Jim McGuinness celebrates after reaching the All-Ireland Final
Barry O’Séanáin
Staff Writer
Donegal 0-16
Cork 1-11
Donegal look well on their way to bridging a 20-year gap and winning an All-Ireland title after a comprehensive destruction of a highly fancied Cork side.
The signs were ominous from the off-set; a Donegal crowd well exceeding that of their counterparts glowing optimism down Jones’ Road. Plenty of people had begun their trip the evening before, leaving Tory or Aranmore by sunset to begin a memorable trip to the capital. The least, surely, that Jim McGuinness’ side could do for these avid supporters was to dismantle the well-experienced Cork team brick by brick, play by play. And that they did with, surprisingly, a fair deal of style.
The ever-subtle Joe Brolly argued after the match that he could not conceive any team breaking the system Donegal have perfected this year with a stifling defence and a powerful counter. From the offset this was evident when in Cork’s first attack the style of Donegal’s play left talisman Graham Canty pushed out to the sideline with no option but to kick a hopeful ball into the hands of the Donegal full back.
Donegal opened their account with a 14 yard free from the boot of Michael Murphy who would finish the day with three hard earned points from placed balls. The first half would go on to consist of a more or less balanced competition.
Where Cork showed best was when they ran at the Donegal defence, much like Dublin did this time last year- a result of this being a neat fisted point by Ciarán Sheehan, and good combination with Daniel Goulding. The issue however with this was that Donegal seemed to be dominating the midfield battles and gave Cork little opportunity to begin attacks from this area.
Indeed this tactic would prove pivotal for the outcome of the game, for anytime Cork hesitated at midfield or attempted to look for a way through, Donegal found the time to reorganise their troops. That said, Cork kept the pressure up and when they utilised the kick-pass they produced some tidy-looking scores, particularly the curled effort finished by Sheehan with 28 minutes gone.
Donegal continued to advance with points from Murphy and a well-worked point commenced by a high-field from Neil Gallagher and finished by the impressive Karl Lacey.
Jim McGuinness again showed his prowess from the line when he introduced David Walsh who made an immediate impact, scoring after a mere thirty seconds off the bench. A fisted effort from Mark McHugh saw Cork trail at half time by the smallest of margins; 0-8 to 0-7.
In a half that was destined to be one of the most intriguing in modern times, Cork availed of over 100 hand passes to Donegal’s 30. So well-rehearsed were Donegal that they pre-empted how Cork would employ their counter-tactics. Donegal, of course, are usually employers of the hand pass tactic themselves, but with more creative flow up front, they have now found a more profitable outlet than the often negative hand pass.
It was in this first five minutes of the second half that Donegal secured dominance in the game. A wasteful shot off the boot of Graham Canty indicated a long half for the Rebels as McFadden hit a trademark audacious long ranger from the right of midfield. The follow-through and composure of his kicks rival that of any scoring forward in the game today.
The time Cork lacked in midfield, Donegal had, and they were able to form successfully strong attacks in the early parts of the concluding chapter of this semi-final. Two points for Donegal one from a turnover and the other from the strong Lacey increased the gap to four and from there the Ulster Champions never looked threatened.
Points from Walsh, Paul Kerrigan and Donnachadh O’Connor and a late goal that shut the jeering Donegal crowd up from O’Neill, registered respectability on the scoreboard but all in all it was a day best forgotten for a Cork side that seem to get it wrong, more often than not, on the big occasions.
On a very important day for the future of Gaelic Football, what can one take away from a game like this? One, perhaps, is that though they have disguised their winning machine through impressive shooting, Donegal are still essentially a machine.
Aside from this negative critique on a system that is fundamentally fair and successful, McGuinness has done a favour for the GAA- increasing the number of teams in an All-Ireland final to an unprecedented 5 in three seasons. In this sense we can commend a very brave and obstinate manager as I’m sure the tired yet jubilant fans will on their long yet prosperous journey home.
