ONE thousand, seven hundred and sixty-six days. And counting.
The vision of Ryan McHugh slicing through all that unguarded space in the Dublin half, of Colm McFadden wheeling away after sliding the ball past Stephen Cluxton. Of Jim McGuinness’ demeanour at the final whistle.
What was supposed to be the defining day for Donegal football has instead become the defining day for Dublin.
Kerry prised Sam Maguire away from the waiting arms of the hills, McGuinness fled across the Irish Sea, the team quickly began to break up and Dublin used the lessons to add an extra layer of cavity to a house that is now hurricane-proof.
Almost five unbeaten years on for the champions, it is Donegal that 31 bored counties have begun to pin their hopes on yet again.
It’s not a ridiculous notion.
They are the only team that can claim to be a match for the Dubs in terms of the strength of their forward line.
The work that Declan Bonner did with the minor teams that came through his hands was central to this team’s development, but so too was the input of Paul Fisher.
The strength and conditioning coach had been brought in to supervise regional sessions by McGuinness in 2012, and then went on to physically mould the minor sides of 2014 and 2016 before moving into the senior role permanently.
Logistical problems – namely the sheer size of Donegal – made joint S&C sessions for the younger crew unfeasible when they were coming up.
Fisher laid down the programme and along with David McLaughlin, Barry Dunnion, Joe Gallinagh and Adam Speer, they oversaw regional minor sessions in those few years of Bonner’s reign.
Look at Jamie Brennan. He’s put his time in in the gym and the rewards are evident. 5-23 this year, 2-11 in the championship, and all of it from play.
Many have been compared to James McCartan but none have lived up. Brennan, though, has so many of the hallmarks of the wee Down maestro.
The Bundoran man is a better player now than 12 months ago. That’s down to the hard work on his finishing, which has gone from erratic to exemplary. He has such power in the legs that he requires no backlift. He’s simply chipping points over from everywhere, making it exceptionally hard to stop him.
You look now too at Jason McGee, Michael Langan, Caolan McGonigle, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Oisin Gallen – they’re all in the fledgling stages of their football careers, yet they’re not built like young boys. They’re built like big men.
That physicality, matched by the pace and power of their running, is why they were able to size Tyrone up as they did in the Ulster semi-final.
Few teams in Ireland could have created so many turnovers in front of their own goal against a side that has its own power base built by Peter Donnelly.
Even fewer could have caused the problems they did going the other way.
It was a culmination of five years of work.
Sometimes one managerial reign blends into the next but there was a very definite feel of year one in 2018, and year two this year.
Bonner took over from Rory Gallagher, changed the way they’ve played and has delivered back-to-back Ulster titles.
Stephen Rochford’s impact has been greatly debated. Certainly the decision to throw Odhran McFadden-Ferry in for his inter-county debut in an Ulster final smacked of the left-field nature of some of Rochford’s calls when he was over Mayo.
Donegal blitzed Cavan, hitting 1-24. It’s no exaggeration that they could have had half-a-dozen goals if they’d really wanted them.
But here comes the problem. Even on their most impressive days, they conceded 2-16 to Cavan and 0-15 to Tyrone.
That was while playing with a shape that was patented against the latter. Having played largely on the front foot for 18 months, Donegal dropped everyone back and played on the break.
It was too much for Cavan, but it caught Tyrone completely unawares. And you have to wonder how the gameplan would fare were the pair to come up against each other again later in the summer.
It’s the same style that’s allowed Tyrone to blitz teams at a lower level. Suck them into the middle, hit them hard, strip the ball and sprint into the breach. Almost exactly like 2014, you’d say.
The bank of evidence that such a style doesn’t work against Dublin is owned by Tyrone and Monaghan. Donegal would fancy they would have more joy because they have a more dangerous forward line on the whole.
Doing it in Croke Park is different to doing it anywhere else. And the worry is that if they leave their defence exposed, the better teams will punish them.
Stephen McMenamin has had an excellent summer. Paddy McGrath was brilliant in the Ulster final. Neil McGee has settled the heart of it.
But they’ve had the cover of Hugh McFadden in the last two games. He had been playing well in a more orthodox role, but is now back sitting in front of McGee for an extra layer of protection.
Meath highlighted how they would struggle without a sweeper when they bombarded Mickey Newman with ball early in the Division Two final, making great hay. They’ve had a full-time man in front ever since.
That suggests a change in Declan Bonner’s mindset, even an admission that there’s a fragility in front of their own goal.
And while a half-back line that includes Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Ryan McHugh is a deadly asset going forward, there are legitimate concerns about their effectiveness going the other way.
Their attack, combined with the 2012 defence, would go very close to winning an All-Ireland.
Whether they can go as close with the current backline is the question that hangs over them.
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BONNER’S BEST TEAM
Shaun Patton; Paddy McGrath, Neil McGee, Stephen McMenamin; Ryan McHugh, Daire Ó Baoill, Eoghan Bán Gallagher; Hugh McFadden, Michael Murphy, Jason McGee; Ciaran Thompson, Michael Langan, Caolan McGonigle; Jamie Brennan, Patrick McBrearty
2019 OVERALL TOP SCORERS
Jamie Brennan 5-23
Michael Murphy 1-29 (0-20f)
Michael Langan 0-20 (0-14f)
Ciaran Thompson 0-18 (0-7f)
Niall O’Donnell 0-14 (0-2f)
CHAMPIONSHIP TOP SCORERS
Jamie Brennan 2-11
Patrick McBrearty 0-13 (0-4f)
Michael Murphy 0-11 (0-5f, 0-1 45’)
SUPER 8s FIXTURES
Group One
Ballybofey, July 13/14: Donegal v Meath/Clare
Croke Park, July 20/21: Kerry v Donegal
Salthill/Castlebar, August 3/4: Galway/Mayo v Donegal
