Football's All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals: eight considered observations
SUPERMAN: Armagh's Niall Grimley makes a flying catch near the end line against Roscommon. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Part of the allure of Gaelic football lies in its ability to strike the sweet spot. At its best, it is a sport of physicality, strategy and skill. Every element matters. They complement each other.
Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee was referenced more than once on Sunday. There was widespread frustration at lateral, uncontested play. The dearth of kicking and goals aggravated it.
There is no question that to captivate, the game needs teams to attack. It also needs more.
“The thing I found watching was a serious lack of physicality in the game,” said Mayo star Aidan O’Shea on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast. “There was a lot of group tackling but no real contests of sorts or collisions. I thought it was very passive. A lot of the rules I’ve seen are to enhance it in terms of the number of scores or to make it more attractive and attacking.
“I’m concerned about where that physicality part of our game is going. Maybe it is because I enjoy that part, but I also think it is an important part of our game. I don’t want to see that lost.”
To their credit, the FRC are conscious of this aspect. They are considering the modern definition of the tackle and a report compiled by Chair of the Standing Committee on Playing Rules, David Hassan.
It was also a noticeable frustration for players across the weekend. On Saturday night, Brian Howard reached down to pick up Paul Conroy after he was deemed to have fouled the Galway midfielder and seemed to take issue with how he went to ground during a contest.
The ripple effect from this challenge is colossal. One-on-one defending is precariously difficult when physicality isn’t allowed and steps aren’t enforced. As a consequence, coaches opt for swarm tackling and blanket defences.
Forty minutes into the first quarter-final, 14-man Roscommon had a free and an opportunity to level the tie. Diarmuid Murtagh’s free dropped short into Blaine Hughes’ hands. He carried along the endline with Conor Cox in pursuit. Five steps later, Cox makes contact. Another burst of steps follows before the Armagh goalkeeper goes down. A free out was the verdict.
Post-match Davy Burke mistakenly thought the game was level at that stage, but his point still stands.
“We got a terrible decision given against us. Blaine Hughes over-carried on the end-line, eight steps, we didn't touch him and he gave a free out. That's one point up. The red card is a red card, no problem. But momentum is huge.”
Here are eight observations from the Gaelic football championship.
“We said all week let’s show Dublin the strength of our squad,” Shane Walsh told Galway Bay FM. “The impact we got off the bench there. Tomo, Johnny, Liam. Cian Hernon (did) unbelievable stuff in the second half. D’Arcy as well. It is not easy to come into a game at that tempo, but the lads stood up and that is what got us over the line.”
Joyce has always known this. In 2022, the suggestion was that their squad wasn’t strong enough. He made it clear to the entire panel that they had a part to play. Before the All-Ireland final, players outside of the 26 were presented with a jersey of their own. In total, the county has lifted Sam Maguire nine times. That day the extended squad all wore jerseys inscribed with the number ten.
Amongst the players in the extended panel that day were Johnny McGrath, Cian Hernon, Sean Fitzgerald, Tomo Culhane and Seán Mulkerrin. All repaid their manager’s faith on their next championship appearance in Croke Park.
“2.12 Mark: When a player catches the ball cleanly from a Kick-Out without it touching the ground, on or past the 45m line nearest the Kick-Out point, he shall be awarded a ‘Mark’ by the Referee.”
The latest chapter in the sorry story of the abysmal offensive mark came on Saturday as Rian O’Neill attempted an ambitious long delivery, Niall Grimley leapt backwards for an incredible catch and the verdict was a wide. Michael Murphy spoke for everyone on GAAGO co-commentary when he bemoaned the lack of reward for such a spectacular play.
In the 2022 All-Ireland final, Galway went long with their first three kickouts. A free, a Hawkeye decision and a mark allowed Kerry to organise their press for all of them. Connor Gleeson went considerably longer than their opponents all season and looked to his trusted option Damien Comer for two of the three. Galway lost all of them.
A similar situation unfolded for Galway’s opening restarts on Saturday. James McCarthy and Brian Fenton spoiled successive restarts. In the 2022 decider, Gleeson changed to the opposite wing after early struggles and found Patrick Kelly. In 2024, he looked for the man who has filled Kelly’s void, John Maher.
They alter their approach but never change it. Of 21 kickouts, Gleeson only went short with three.
They scored 0-6 from their kickout and conceded 0-3. Dublin scored 0-9 and conceded 0-3.
For Pádraic Joyce’s side, it ensures they don’t leak scores through turnovers. Dublin only scored 0-3 from this source. The logic is simple, even if Galway lose kickout, their defence is set. It has helped them amass a championship record with one goal conceded in eight games.
Speaking of depth, Jack O’Connor will be delighted with how his bench pressed. Cillian Burke’s first touch was a give-and-go with Paudie Clifford to create a shooting opportunity that the Kerry captain squandered. Burke was heavily involved again before the first touch for fellow sub Killian Spillane, who took a bounce and fired over a right-footed point seconds after coming on. Dylan Geaney linked up with Adrian Spillane to add another in injury time.
Every team at every level prepares for certain scenarios. Kerry knew at various points on Sunday Derry would press their kickout. They had a plan for it.
In the first half, Derry were awarded a 45 and organised their press. In the middle of the field, Diarmuid O’Connor raised his arm high in that familiar signal. Kerry’s forwards immediately jogged back into their own half. Every player bar one dropped deep. Several sprinted towards the wing.
Shane Ryan then loaded up a long kickout and drilled it long, where David Clifford was set to crash at the opposition 65. Conor Glass ignored his men, read Ryan’s shape and soared at the landing spot to claim a mark. That signal ended in Kerry’s only lost kickout.
As one-two punches go it was devastating. Peadar Mogan dropped deep and collected from his goalkeeper Shaun Patton, before taking off and eventually kicking his third of five points. For the next play, Ryan McHugh carried towards the wing, popped to Oisin Gallen on the loop while setting a screen and creating the space for the full-forward to score.
McHugh kicked 0-2 and had five assists, including when he was fouled for a converted free. Mogan contributed 0-5 as he improved his championship record to 0-12 scored from 14 shots.
In 2021, Louth midfielder Tommy Durnin made the switch from small junior club Westerns GAA to Inniskeen Grattans in south Monaghan. He spoke about his desire to push himself more and maximise his ability on the big stake. In Croke Park on Sunday, he delivered.
Durnin kicked four points, one with his left, from six shots against Donegal. He created three points and claimed two long kickouts. It was Louth's first All-Ireland SFC quarter-final appearance and the midfielder looked like he was where he belonged.
Barry McCambridge was fully deserving of his Man of the Match award on Saturday after scoring 1-2 for Armagh while man-marking Diarmuid Murtagh. Inspired by a message from selector Kieran Donaghy that he was made for Croke Park, McCambridge drove forward relentlessly. He was denied a green flag early on by an exceptional Brian Stack block but took his chance minutes later to fire past Conor Carroll.
At the other end, Roscommon’s centre forward scored one pint from five shots. How much of that was to do with the defender? It’s complicated. Twice Murtagh’s movement saw him evade McCambridge early on to create an opportunity. On both occasions, a scrambling defender stepped across and dived at his boot. Rory Grugan and Peter McGrane both applied early pressure.
Defending is a balance between carrying out an individual job while not losing sight of the collective one. Making such assessments under pressure is far from simple but it is something Dublin were exceptional at. They had an awesome ability to make in-game adjustments.
After the 2013 All-Ireland final, Eoghan O’Gara expressed his amazement that Mayo continued to deploy a marker to follow him in the All-Ireland final despite the fact that his mobility had diminished because of a hamstring injury.
"The guy (Higgins) who's marking me stayed on me, so I was trying to drag him as far away from the play as I could, but I was fairly limited in what I could do," he said at the time.
Last Saturday, Shane Walsh broke down repeatedly. In the second half, it was evident his race was run. He hobbled up the sideline and Padraic Joyce ran down after him while play continued, before turning to his bench to prep a replacement.
John Small continued to follow him too. Walsh stood out of the way on the sideline and Small stayed marking him. Eventually, Walsh even received possession from John Maher. He immediately offloaded it away to Dylan McHugh as he continued to limp heavily.
Small still stayed with his man. The passage continued and an unmarked Dylan McHugh got the ball back. The wing-back drove down the centre and kicked a huge score to bring Galway level. Walsh hobbled off as Tomo Culhane took his place. Dublin never led again.
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