Donegal prove value of accuracy in modern game

More than 12,000 supporters flocked to MacHale Park on Sunday, the majority long-suffering loyal Mayo supporters.

Unfortunately for the Westerners, this was another tortuous day.

Mayo dominated territory if not possession for much of this game as Donegal packed their defence and the Mayo men kicked wide after awful wide.

In the second half, Mayo only took five of 15 scoring chances as Donegal miraculously snatched a draw with a late point and accordingly booked a semi-final meeting with Cork. Donegal created just five scoring chances in the second half, scoring four, showing that accuracy is the strongest currency in the game of Gaelic football.

It took Donegal all of 20 minutes of the half to score at all, but their game-plan and system proved the winner, much to the chagrin of lovers of traditional football.

Unfortunately, this match was another example of the ugly face of football with consistent pulling and dragging, cynical football, off-the-ball scuffles and the now predictable massed defences.

In a week when the football took another battering from pundits and supporters alike, it was interesting to compare the four teams on view on television on Sunday.

Kerry had 275 possessions and they hand-passed the ball 60% of the time, with a 24% foot-pass ratio. Tyrone had 211 possessions — 63% producing hand-passes, just 16% foot-passes.

In MacHale Park, Donegal had 278 possessions — 67% hand-passes, 14% foot-passes. Mayo had 250 possessions and they, like Kerry, had a 60% hand-pass ratio and they kicked the ball 23% of the time.

These figures illustrate how the hand-pass has become the predominant option in Gaelic football. Especially, it seems, for Ulster teams who kick the ball as a last resort. On Sunday, three of Donegal’s starting 15 did not kick the ball once in the game and Tyrone also had three players who hand-passed all their possessions. Somewhat surprisingly, Tyrone had the lowest tackle count of the four teams we analysed.

Tyrone tend to tackle in clusters and target the man in possession but their overall tackle rate is not as high as other top-level teams. But Mickey Harte’s men can point to fantastic discipline in the tackle. They conceding just 13 frees, compared to Kerry’s disappointing 31. This is probably the aspect of Sunday’s display that will have least pleased the Kerry management. The concession of nine scoreable frees proved crucial to the game’s outcome, although the critical late penalising of David Moran looked harsh.

Kerry management will also look to solve the riddle of a match where they dominated overall possession, midfield possession and the tackle count and still only drew the game.

The answer probably lies in defensive frailty. Kerry have been too easy to score against in the league.

Their overall tally of 9-90 conceded (an average of 1-14 per match) is the highest in the top division.

It’s the type of stat that will have the Cork camp licking their lips ahead of a potential Munster final trip to Killarney.

For Tyrone, life in Division 2 beckons while Kerry and Mayo have to settle for retaining their divisional status. Donegal were probably the least impressive of the four teams on view this weekend, yet the northerners march onto to a semi-final meeting with Cork next weekend.