Three key matchups in Donegal and Meath's All-Ireland SFC semi-final

Should Meath start to regularly score two-pointers against Donegal, the question will be whether Jim McGuinness's side start to press or continue to trust their plan. 

Stopping the attacking threat of Michael Langan will be key to Meath's chances against Donegal. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

The midfield monsters 

Sunday is set to be defined by big men. Donegal start with Hugh McFadden and Michael Langan. Jason McGee will inevitably be called upon. Bryan Menton and Adam O’Neill are named to line out for Meath but the enormous pair that is Conor Gray and Cian McBride both came on in their quarter-final triumph last time out.

Meath must stop Langan from hitting the heights he has reached in recent outings. He is not just a reliable kickout target but an attacking force, scoring 1-3 against Monaghan and has created five points across Donegal’s last three games.

Michael Murphy vs Seán Rafferty 

This is a battle that will have tactical and spiritual implications. Few moments have been as wildly celebrated by Meath fans this season as Seán Rafferty’s hit on John Maher was in the quarter-final. It registered like a score. It counted for more.

The same law applies to everything Michael Murphy does for Donegal. He is their leading kickout winner and scorer so far this championship. Currently, his total stands at 0-38.

Meath’s two-point threat versus the zonal defence 

Donegal do not change. Jim McGuinness told us as much. Despite being down at half-time against a team that play differently to every other, they stuck to their plan against Monaghan and triumphed.

“They are bringing a bit of a unique game-plan to the championship in many ways,” said McGuiness of Monaghan. “They’re going all in on twos and they also have very good incision players.” They stuck to their structure and watched Monaghan’s accuracy from outside the arc abandon them in the second half.

“We didn’t change anything, to be honest, because we had the work done, we had the plan going into the game done. We just doubled down on that.” And so this is the question for Sunday: if Meath start to raise orange flags, will Donegal press out or trust the plan again?