ONE of my great friends set up a WhatsApp group on Saturday entitled ‘Hasn’t a clue’.
He demanded my immediate resignation as a columnist with The Irish News.
He didn’t see how I could survive in my role given that I had tipped Armagh to beat Donegal. I based that particular decision to ‘trump’ for Armagh without any logic or reasoning. Ironically, just like Donald Trump himself.
Kieran McGeeney is five seasons into his tenure as Armagh manager and knowing what he demands, expects and receives in terms of commitment from his players, I wrongly assumed that the players would repay his loyalty with a performance.
By half-time, Donegal were in the Ulster final.
Unlike Down, who managed to throw a game away in spectacular fashion a day later, Donegal don’t do complacency.
We knew what Donegal would bring to this encounter and, given how they beat Armagh, it puts the performance against Tyrone into context. With only two points in it at the final whistle, perhaps Mickey Harte’s desperation to stay on for another year indicates how close he believes the Red Hands are to breaking Dublin’s dominance of the Sam Maguire.
But Armagh never laid a glove on this Donegal team and for me that’s the most disappointing aspect of their performance. Perhaps, in private, McGeeney will think the same.
Take away the tactics and players at your disposal, the fundamentals of the game haven’t changed, indeed the fundamentals of competing at elite level haven’t changed.
Sport is war without shooting and while Donegal turned up armed to fight, Armagh chose to show up ready to negotiate a settlement.
Donegal smelt weakness.
Being aggressive doesn’t mean standing over the opposition, shouting and roaring, nor does it entail sledging.
It means clattering someone, putting someone on their arse on a 50/50 challenge.
It means a diving block.
At half-time, my mind referenced the recent England v Republic of Ireland friendly match and watching Jack Grealish playing lovely intricate passes around static Irish players without as much as a tackle put on him.
Would Roy Keane have stood for that in his time? I very much doubt it.
Similarly, I doubt very much whether Kieran McGeeney the player, would have stood idly by while Donegal players showed off their vast repertoire of skills.
Armagh will be in Division One next year and maybe this will bring them on.
That’s a huge maybe.
They remain way off in terms of application and have failed to rise to the occasion in big fixtures.
Like so many of the teams I played on over the years, sometimes it’s the hardest question to ask yourself – are we good enough?
And I’m afraid for the Armagh team collectively, that answer might not be immediately apparent.
For 35 minutes, Down hit Cavan hard, doing exactly what they needed to do – testing Cavan’s legs, given that this was Mickey Graham’s side’s fifth game in five weeks on a heavy sod.
It was everything and more I had hoped for.
Then the players forgot that a Championship game doesn’t last 35 minutes, but 70 or 75, or 90 if required.
Credit where it is due, this Cavan side doesn’t know when it is beaten.
Gearoid McKiernan, Thomas Galligan, Ciaran Brady and half-time substitute Conor Madden were superb in the second half.
While it is left to others to analyse how Cavan won this game, I look to Down and ask how did they lose this contest after holding a 10-point advantage?
Cavan tightened up on Caolan Mooney and Jerome Johnston.
Mooney had been Down’s driving force in the first half and was critical from both an attacking and defending perspective.
Whether it was driving through Cavan’s middle setting up scores or blocking shots at the other end, Mooney was everywhere.
Jerome Johnston kicked five points in 35 minutes, a fantastic return, with some of them scores of the highest quality.
This was Down football at its best, adapted to a modern way of playing of course.
Then, collectively, Down imploded.
Forcing passes, taking wrong options, not communicating and a problem that has been rearing its head for a number of years now, the absence of any resemblance of an effective kick-out strategy.
The substitutions didn’t work either. I wrote last week that your bench is tested when momentum is against you.
These series of small mistakes all add up and it sucks the life out of a team that have no consistent winning culture ingrained.
The momentum was with Cavan.
Momentum is extremely hard, if not impossible, to arrest when it’s going against you.
Down fans may lament the goal they conceded to Cavan from a penalty, technical foul it may well have been.
But fundamentally, Rory Burns should have punched the ball 20 metres toward the sideline. How many times have Dublin’s Stephen Cluxton or Tyrone’s Niall Morgan done the same?
In fact, Down’s goal in the first half could have been disallowed, so in a way it all evens out in the end.
Down secured a strong share of breaking ball in the first half and while Barry O’Hagan was not as influential from a scoring perspective as in the Fermanagh game, he did pick up a few breaks which put Down on the front foot. With effective runners willing and able to burst from the shoulder, Down cut through Cavan at will.
In the second period, Cavan began to catch more ball cleanly but they also dominated break-ball.
Liam Kerr had been brilliant for Down in the first half and is one of the county’s future stars. He was driving at Cavan and gaining those valuable yards needed to take his side into the opposition half.
He was also drawing Cavan defenders to him, allowing others space and the offloads were perfect.
When Kerr was substituted, Down lost that ability to attack and draw the Cavan defenders out of position.
Indeed, I would argue that too many Down substitutions were made in such a short spell.
Cavan always had a kick in them and, at that point, Down needed to batten down the hatches, absorb the pressure without conceding too many scores and continue to be selfless and work the ball to the players best positioned to take the shot.
Instead, it appeared that it was every man for himself and subs being subs were keen to force their impact into management plans for a final that didn’t materialise.
Cavan have now reached back-to-back finals and last year’s lesson should make them better equipped to prepare for Donegal.
But Donegal are better than they were last year from what I have seen, and will not be as accommodating as Down were when a lead was established.
The Mournemen need to learn from their disappointment and learn quickly. They have potential, pace and the foundations for optimism going forward.
But games don’t last 35 minutes and if they are to start the lengthy process of closing the gap on the best counties in Ulster, that complacency, arrogance and poor decision-making will need to be eradicated.
Donegal should win an Ulster title at the weekend. They are ruthless and have players who are mobile, skilful and selfless. They have players who put the team first and go to war.
Cavan are not to be disrespected and have earned the right to be considered worthy finalists.
As they proved this year, they do not lack heart.
On this very basis, they have the fundamentals right.
