5 big decisions facing Donegal
Jim McGuinness may like to pull the odd rabbit out of a hat but that doesn’t usually apply to his full-back line where he is probably most conservative. You can almost take it as read now that James O’Donoghue will be marked by Neil McGee (the Donegal man expects to anyway) and his brother Eamon will shadow Kieran Donaghy. Even if Donaghy isn’t assigned to the edge of the square and takes up a residence on the wing or midfield, the older McGee sibling will surely follow. But would moving Donaghy away from full-forward be interpreted as a sign of weakness on Kerry’s part given how forceful the McGees have been there this season? McGuinness may see it that way but he will still need a plan for another 6ft-pluser around the centre.
Fair cop, on first sighting we didn’t think there was all that much to McGuinness stationing Neil Gallagher (pictured) at full-forward. Had Diarmuid Connolly goaled in the first half, it might have been one of those tactical decisions more lampooned than lauded. With Kerry such a credible and orthodox threat in midfield, one may consider Donegal will ask the in-form Gallagher to square up with Anthony Maher and the more mobile Rory Kavanagh taking on a similar dynamic force in David Moran. Johnny Buckley’s presence in the team may also mean Michael Murphy pushing further back. Then again, with Paul Durcan’s kick-outs being so good, it’s not as if Donegal lack options.
If, as most of us expect, Sunday is the swansong for Kerry’s Declan O’Sullivan, then you can bet your last euro he will be busting his gut to start. O’Sullivan looks more like a basketballer with his taped knees but if they were right it’s more than likely he would have begun the two games against Mayo. Not only would his playmaking skills be appreciated in such a tactical game as this is likely to be, he would thrive in the attritional environment around the middle. He can play the role of breaking ball winner but in a game which will demand ingenuity, it would be more in Kerry’s interest that he is receiving cleaner possession and delivering it forward. O’Sullivan has to be a five-alarm for McGuinness.
Before we even get to this week, we’ve heard three separate interviews in which McGuinness has mentioned how impressed he’s been with Aidan O’Mahony in the last two games. That and the combativeness of Peter Crowley. If we’re to go by his form, which is to attack the opposition’s strengths, then the Donegal manager is giving serious consideration to how he can plunder Kerry around their 40. Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice will be wise enough to have his half-backs drilled in not being sucked in too much for breaking ball. Does Ryan McHugh require a man-marker or does that open up other potential dilemmas?
Eamonn Fitzmaurice will appreciate how, in that second half against Dublin, Donegal regained that sense of inevitability they last had about them in 2012. When they went ahead, they weren’t going to be reeled in. He might too have seen shades of his own team’s display against Dublin last year in how they, like Donegal, were able to create so much space in the opposition defence. It wouldn’t be an abdication of principles were Kerry to invite Donegal onto them, when Donegal are hoping by doing as much they’ll find holes to exploit. Monaghan were said to have out-Donegalled Donegal last year (we know, an awful phrase). Kerry won’t go as far as that but McGuinness might anticipate a bombardment of long range missiles similar to what Dublin sent over in the first half. If Kerry’s defence sits and they are disciplined, points will win this final all day long.
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