Donegal 3-26; Meath 0-15
Even Kerry could not but have been impressed by this Donegal demolition of Meath in the second All Ireland semi-final at a sold out Croke Park on Sunday.
The Munster champions may have been powerful against Tyrone on Saturday but what we saw on Sunday was a whirlwind of Gaelic football with players swarming from all over the field to get scores - resulting in a hurling-like final tally of 3-26 to Jim McGuinness’s men.
The other thing that might put a shiver down the spins of even the staunchest Kerry fan was the strength of the Donegal bench as players of the caliber of captain McBrearty, McGee, McGonagle, Ó Baoill (and McFadden Ferry all came in and made a case for why they should be starting on Sunday week.
In the context of the stronger squad, McGuinness has the stronger hand though Kerry Boss Jack O’Connor is hoping that his injured trio of Paul Geaney, Diarmuid O’Connor and Tom O’Sullivan will be available for either selection to start or at least to play some part in the final.
Should all three be deemed fit, it would certainly equalize the panels, leaving the tantalizing prospect of the Donegal Swarm v the Kerry Swat in the biggest GAA football game of the year.
So we are set for a repeat of the final of 11 years ago when Kerry cuteness, (remember how the star, Kieran Donaghy, pounced on a poor kick out to get the decisive goal of the afternoon) that still rankles with McGuinness who felt his team were set for a second Sam Maguire under his tenure and a third in all.
Goals are always a rare occurrence and Donegal’s three second-half strikes from Oisín Gallen, Ciaran Moore and Conor O'Donnell showed what they are capable of when they mix athleticism, quick inter-passing and overlaps against a defense tired from their exertions of the first half.
Yes, McGuinness has gone from defense in his first coming as a priority as a movement out of defense as soon as a move breaks down to exploit their opponent’s rearguard with footballers who are also sprinters.
Kerry won’t be able to match them for that pace but then Kerry are Kerry and they will match them with intelligence and set up differently than other counties to counter that threat.
Unlike other teams, they have players who can deliver long balls accurately from their back line and this conserves their energy deposits for second-half surges which have blown away Armagh and Tyrone in successive games at Croker.
Poor old Meath needed everything to go right on the day to be in with a chance in this semi-final. As it turned out virtually everything went awry for Robbie Brennan’s boys as the previously two-pointer shooting excellence turned into wide after wide…after wide.
It still didn’t look bad early doors at six points apiece but when Donegal made an initial kick to go 0-13 to 0-8 ahead at the break with the wind to come, you felt there was an uphill task ahead for the Royals.
Mind you, few foresaw the terror that would rain down on them as Donegal went from score crazy to goal crazy… all the while showing excellence at the back in closing down Meath’s dangerman Jordan Morris and others who had made impressions in previous rounds.
The only regret McGuinness may have from this day out to Dublin was how his side reached as close to perfection as possible - and mindful that you get no medals for winning handsomely in a semi-final. Best way is to win ugly and keep your powder dry for the final.
Still, he was clever in bringing on his bench early to put pressure on place, ensuring there will be no slacking off in the coming sessions as the squad go through their paces in the hope of getting starting places for the final.
Substitute and skipper McBrearty spoke of wanting bigger days than Donegal have actually achieved over the past decade or so.
"When we left here 2014, I didn't think it would be 2024 until we reached our next semi-final. We massively, massively underachieved from '14 to ’24, in our eyes. When Jim came back, standards were raised back to where they were and we’re just delighted to be back here.
"But you know they were a barren couple of years. We were winning Ulsters, teams were tipping us to go on and win All-Irelands and we couldn’t do it on the big days. Getting this man [McGuinness] back was obviously key and getting back to days like this final in two weeks is gonna be massive."
McGuinness praised his squad by saying: “The number one thing on the list there would be depth. We didn't know at that stage the rule changes that were coming down the line and the physical demands of the rule changes, but certainly, we knew that we needed people to come in and give us more depth and strengthen.
“Odhrán McFadden-Ferry came into the team in the second half, Eoin McHugh has come back in, Michael Murphy has come back in and Eoin McGettigan. We knew we had to be stronger and build the energy within the group.”
Referring to the upcoming game against Kerry, he went on: “Listen, the game has changed dramatically over the last number of months. We just felt that it was important to see how those changes would grow, if you like, and then bring our own template to how we want to play. And it's served us well. I think Kerry have done the exact same thing.
“I think there was a lot of commentary maybe throughout the league that ourselves and Kerry were the only two teams that weren't embracing the twos. I don't think Kerry have done a huge amount differently, you know. They have their own way of playing as well.
“They play with their head up, they're looking for dink balls, they're looking for third-man runners, they're looking to support. In the same way we support off the shoulder, they're looking to do it the exact same way only with a kick-pass beforehand or whatever.
“Everybody's got their own principles and how they see the game. For me, it's important just to keep what it is to be from your county very close to the center, and then move with the rules, and I think we've done quite a good job on that front,” he stated.
Donegal: S Patton (0-1, 1 '45); F Roarty, B McCole, P Mogan (0-1); R McHugh (0-1), E Gallagher, C McColgan; H McFadden, M Langan (0-4); S O'Donnell (0-1), C Thompson (0-2), C Moore (1-1); C O'Donnell (1-3), M Murphy (0-6, 1tpf, 0-1f), O Gallen (1-2) Subs: P McBrearty (0-3) for Murphy (45), J McGee for McFadden (50), C McGonagle for McColgan (51), D Ó Baoill (0-1) for McHugh (54), O McFadden Ferry for Mogan (58).
Meath: B Hogan; S Lavin, S Rafferty (0-1), R Ryan; D Keoghan, S C, C Caulfield; B Menton, A O'Neill; C Duke (0-1), R Kinsella (0-3, 1tp), K Curtis (0-3); J Morris (0-1), M Costello (0-1f), E Frayne (0-5, 1tp, 0-1f) Subs: C Gray for Menton (20), E Harkin for O'Neill (45), J McEntee for Lavin (50), B O'Halloran for Curtis (56), S Walsh for Kinsella (62).
