Scoreline doesn't tell full story despite late collapse

Analysis

Damien Donohoe

The stage was set on Sunday for a big occasion. With 12,509 people watching, the sun shining and Kingspan Breffni rocking, it had the feeling of a proper championship match from the get-go. It was one of those games and occasions that would make any person envious of the lads who got to put on a blue jersey and take the field.

The stadium and the pitch looked perfect and from an hour before throw-in, there was a real championship feeling about the place. It brought back memories from my childhood going to Ulster Championship games where there never seemed to be a poor crowd. Even with the result, the occasion will have fuelled kids to want to put on the blue of Cavan some day.

You can see why the Donegal supporters are so loyal and feel so invested in their team’s journey. Jim McGuinness has included them by continuing to reference them when talk of their final group game against Mayo being played in Croke Park came up.

“We wouldn’t be happy with Croke Park,” he said, “because our supporters have been through the ringer financially up to this point.”

McGuinness also uses that support when the team needs a lift, and he managed to turn the volume up on Sunday when things weren’t going the way he liked. Padraig Faulkner had delayed Donegal from taking a quick free with a suspected injury to his head which McGuinness didn’t agree with.

A few minutes later, after Donegal had taken a three-point lead, with two of those points created using body checks, Dara McVeety received an elbow to his head while competing for a breaking ball. With Donegal in possession and on the attack, the referee halted play to check on McVeety who was now lying down holding his head.

After remonstrating with the linesman and fourth official for 30 seconds and getting nowhere, McGuinness turned his attention to Raymond Galligan and marched up the sideline to start shouting at the Cavan manager. This drama raised the volume in the stands, giving energy to his team, so it was job done.

But the question must be asked, how did the officials allow the situation to develop that far? To get to Raymond Galligan, McGuinness had to walk 25 metres past both officials to get close to the Cavan dug-out. There was clearly an instigator but still the punishment was a pair of yellow cards with a member of the Cavan backroom team joining the Donegal manager in the book.

Donegal and some other teams seem to be deploying a new tactic to free up a player in attack. In basketball it’s called a screen, and it can be done legally on the court. In Gaelic football there is no legal way to execute a screen, so you must make it look like an accident.

Brian Howard did it very well for Paddy Small’s first point against Armagh at the weekend and Donegal have clearly decided to use it too. With the sides level 26 minutes into the game, we saw the first Donegal body check that led to a score. Peader Mogan runs straight to Killian Brady to block him from staying with Michael Murphy who uses the screen to get the ball and set up Conor O’Donnell for a point; Galligan has words with the linesman, but it falls on deaf ears.

Before McGuinness’ dramatics on the sideline, the screen was used again. Michael Langan passed the ball to Conor O’Donnell who was being closely marked by Cian Reilly. O’Donnell, in a change of direction, headed back towards Langan who takes a short step backwards to block Cian Reilly from staying with him, resulting in a simple tap-over point.

These two points were huge because Cavan were playing against the wind in the first half and were doing well. Even with those two points, Cavan were only three points behind with three minutes remaining in the first half. There were a number of really good turnovers won by the Cavan defence and in attack we were creating chances.

The move for the goal was something that showed Cavan have been innovative with the new rules too. Ciaran Brady was in possession of the ball close to the 65-metre line. Cian Reilly, on the opposite side of the field, stood like a sprinter ready for the gun and shouted for Brady to get inside the defensive half of the field to free him to go forward. After a 40-metre solo run by Reilly, the lads - with a little bit of good fortune - bagged a goal.

Cavan’s points from Cormac O’Reilly and Dara McVeety on the 19th and 21st minutes were top-class team moves that brought the sides level. Liam Brady’s speed and accuracy off the tee along with a couple of good saves were positives also.

Niall Carolan’s dominance over Patrick McBearty and how he forced Michael Murphy to take a yellow card with a drop of the shoulder at the right time once again showed how he can be trusted to do the big jobs.

Ultimately, the key moments in the game came just before half-time and just after McGuinness’ antics on the sideline. With just over a minute to go until the hooter sounded, there were three points between the sides and we had the ball. A poor decision while on the attack gave Donegal possession back; they countered at speed and won a free for McBearty to tap over.

Seven seconds before the hooter sounded, Liam Brady took the kick-out and Evan Crowe gathered the ball but fatigue could be seen as his hand pass hit the ground and was gathered by Ryan Donohoe. The ball was passed over to the stand side of the field but once again fatigue was evident in a number of players as they failed to get the ball off the sideline and Donohoe brought the ball into contact where a turnover was most likely.

When the turnover did come, fatigue showed once again as Dara McVeety and Ciaran Brady both left Shane O’Donnell to try to get the ball back but got caught out with the free going over their heads. Brian O’Connell couldn’t keep with Finbarr Roarty’s run and Killian Brady also left Roarty running through the middle to tackle Murphy when he was less of a danger. Carolan got caught with a back-door cut and Reilly just hadn’t the legs to get goal side of Roarty before he palmed the ball to the net.

Those two scores made the task in the second half a lot tougher but the timing of the goal meant that, walking off the field, the players only had that goal and how it happened in their head instead of being able to focus on how they could turn it around in the second half.

It was always going to be a big ask to beat Donegal with them having lost to Tyrone a week earlier. Good teams react well to defeats and Donegal are a top team. Before the Mayo game most people (myself included) felt we weren’t at the level of the other teams in this group and after Sunday a lot are saying we aren’t - but I’d take a different view.

For 34 minutes, Donegal with the wind at their backs couldn’t fully shake Cavan off. We matched them with aggression and work rate and this left McGuinness in a position where he felt he had to do something dramatic to turn the game. That wasn’t Donegal slow starting or caught on the hop, it was a hungry and determined Donegal who were fighting for the championship survival.

Okay, Cavan fell off in the second half badly but at least we now know we can play to the level of the best teams in the country for 34 minutes. We just need to do it for longer the next time out.