Football

Donegal hope for history to repeat itself against Dublin

Donegal's Leo McLoone tangles with Dublin defender Philip McMahon. There is a clamour for McLoone to start against the Dubs today
Donegal's Leo McLoone tangles with Dublin defender Philip McMahon. There is a clamour for McLoone to start against the Dubs today Donegal's Leo McLoone tangles with Dublin defender Philip McMahon. There is a clamour for McLoone to start against the Dubs today

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Dublin v Donegal (today, Croke Park, 6pm, live on Sky Sports)

LIKE today, Dublin were the reigning All-Ireland champions when they met Donegal back in 2014 and, like today, only the Tir Chonaill die-hards gave the Ulstermen a realistic chance of winning.

But two goals from Ryan McHugh and another from Colm McFadden tore up the script and the Dubs were dumped out of the race for the Sam Maguire while Donegal went on to an All-Ireland final clash with Kerry.

Expectations were high, but Donegal were unable to meet them and in the wake of losing to the Kingdom, Jim McGuinness, the man who transformed his county from also-rans to champions in 2012, walked away after four memorable years at the helm.

Rory Gallagher, the sorcerer’s former apprentice, took over last year but when his side lost to Mayo in the last eight it looked like the rot had set in. Donegal tried hard, but the magic wasn’t there and it looked like the dreaded ‘rebuilding’ phase was nigh.

But it has been bypassed, or at least delayed, and Donegal are in the last eight again, taking on Dublin again at the same venue of two years’ ago.

Can they conjure up the same result? Yes, but they’ll need to play out of their skins and hope that Dublin get lost in their own hype again.

One ingredient Donegal have in spades is experience. Goalkeeper Paul Durcan has retired and midfielder Neil Gallagher is injured but as many as 10 of the side that won two years ago could start this evening. Paddy McBrearty, Martin O’Reilly and Martin McElhinney, subs in 2014, all start and Christy Toye should also be involved off the bench.

Dublin can match them in that department. They’ll have nine starters from the 2014 game and the replacements for the likes of Alan Brogan, Rory O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey have pedigree and quality.

Those players enabled the Dubs to breeze through Leinster as per usual; beating Laois by 10 points, Meath (by 11) and Westmeath (by 15).

Meanwhile Donegal have had to do it the hard way as per usual. They’ve had four tough games in Ulster including a replay at the semi-final stage against Monaghan and beat Cork in a tight game in the Qualifiers last Saturday.

There were signs in those games that age was catching up on some of the Tir Chonaill stalwarts. In the Ulster final against Tyrone veterans like Rory Kavanagh, Karl Lacey and Michael Murphy were visibly struggling late on but Murphy looked back to his old powerful self against the Rebels and has dismissed rumours that he is carrying an ankle injury.

“I am in good shape and I am confident myself that I am in good shape and I am injury-free which is a huge part of it,” said the Glenswilly man.

“I have got a good bit of training, am totally injury-free and I am feeling well, but I will leave everyone else to analyse how I am moving.”

He may not have to move too far if Donegal play him as a targetman on the edge of Dublin’s square. While they have a streamlined counter-attacking game that utilises the pace of Martin O’Reilly, Ryan McHugh, Eoin McHugh and Frank McGlynn running from deep, Donegal can also employ more direct tactics by pushing Murphy up to full-forward and looking to get the ball in to him and Paddy McBrearty.

If Murphy starts at full-forward, and you’d expect him to, the Dublin defence will have to brace itself for a bombardment and that will certainly test them and if Donegal could manage an early goal or two in the first half they’d give themselves something to defend in the second.

With Rory O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey opting out this season the Dublin defence is not quite the unit that it once was. James McCarthy is fit again and may come back into the team and they’ll need him because David Byrne, John Small and Eric Lowndes don’t give the side the same level of solidity.

At the other end, the Dublin forwards should have the legs against the Donegal defence in one-on-ones, so sweepers Karl Lacey and Anthony Thompson will need to be busy and alert to ensure that no-one gets isolated.

Lacey and Thompson both played in defence in that famous win two years ago and that defeat will surely have given Dublin no end of motivation for this evening’s rematch. But, in typical style, Jim Gavin rejected the suggestion that his players would succumb to an ordinary everyday human emotion like revenge – Dublin never look back, he says.

“What is in the past is in the past, we have never anchored ourselves in the past and that’s including the games that we’ve won,” he said.

“We have never looked back.

“We have learnt the lessons and boxed them away, try to put them into practice, move onto the next game, that’s the process we have always gone through.”

Of course he’s right; the past is the past.

This evening Donegal have genuine match-winners in Michael Murphy, Ryan McHugh and Paddy McBrearty and you’d expect them to be absolutely buzzing for this game. They are an experienced, driven outfit packed with quality and the atmosphere and the high stakes should bring the best out of them.

Will that be enough? They may not have the legs now to play the sweeping, running game they did two years ago and the menacing Dublin forward pack - Bernard Brogan, Diarmuid Connolly, Kevin McManamon, Paul Flynn, Ciaran Kilkenny and Dean Rock – will ask a lot of questions of them.

Still, Donegal should be in it until late in the game and the closer it gets to the final whistle the better chance they have. But the capacity for Dublin to land a game-changing 1-3 out of nothing in the blink of an eye means they have to start as favourites this evening.

Previous Championship meetings


2014 All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Donegal 3-14 Dublin 0-17


2011 All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Donegal 0-6 Dublin 0-8


2002 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final replay: Donegal 0-7 Dublin 1-14


2002 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Donegal 0-14 Dublin 2-8


1992 All-Ireland SFC final: Donegal 0-18 Dublin 0-14

Last championship meeting


2014 All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Donegal 3-14 Dublin 0-17

FAVOURITES Dublin led by five points at one stage in the first half but a Ryan McHugh-inspired Donegal rally took them into a one point lead at half-time (1-8 to 0-10).

In the second half there were more from Colm McFadden and Ryan McHugh and a superb save from goalkeeper Paul Durcan saw Donegal through and ended Dublin’s reign as All-Ireland champions.

Paths to the quarter-final

Dublin:


Dublin 2-21 Laois 2-10 (Leinster quarter-final)


Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11 (Leinster semi-final)


Dublin 2-19 Westmeath 0-10 (Leinster final)

Top Scorers


Dean Rock 1-28 (0-23f)


Diarmuid Connolly 1-9


Bernard Brogan 1-7

Donegal:


Donegal 2-12 Fermanagh 0-11 (Ulster quarter-final)


Monaghan 0-14 Donegal 1-11 (Ulster semi-final)


Donegal 0-17 Monaghan 2-10 (Ulster semi-final replay)


Tyrone 0-13 Donegal 0-11 (Ulster final)


Donegal 0-21 Cork 1-15 (All-Ireland Qualifier, R4)

Top scorers


Paddy McBrearty 0-26 (0-13 frees)


Michael Murphy 0-13 (0-9 frees, 0-1 ‘45’)


Odran MacNiallais 3-4


Ryan McHugh 0-6


Man of the moment


Ryan McHugh (Donegal)

THE Kilcar thoroughbred was the match-winner two years ago when his clever movement exploited pockets of space the Dubs left in their defence and he bagged 2-2 to send Donegal into the final.


McHugh has been Donegal’s best player this year. Full of running, he kicked three points from distance in the Ulster final to give his county a temporary edge against Tyrone and three more last Saturday when the Tir Chonaill men were able to finish what they’d started against Cork.

He has played most of the season at right half-back but there have been calls for him to play further up the field tomorrow because marking the physically stronger Ciaran Kilkenny or Paul Flynn isn’t his game. Could he be used in a central attacking role to occupy Cian O’Sullivan and disrupt Dublin’s defensive strategy? Perhaps, but wherever he is Donegal need him to see a lot of the ball this evening.

Donegal tactical take


RORY Gallagher won’t name his team until this morning and it’s expected to be the same one – with a couple of positional switches – that saw off Cork in the final round of Qualifiers last Saturday.

Against the Rebels, Donegal played a double-sweeper system with Anthony Thompson and Karl Lacey shoring up the defence with Michael Murphy starting at full-forward before drifting out to midfield as the game wore on.

Murphy will start at the edge of the square today as Donegal aim to grab the initiative at Croke Park and Gallagher may opt to include Leo McLoone at centre half-forward with Martin McElhinney dropping to the bench.

Along with Murphy and Frank McGlynn, McLoone is one of the few Donegal players who can match the Dubs for muscle and he is equally adept at organising and taking scores – particularly with the McHughs, Ryan and Eoin, running off him.

In the League meeting in March, Donegal concentrated on containment and were picked off so their only chance is to be brave and go for it today.

If they attack and get shots off quickly they will rattle the Dubs and if their scoring attempts fall short then Murphy needs to be in the square to turn water into wine.

Dublin tactical take


CIAN O’Sullivan is the linchpin of the side as a mobile sweeper who protects a full-back line that lacks the solidity of past seasons.

In the absence of established number three Rory O’Carroll, O’Sullivan has become an increasingly important player for the Dubs and he plays his role to perfection with an in-built radar that spots danger coming from miles away.

His positional sense means he can shut down the options for the opposition and force them to slow down attacks and recycle the ball allowing Dublin to set out their defensive stall.

Possession is king for Jim Gavin’s side and they like to run the ball out of defence and then kick long to an inside forward line that includes devastating finishers like Connolly and Brogan and a reliable free-taker in Dean Rock.

It’s probable that they will play three forwards up this evening and leave plenty of space in front of them so they can break from near the Donegal posts to get on the ball and link with supporting runners coming from their own half.

Key battle


Michael Murphy (Donegal) v Jonny Cooper (Dublin)

MURPHY was sent off for two yellow cards when Donegal and Dublin tangled in the League. He has been hampered by an ankle injury throughout the Championship, but says he’s fully fit for this evening’s showdown.

Rory Gallagher’s problem is where to use him. If he plays at midfield he will start attacks. If he plays at full-forward he will finish them and bring Paddy McBrearty – who scored 11 points against Cork – into the game.

If he’s posted at the edge of the square he’ll most likely by marked by Cooper (Philly McMahon and John Small are other options) who is strong and tenacious but he’ll need help from sweeper Cian O’Sullivan to keep Donegal’s skipper at bay.

Team news


Donegal (probable): M A McGinley; P McGrath, N McGee, E McGee; R McHugh, K Lacey, F McGlynn; R Kavanagh, L McLoone; A Thompson, O MacNiallais, E McHugh; P McBrearty, M Murphy, M O'Reilly

Dublin (probable): S Cluxton; J Cooper, P McMahon, David Byrne; J McCarthy, C O'Sullivan, E Lowndes; B Fenton, M D Macauley; P Flynn, C Kilkenny, D Connolly; K McManamon, D Rock, B Brogan