HAVE DONEGAL HAD THEIR LOT?
Inability to hit form is leaving the champions off the pace
SEAMUS McENANEY told an intriguing tale about Donegal at the weekend. According to the former Meath and Monaghan manager, Jim McGuinness had the Ballybofey groundsman ‘shave’ the grass between the two 45-metre lines before the Ulster Championship clash with Tyrone.
The apparent thinking was that Tyrone keeper Niall Morgan, so on form with his long-range placed ball kicking in the Allianz National League final, would struggle to make sweet contact with the size five off bare ground in a hostile environment.
That afternoon, Morgan kicked five wides, almost half of Tyrone’s entire tally and Donegal won by six points. Whether the story is true or not, McGuinness is clearly a master tactician but the one great intangible outside of his control right now is the hunger and appetite of his players.
Monaghan had more of that precious commodity at the weekend and they won the Ulster final because of it, dumping Donegal into the All-Ireland qualifiers and igniting a depth charge that has shaken up the entire Championship.
Under the old knock- out system, we would be discussing Monaghan, Dublin, Kerry and Mayo now as the Championship’s l ast men standing, the f our provincial champions. But, thanks to the qualifiers, Donegal retain a strong interest in the Championship and victory over Laois this weekend will secure them a quarter-final spot at the second attempt.
Still, it is hard to shake the feeling that, like Dublin in 2012, Donegal are a yard off the All-Ireland winning pace of the previous season. Dublin players would later admit that while they worked equally hard to retain the Sam Maguire Cup, their ravenous appetite had simply been sated by success.
Perhaps the same thing is happening to Donegal who were bullied by Monaghan. It’s up to those 11 other teams remaining in the race for Sam to push on now and claim Donegal’s mantle. Yet all of the key contenders have their own questions to answer.
HOW GOOD ARE MONAGHAN? Conor McManus’ first act as an Ulster title winner with Monaghan was to issue an All-Ireland title threat. ‘That’s as good a squad as there is anywhere in Ireland,’ maintained McManus. That remains to be seen.
Just two years ago, the forward was part of a Monaghan team that lost a Round 1 qualifier to Offaly by eight points. Last year, Laois beat them in Round 2. Undoubtedly, they are a transformed bunch under current manager Malachy O’Rourke, the former Fermanagh boss applying forensic detail to his coaching and man-management.
Tactically, they have borrowed from Donegal and though operating at a lower level before Sunday — they had only played Division 3 opposition all season — they were surprisingly able to elevate their game to the required elite standard. Still, of the 12 teams left in the Championship, and ruling London out as contenders, they are ranked seventh by the bookies to prevail. They have the system and the work ethic to do it but do they have the talent and ability to prolong their summer into September? McManus clearly believes so. HAS CONNACHT BLUNTED
MAYO’S KEEN EDGE? Any team that wins their provincial Championship with 45 points to spare deserves to be billed as serious All-Ireland contenders. And nobody is disputing Mayo’s Sam Maguire credentials.
But while James Horan (right) will dispute it, it is a simple fact that they haven’t been properly tested yet. And that appeared to manifest itself in a, at times, lethargic display against London, their shooting painfully i naccurate at stages despite eventually winning by 16. The fact that Andy Moran, Cillian O’Connor, Alan Dillon and Mickey Conroy are all fully fit is a considerable plus at least. Only time will tell now if Connacht success will underpin their All-Ireland challenge, or undermine it. DID JIM McGUINNESS THINK DONEGAL WERE IN A LEAGUE
OF THEIR OWN? Yet again, the value of a sound spring platform and Allianz League progression has been highlighted by Championship results. Three of the four overall League semi-finalists — Dublin, Tyrone and Mayo — remain in rude Championship health.
The Division 3 winners, Monaghan, are now Ulstercha mpions. Donegal made little secret of the fact that the League was a low priority for them and were consequently relegated. McGuinness naturally had to cut his players some slack after the exertions of 2012. But they have been unable to simply hit the Championship button and conjure both form and momentum as many expected.
If they lose to Laois this weekend, every decision made since winning the All-Ireland will be reviewed beneath a microscope, t heir approach to the League included. IS IT DUBLIN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
TO LOSE? That’s the only logical conclusion as the Championship enters its purest form with the back door now shut for all teams. Aside from their first half against Meath in the Leinster final, Dublin have barely put a foot wrong all season, let alone summer. They have explosive young talent, experienced performers who know how to win All-Irelands and a ravenous rookie manager who has transferred that hunger through to his players. Bar stool debates abound regarding their orthodox system and whether it will be sufficient in an era of claustrophobic blanket defending. But with so much pace, power, athleticism and depth of resources to call upon, they are rightly favourites. ISN’T IT WORRYINGLY QUIET
IN MUNSTER THOUGH? Cork and Kerry have won two of the l ast f our Championships, l est anyone forget. Like Mayo, and to an extent Dublin, their provincial championship has done them little favours though.
Aside f rom the f i nal, i t was impossible to draw any conclusions about either team. A big win for Cork at Croke Park this weekend against Galway will go some way to increasing interest in them. Their second-half performance against Kerry certainly augurs well.
As for the Kingdom themselves, they looked world-beaters in that Munster final early on. But their second-half fade-out raises all the old questions again.
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