While Sunday’s draw between Dublin and Donegal was a typical February football match, mud-splattered, tense, mistaken-ridden and exhilarating, the Championship changes ushered through the GAA annual congress on Saturday formed much of the post-match conversation.
Both Rory Gallagher and Jim Gavin gave the changes a guarded welcome, but the Dublin manager pointed out that the basic structure remained the same.
“The proposals haven’t changed much. All any team is guaranteed is nine games in the season – seven in the normal schedule of your National Football League games and two Championship games. And that’s all we’re guaranteed. I think we all accept that isn’t good enough.
“We’re looking for strong leadership from Croke Park. I think Páraic Duffy has given it in this case – as he did back in 2000 when he got the qualifiers [passed] and I do recall a lot of angst around the country about that, and that was proven a success.
“So I would hope that there’s a broader plan, and this might be a phase of that broader plan. I would hope that the ard stiurthoir and Croke Park would come out strongly and articulate what the vision is.”
Gallagher noted that while the Donegal players had voted along the Gaelic Players’ Association line of rejecting the “Super Eight” structural reform, his inclination was to see it as a positive step.
“I personally think it is well worth the experiment. You have to try new things and to reinvigorate things. There is no doubt some of the quarter finals have been dead ducks. Funny our players were against it: they voted with the GPA against it. They just didn’t want it.
“But I feel that you want the best teams playing against each other as often as possible. I think if we got Dublin in a quarter final here or Mayo or likewise us going there: I think it would be great for our supporters and very fair.”
Tasks ahead
For both men, however, next season is an abstract notion. Their minds were firmly fixed on the match just played and the immediate tasks ahead.
For Dublin it doesn’t get any easier. Dublin lived very dangerously on a freezing night against Tyrone in Croke Park, when a late Dean Rock free secured a draw.
On Sunday, once again in bitterly cold weather, the All-Ireland champions were put through the wringer against a young Donegal team.
Next Saturday night, they host Mayo in Croke Park, and they can equal the longest unbeaten run in Gaelic football history when they visit Tralee to play Kerry on March 18th.
Dublin have dominated the league for the past four years but the intrigue of the streak has added to the drama of this year’s competition.
Not unexpectedly, Dublin faced a heavy Donegal rearguard in Ballybofey. Gallagher’s interpretation was that his forwards were merely tracking the Dublin defenders as they broke up the field.
For Gavin, it was a question of showing patience to try and create enough space to work with.
“We’ve gone through that in lots of games over the last few seasons, so that’s how the game ebbs and flows. Certainly over the last couple of seasons it hasn’t knocked these Dublin players off their stride. We went in at half time, we regrouped and the reality of it was stick with the game plan and go through the phases.
Great grit
“I thought they showed great grit again in difficult conditions, and it was always going to be a very low-scoring game with those under-foot conditions as well, and I just thought up to the goals we controlled the game very well.
“I thought in the second half we controlled it well too, we got ahead and one or decisions unfortunately went against us, which seems to be a common theme for this year. We are certainly swimming against the tide on that one.
“Certainly you have to maybe question the last free, but again the referee is closer than I am. Ciáran Kilkenny had the ball and the advantage was brought back, we were on their 14-yard line and we don’t want the advantage brought back to midfield.
“Anyway, it is what it is, and the referees are doing their best, as we all are.”
That last free for Donegal should not have been awarded: Eric Lowndes simply didn’t foul Eamon Doherty in that tackle. Still, Michael Murphy made light of the pressurised free, chipping it into the gale despite having missed his previous two shots, one from play and one from a free.
In the first half Murphy appeared to be frustrated with a series of quick Dublin fouls which prevented Donegal from counter-attacking from deep.
“We played Dublin a number of times and they know the strongest part of our game is our running game and they obviously targeted that.
There was not too much dirty, it was a difficult game to referee, it was quite congested at times, while Michael and a couple of other guys were targeted, but that was to be expected,” said Gallagher.”
Young players
For the second consecutive game his team retrieved a positive result despite trailing in the last few minutes, producing a late win in Roscommon prior to this draw against Dublin.
The ease with which young players like Ciaran Thompson, Jason McGee and Caolan Ward have adapted to senior football has seen a revision of the belief that Donegal will have to endure a few underwhelming seasons.
“I am happy with the character shown,” said Gallagher.
“The most disappointing thing was the 15 minutes either side of half-time against Kerry, when I thought we did throw in the towel. Sometime when you have a team coming you have to go through that and see why it happened.
“Look, we showed a lot of naivety in conceding the goal today, but in terms of work-rate, commitment and effort shown it was very positive.”
