WHEN asked why his Donegal players didn’t hang around to mingle with their ecstatic young fans after the match, the manager responded, “Ice baths and ice cream”.
Time is of the essence when you aren’t thinking of what you have just done, but rather the next goal in your sights as the Donegal players raced off the field after disarming and dismantling the Red Hands, already the attention had turned to Cork this weekend.
Recovery and an immediate focus on the next challenge ahead, that’s what McGuinness brings.
Intent and clarity are written all over everything that they do.
- Tyrone U20s boss Devlin urges patience among Red Hands fans as young stars seek to make senior step-upOpens in new window
- Gráinne McElwain: Donegal’s strong bond with their public a key component of McGuinness’s success so farOpens in new window
- Cork manager Cleary hoping for home comforts against DonegalOpens in new window
Whether it is a plan to swarm and suffocate the incredible talent that is Darragh Canavan, or a slick counter-attacking game full of pace, hard running, and end product, there are no holes in the gameplan.
Another serious signal of intent was the 21 scores from 31 shots.
When Donegal won the All-Ireland in 2012, McGuinness had engineered a team that could get scores from anywhere on the pitch, irrespective of the number on the player’s back.
A moment that stuck out that year for me was a score that Frank McGlynn took beneath the Hogan stand in their Quarter-final against Kerry.
It was close to the sideline off his weaker left foot, one that a player like Clifford, McGuigan, Canavan or McCurry would have been proud of.
A dozen years later the same principle applies; the number on your back means nothing.
Donegal had 11 different scorers against Armagh, 10 on Saturday evening and from every line on the pitch.
There’s another tactical aspect that few have picked up on as it perhaps doesn’t fit the narrative of McGuinness’s perceived playing style; their approach to the opposition’s kick-out. They are consistently contesting it and putting an aggressive press in place.
I wouldn’t say they have won a high percentage in any of their games to date but in getting the opposition to go long they are creating an environment that suits their strengths of size, pace, and fierce conditioning.
Donegal are dictating that every game they are involved in is end-to-end high-octane football.
Win or lose that type of kickout, the next phase of play is going to be frenetic.
Peadar Mogan and Ryan McHugh are among the whippets on the ground, the colossus of Jason Magee is the mountain in the middle, while Oisin Gallen is a marquee finisher but in reality, it’s more about the sum of the parts.
If Donegal are a team with total clarity and belief in what they are doing right now, then Tyrone looks more like a side struggling for a footballing identity.
Confidence was high in the Red Hand camp ahead of this game but that unravelled quickly in the second half as Donegal punched holes with an extremely impressive running game.
At the other end, they became even more miserable with the opportunities they gave up but I wondered: “Did that have something to do with the way that the Red Hands used their bench?”
I found the substitution of Darren McCurry a strange one; two audacious points off his right, a mark and a free, he was Tyrone’s most dangerous forward.
Darragh Canavan was getting all the attention so, with more than 20 minutes left, it was important to keep a player of McCurry’s ilk on the pitch to complement what Cathal McShane might bring.
Even though he didn’t have his best game, taking out Ruairi Canavan at halftime was perhaps a tad premature and something that would have pleased McGuinness greatly; Tyrone stripped down their offensive artillery rather than adding to it.
Although I got my prediction on the outcome of the game wrong, I can see now why this result and performance came in the manner it did.
With the Ulster Championship already in the bag, the shackles were off, and with confidence brimming, it was a chance to let loose.
Donegal are in the conversation and, outside of Kerry and Dublin, they are the team no one will want to meet in the knock-out stages.
Ice baths and ice cream might be a contradiction to most, but to Jim and the Donegal players, it makes perfect sense.
Of course, all eyes will be on the all-Ulster tussle in Celtic Park on Sunday when the Oak Leafers take on Armagh and the home side’s supporters will no doubt be posing the question, can the real Derry please stand up?
They will know that another defeat would leave them needing to win against Westmeath in their last game to qualify from the group, a situation they’d want to avoid.
Armagh got back to winning ways at the weekend so any Ulster Final hangover will be well and truly gone at this stage.
Given Derry’s poor form in their last two outings, this game is a flip of a coin, so I fancy this one could end up in a draw.
