Football

Donegal's greater experience was worth its weight in gold

Referee Joe McQuillan had "a poor day the office" in Ballybofey on Sunday Picture: Séamus Loughran
Referee Joe McQuillan had "a poor day the office" in Ballybofey on Sunday Picture: Séamus Loughran Referee Joe McQuillan had "a poor day the office" in Ballybofey on Sunday Picture: Séamus Loughran

AS WE reflect on yesterday’s intense Ulster Championship opener at Ballybofey, it is fair to say that the foundations for the Donegal victory were laid at the start and end of the first half.

Tyrone fought very hard and were unfortunate on a number of occasions – none more so than with Colm Cavanagh’s smashed effort against the crossbar in the closing stages. But a greater level of experience and composure, along with their usual meticulous and well-rehearsed gameplan, saw Donegal emerge as deserving winners.

Here are my top five areas which had a huge bearing on the outcome of the game.

The way Donegal started and finished each half was critical to the outcome. In particular, those first 12 minutes set the tone. And patterns had begun to emerge that would continue throughout the game.

During that opening period, Donegal had two – if not three – times more attacks than Tyrone, so their dominance of the ball was very evident.

At midfield, Donegal were on top both aerially, where Neil Gallagher was immense, and on the ground where Martin McElhinney had kicked two scores from play.

But perhaps the most critical thing was that Tyrone’s defensive set-up was proving hugely ineffective. Donegal were still able to pick the kick-passes inside, where Christy Toye and Paddy McBrearty found themselves in some dangerous positions. Christy Toye’s first point was an example of how easily Donegal were carving Tyrone open.

When you compared Donegal’s shape in attack to Tyrone’s – who at times had absolutely no depth and a redundant full-forward line – then it was obvious Donegal had a better balance to their gameplan. That said, after a terrible start, Tyrone will be kicking themselves that they switched off after 36 minutes to allow Donegal to score 1-1 just before half-time.

A two-point lead transformed into a two-point deficit, which would have put a different reflection on the respective half-time team talks.

The tactical battle was always going to be an intriguing one. The head-to-head match-ups, substitutions, switches and the odd curveball. In his first Ulster Championship game in charge, Rory Gallagher didn’t look like a novice. Tyrone wouldn’t have planned for Christy Toye being in the full-forward line or Colm McFadden in a deeper role. It rarely – if ever – happened during McGuinness’s reign, so that showed very shrewd management by Rory Gallagher during his first Championship game in charge to take that chance.

The tactic brought good dividends, with both players scoring two points from play in the first half.

An obvious feature of the Donegal attacking plan was the rotation of their entire forward line, something they have obviously been working hard at and something that would have unsettled the Tyrone rearguard.

When you compare the individual performances of both teams, Tyrone had a few really exceptional players – but the difference for me was the consistency in the Donegal team. In Justin McMahon, Mickey O’Neill, Peter Harte and, at times, Seán Cavanagh, Darren McCurry and Conor McAliskey, Tyrone had some excellent performances. But without sounding unduly cruel, they also had too many passengers. If you go through the Donegal team, there were very few poor performances bar that of their talisman Michael Murphy.

Karl Lacey and Frank McGlynn had excellent games and were at the heart of every single counter-attack. Donegal had at least 10 really good performances, whereas Tyrone just didn’t quite meet that level.

REFEREE Joe McQuillan had a poor day at the office.

Mickey Harte, in his post-match interview, said he felt Neil Gallagher over-carried the ball just before the Donegal goal. I’m not sure I necessarily agree, but I did feel that he was guilty of charging with the ball into the front of Seán Cavanagh and a free out should have been awarded.

Another poor decision that cost Tyrone was the hop-ball he gave for getting in the way of the Tyrone break from defence. What I couldn’t understand was if a referee can now give an indirect free-kick to the team in possession after he has stopped the game for an injury, then why can he not do the same thing if he gets in the road?

The absolutely infuriating thing from Tyrone’s perspective was that had he just let the game continue, they were still in possession of the football.

To add further insult, Donegal won the hop-ball and scored directly from the resultant attack. I felt the black card dished out to Seán Cavanagh was the incorrect decision and a poor interpretation of what constitutes a black card offence. If the referee was in any doubt, perhaps he should have reflected on why on earth Cavanagh would want to indulge in cynical fouling when his team were two points down. The Tyrone man’s tackle was a carbon copy of Martin O’Reilly’s in the first half, for which he received only a yellow.

I do think Donegal were the better team on the day, but it is hard to argue with the sentiment that the referee did Tyrone no favours.

In a defensively-minded game, patience and composure are extremely important.

Donegal held the edge and used their experience and bench to great effect. The point by Paddy McBrearty to make the game 1-10 to 1-9 was the prime example.

The move started with a free by Neil Gallagher and with Tyrone set up stoutly, Donegal kept the ball for 45 seconds before Frank McGlynn broke the line and slipped it to David Walsh. He placed McBrearty in for the score.

Although he had one of his poorest days in a Donegal shirt, Michael Murphy showed incredible leadership, class and composure in kicking two monster frees in the second half. When you compare this to the easier frees missed by the Red Hands, you feel the experience Donegal were able to draw on was worth its weight in gold.