All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Donegal 1-26 Monaghan 1-20
It’s usually around the 20-mile mark that marathon runners hit the wall. Glycogen stores dip low and the body gives the impression that the very next step could be the one that finishes you off.
With nine games now behind them – or 9½ weeks as Jim McGuinness noted pointedly, making sure to include the Ulster final extras – Donegal hit their mile 20 around 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
It was their fourth game in June and their third in just 13 days.
Monaghan, looking distinctly like the 10k runner in this race, outscored them by 1-7 to 0-3 between the 27th minute and half-time to lead by seven points.
Donegal were at their wall.
“We did look a bit tired at the start of the game,” acknowledged McGuinness.
Which is why he didn’t rip up the script and make wholesale changes at that stage, instead relying on the players to dig deep into their energy reserves.
And what they came up with was so electric and effervescent as to suggest that, yes, they are worthy All-Ireland favourites.
Between man of the match Shane O’Donnell, Conor O’Donnell, goalscorer Michael Langan, Michael Murphy and, later on, substitute Paddy McBrearty, they punched holes in the Monaghan defence that until then had looked ominously solid. In the end, they breasted the winning tape with fresh dynamism and plenty to spare.
Afterwards, McGuinness was at pains to distance himself from the Donegal GAA statement of earlier in the week complaining about the fixture, and how it should have been on the Sunday to aid the fatigued group.
“From my point of view, you should never, ever make an excuse for a game before a game is played,” said McGuinness. “I have never done that in my life and so I want to make sure that distance is there, because it’s disrespectful to Monaghan.
“If we’d got beaten, and the first half followed through into the second half, people would have said, ‘Sure he was saying that during the week’. But we had nothing to do with it [the statement]. Nor did we know it was going to be put out into the ether until I read it myself on the phone.
“That’s very important from a management point of view and the players point of view – we were very happy to be here today because we got beaten by Tyrone and it was always going to be that way. It was always going to be three games in three weeks and suck it up and let’s get on with it.”
McGuinness’s analysis of the game itself was that Monaghan went heavily after two-pointers, which, when they were flying over, put them in a great position. But when the long-range scores dried up, that’s when Donegal were back in the driving seat.
Rory Beggan and Andrew Woods were kicking them for fun in the first-half; two each. Monaghan had six first-half wides too – three from Conor McCarthy – and had a couple of Ryan McAnespie shots at goal blocked. And the Farney had Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton in all sorts of bother, looking just about as flustered as we’ve seen him. Micheal Bannigan picked up 1-2 directly from Patton mistakes, including the 27th-minute goal when Stephen O’Hanlon intercepted Patton’s dart kick-out up the middle and fed Bannigan.
“Monaghan went with a four and a four, and it was a very rigid four-four, with three out the back,” said McGuinness of Monaghan’s press on Patton’s kick-outs. “So you’re trying to eye the needle at that stage with your kick-outs and we got caught with one, and we were punished for that.
“Much more variety in the second-half, and also we trusted our bigger men to go and fetch. Hughie [McFadden] did that really well, Michael Langan did it well, Jason [McGee] when he came in, a big plus for us.”
Murphy kicked three poor wides and didn’t get a decent long delivery sent his way when close to goal. But he was still hugely influential, constantly encouraging, cajoling and providing. It was he who played the one-two with Langan for his brilliantly taken 44th minute goal. Donegal were still two back at that stage but had all the momentum.
They struck 11 points without response between the 46th and 68th minutes. Monaghan still went for the two-pointers but they went astray. Beggan hit the post in the 49th minute when a two-point score at that stage would have left them three points up and, crucially, halted Donegal’s flow.
Dessie Ward, Bannigan and Jack McCarron all kicked two-point attempts wide late on. Davy Garland’s one that did go over was only a consolation with time almost up.
“Letting ourselves drift back into a seven-point deficit was a tough enough hole to be in but I would caveat that by saying you’re playing against a team that is very, very hungry for twos,” said McGuinness.
“Once we got control of that in the second-half, they continued to look for twos, and there were an awful lot of balls dropping short and stuff, it was a double-edged sword because then we’re not conceding twos and we’re scoring at the other end. That’s what we were trying to do from the first minute.”
Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan’s analysis was that Donegal applied a pinprick in the second-half to his side’s ballooning hopes of reaching the last four for the second time in three seasons.
“The second-half, for some reason, it just started to go against us,” shrugged Bannigan. “The things that we were doing brilliantly in the first-half, we just weren’t able to replicate them in the second-half.”
DONEGAL: S Patton; F Roarty, B McCole, P Mogan (0-0-2); R McHugh (0-0-1), E Ban Gallagher, C Moore; H McFadden, M Langan (1-1-1); C McColgan, C Thompson (0-2-0), S O’Donnell (0-0-3); C O’Donnell (0-0-4), M Murphy (0-0-4, 2f), O Gallen (0-0-3). Subs: D O Baoill for McColgan (40); J McGee for McFadden (45); P McBrearty (0-0-2) for Gallen (49); E McHugh for R McHugh (56); N O’Donnell for Murphy (67).
MONAGHAN: R Beggan (0-2-1, 1 tpf, 1f); R O’Toole (0-0-1), K Duffy, D Byrne; R Wylie, D Ward, A Carey; M McCarville, G Mohan; R McAnespie, C McCarthy (0-0-2), S O’Hanlon (0-0-3); A Woods (0-2-0), M Bannigan (1-0-2, 1f), C McNulty (0-0-1). Subs: J McCarron for McAnespie (40 mins); L Kelly for McCarville (50); D Garland (0-1-0) for McNulty (51); D Hughes for Mohan (59); K O’Connell for McCarthy (59); S Mooney for Garland (60-63 blood).
Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon).
