Football

Donegal and Armagh clash in Dr McKenna Cup semi-final

Full-forward Andrew Murnin scored 1-1 against Derry
Full-forward Andrew Murnin scored 1-1 against Derry Full-forward Andrew Murnin scored 1-1 against Derry

Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup semi-final: Donegal v Armagh (Wednesday, Ballybofey, 8pm)

AN EARLY start is essential, a late finish is guaranteed and the intrepid Armagh fans who follow their team on the 130-mile round trip to Ballybofey in the bleak mid-winter should be considered for a special loyalty badge.

Frozen pitches that caused the postponement of several second round group games made this novel piece of scheduling necessary and losing the toss for venue means Armagh have to hit the road to meet a Donegal side that will play “on the front foot” tonight if the pitch at MacCumhail Park passes this morning's 9.30am inspection.

The prize on offer is a place in Sunday’s final and the guarantee of a fifth competitive clash against seven in-a-row chasing defending champions Tyrone.

Tonight’s combatants begin their League programmes on January 28 – Donegal away to Kerry in Division One and Armagh at home to Sligo in Division Three – so that clash could be valuable tune-up. But it could also be costly.

Armagh are already sweating over the fitness of Ethan Rafferty, Ben Crealey and Brendan Donaghy and cannot afford many more injuries, so manager Kieran McGeeney looks certain to keep faith with the rookies who impressed in wins against Down and Derry in the group stage.

“A lot of the new fellas are playing well,” said McGeeney after Sunday’s win against Derry.

“Ryan McShane again, Ronan Lappin did really well, and we’ve a couple of regulars back as well – it was good to see Aaron McKay back on the pitch.”

Rory Grugan hit five points and Andrew Murnin 1-1, but McGeeney was critical of his side’s wastefulness in attack. He has demanded more composure in front of goal from his players tonight.

“They’re doing what they’re asked to in getting to those (scoring) spots,” he said.

“They’re playing the way we’re trying to get them to play, it’s just learning to compose themselves because you’re looking for a different kind of character trait in front of the nets.

“At that point you have to be able to take the adrenaline out of it and just relax… I’m saying that as if I know what I’m talking about. I was never up that far, not good at it, I’m only going on what people would’ve told me.

“But, no, it’s just about getting them to try and understand it’s the most important part of the move and a wee bit of composure is most important.”

With forwards Jamie Clarke, Oisin O’Neill and Stefan Campbell opting out and Gavin McParland injured, perhaps Armagh’s current lack of dead-eye finishing isn’t that surprising. But at the other end of the field, McGeeney’s side has shown encouraging defensive discipline and the former Orchard skipper attributes that solidity to the work done by Jim McCorry and John Toal.

“Jim has definitely added some great stuff in terms of organisation and himself and John Toal are working hard on that for us so it’s good to see it coming out,” said McGeeney.

Tonight’s fixture is a challenge for the Donegal players too of course and some will face long journeys as they make their way to Ballybofey.

The Tir Chonaill men go into the game on the back of winning a free-flowing and open score-fest against Monaghan and their tally of 4-17 was no accident.

Manager Declan Bonner explained afterwards: “We’re trying to play a bit higher up the pitch and we saw the benefits of that today.”

Bonner, who took over the reins of his native county from Rory Gallagher last year, had tried and tested Paddy McBrearty (1-8) and Ryan McHugh (1-1) back for that game for the first time this year.

“When we sat down at the start of the campaign, this was always penciled in as being two weeks from the start of the National League,” he said after the win in Clones.

“The fact the game was postponed probably played for us in a way because it was a day when we were going to bring the lads back in anyway, it just suited us to get them in and get a game.

“All our attention is towards the start of the National League in two weeks’ time, but it’s good to have another competitive game on Wednesday evening.”

It looks certain that Donegal will continue with the attacking approach this season and Ulster-winning U21 manager Bonner says his side needs to “play on the front foot”.

“Do we go back to our old way, 13-14 men behind the ball and play on the break?” he asked.

“No. I think we’ve got to play on the front foot.

“We’re going to concede scores, there’s no doubt about that, but we have a lot of options going forward and we’re going to play to our strengths. It’s a balancing act. We wouldn’t be happy conceding 19 scores but we still got a lot of joy and scores ourselves going forward.

“We’ve got to be more adaptable and become better defensively, naturally enough, but at the same time, we have options going forward. That’s where we see our strength and we’re going to try and play on the front foot.”

Youngster Nathan Mullins impressed in Clones while Stephen McMenamin looked an able deputy at full-back with Neil McGee out injured.

“Going forward we have a lot of options and maybe not enough defensively,” said Bonner.

“At the same time, the lads have done well. Stephen did well at full-back and it was good to see Leo McLoone get 70 minutes as well, that was a big plus.”

Armagh and Donegal met in a challenge game a fortnight ago and the Orchardmen emerged with a narrow win. Bonner expects another worthwhile challenge for his players on home soil tonight.

“It’ll be another competitive game,” he predicted.

“The target (at the start of the competition) was to get lads on the pitch in the McKenna Cup and unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to look at some lads because of the proximity now to the National League.

“That preparation is really starting in earnest now. That’s why Mark (McHugh), Ryan (McHugh), Patrick (McBrearty), Leo and Jason McGee all had game time.

“Some of those guys need game time and some of them will probably see it again. We’ll see what bodies are back and fit for action when we meet up on Tuesday evening.”

The winners tonight will get a spot in Sunday’s final which would mean three games in the space of eight days. Is that really what either manager wants a week before the start of the League?

Weather permitting, another open, high-scoring game looks on the cards and Donegal, with established players back in the fold and with home field advantage, get the nod to win it.