s leg before finding the net. It was then that Murphy and McBrearty stood up and claimed the two points that mattered most and McGee spoke afterwards about how he never felt Donegal were destined for defeat, even when Lady Luck deserted them for the Armagh goal.
“There was no wild panic,” he assured us. That belief, that character, suggests the semi-final won’t be the cakewalk Dublin’s four previous outings have been and this display allows Donegal take their station unburdened by the weight of expectation for a game so many have wanted so long.
“It (that performance) will take the edge off that Donegal-Dublin thing that has been going on,” McGee agreed. “It was ridiculous — it was so disrespectful to the likes of Armagh and Monaghan. Former players from Donegal who during the week were talking about a Donegal-Dublin semi-final was ludicrous and we were very disappointed in it. But, look, it was outside the circle and it’s only what goes on inside the circle that matters.”
Donegal were in danger of flatlining after a troublesome opening 23 minutes which yielded just a point, but Odhrán Mac Niallais’ superb goal gave them the footing to stabilise and fend off Armagh in the end.
Dublin/Donegal was the game everyone craved in 2012, but the lacklustre nature of this display from the Ulsterchampions suggests that the 2014 meeting may not be the seismic encounter we hoped for two years ago.
Handbags at dawn arenothing new to the GAA, but the sight of Donegal team doctor Kevin Moran being shoved to the ground by Armagh’s Aaron Findon in one of three simultaneous flashpoints 11 minutes in was certainly out of the ordinary.
Tony Kernan was superb for Armagh, so too Eamonn McGee in defence and Neil Gallagher in midfield for Donegal, but hat tip to Neil McGee who kept Jamie Clarke scoreless while chipping in with a point from play himself.
None. Again.
Armagh’s defensive abilities have been remarked uponliberally, but they deployed considerable troops to their attacking forays here anddisplayed a patience offensively that almost paid off.
Six yellow cards to Armagh players (none to Donegal) and yet some should surely have been black. Time and again, Donegal defenders were taken down, as they brought the ball out.
Donegal face Dublin in the second All-Ireland semi-final on August 31.
Brendan O’Brien
Scorers for Armagh: T Kernan (0-4, 1 free); Own goal (1-0); A Kernan (0-2, 1 free); A Mallon, A Forker, K Carragher, S Campbell, M Murray (all 0-1).
Scorers for Donegal: M Murphy (0-5, 1 free); O Mac Niallais (1-1); C McFadden (0-3, 2 frees); P McBrearty (0-2); N McGee (0-1).
ARMAGH: P McEvoy; a Mallon, C Vernon, F Moriarty; M Shields, B Donaghy, A Kernan; S Harold, A Findon; S Campbell, T Kernan, A Forker; J Clarke, S Campbell, K Carragher.
Subs: B Mallon for Carragher (41); E Rafferty for Findlon (47); R Grugan for Dyas (55); M Murray for Forker (58); K Toner for Harold (65).
DONEGAL: P Durcan; P McGrath, E McGee, N McGee; R McHugh, K Lacey, A Thompson; N Gallagher, M Murphy; F McGlynn, O MaC Niallais, C Toye; P McBrearty, L McLoone, C McFadden.
Subs: R Kavanagh for Toye (43); M McElhinney for McLoone (56): D O’Connor for McFadden (58); M O’Reilly for McBrearty (72).
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).
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