WITH HALF AN hour remaining in their Allianz League encounter last Saturday night, Donegal led Dublin by 0-6 to 0-5, and it looked like they were beginning to frustrate Jim Gavin’s side.
Bernard Brogan was just called ashore by his manager, moments before Cormac Costello attempted an unnecessary over-the-head handpass to Eric Lowndes. Dublin, it appeared, we fast running out of ideas.
“Most teams we will face will present a defensive system like that. The guys are really enjoying the challenge,” Gavin said defiantly after the game.
“We were really looking forward to the game all week and breaking that challenge down.”
How Dublin went about breaking down that challenge and eventually turned the game around in that last 30 minutes was thanks to their high press and superb fitness levels.
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The only team to beat a Jim Gavin-managed Dublin team after St. Patrick’s Day, was Donegal in 2014, when they pounced for three goals to stun the reigning All-Ireland champions.
The issue for Rory Gallagher’s side this time around was the lack of an effective counter-attack. Dublin’s half-back line held their shape to avoid being stung on a quick breakaway.
Donegal missed a goal chance in the first half and the rest of the game looked like more of an attempt to slowly suffocate Dublin, as opposed to their sting operation of two years ago.
Donegal’s defensive set-up
Donegal arrived with a plan to smother Dublin’s attack, setting up with 14 men behind the ball, and 15 on occasions. With three spare defenders congesting the middle channel, Donegal forced Dublin to the perimeters and go lateral with their passes.
Early on, Dublin struggled to deal with the sweepers and their build up was slow and predictable. Dublin’s slow build-up in the first 40 minutes allowed Donegal time to filter back and set themselves up defensively.
Below we see an example of Dublin being forced to play the ball laterally in front of Donegal’s 45.
A big part of Gavin’s attacking philosophy is that he wants his forwards get their shots away inside the ‘red zone’ — the area from the ‘D’ into the goals where they can get high percentage shots away.
The problem for Dublin on Saturday night was that Donegal left at least two defenders, usually three, covering the space in between their full-back and half-back line at all times.
This made it difficult for the home side to attack at pace through the middle channel and create scoring chances. It also blocked up an area where Dublin have the players to cause havoc — in between the two defensive lines.
Below, when the ball is finally played inside by Paddy Andrews, Donegal read where the danger is and three defenders quickly surround Cormac Costello and win possession back.
Donegal fatigue
A key part of Donegal’s gameplan was to push up on Michael Savage’s kickouts.
But once Dublin won the initial short kickout the Donegal player nearest him put pressure on the ball, while the rest turned their backs and headed towards their own 45 to form that defensive wall.
That’s a long run back for five players to make on every kickout and eventually it tired them out. Is that sustainable over the course of a full 70 minutes of a high-octane championship game? It remains to be seen.
Donegal’s fitness levels will undoubtedly improve before the latter stages of the championship. But fatigue eventually caught up with them and was the main reason for their demise.
Of course, the red cards to Michael Murphy and James McCarthy suited Dublin, because of the extra space it afforded them around the field.
Five minutes after their dismissal, Brian Fenton had a glorious goal chance when he should have slipped in Kevin McMenamin to his left for an easy finish.
For the first time in the game two Dublin players, Paul Flynn and McMenamin, found themselves unmarked in that danger zone between the half-back line and full-back line.
Donegal didn’t track the runs between the lines, a result of tiredness, a lapse in concentration, or both.
Dublin failed to punish their opponents on that occasion as Brian Fenton made a poor decision to take his point rather than go for the jugular. It was the 65th minute before they killed the game off.
Dublin’s high press
Dublin’s had six players pressing right up on Mark Anthony McGinley’s kickouts every time and they hunted the tiring Donegal defenders in packs.
In the 64th minute, that pressure was beginning to tell. Andrews dispossessed Christy Toye after kickout was played short and had Dean Rock given a better handpass to McMenamin, a goal beckoned.
In the end they didn’t have to wait much longer to land the knockout blow. Philly McMahon’s goal moments later came from similar pressure on the ball coming out of defence.
After McGinley went short with a kickout, Paul Flynn intercepted an attempted pass from Ciaran Gillespie to Mark McHugh.
With oceans of space inside, Flynn passed to Andrews who found McMahon bearing down on goal. The Ballymun man made no mistake with his finish.
As Colm Parkinson alluded to in the Irish Independent earlier this week, going long with their kickouts might be a better option for Gavin’s side. Savage only went long with two kickouts last Saturday night.
“Donegal pushed up and went man for man for Dublin’s kickouts so both sets of players were in a relatively orthodox formation before the ball is kicked,” he wrote.
“Going long with their kickouts would mean taking half the Donegal team out of the game. By the time the kickout is won, Dublin would be past midfield and the retreating Donegal players would be playing catch-up.”
It makes sense and it’s certainly something you might see Dublin try if these sides meet in the business end of the championship. No point showing your hand in the league.
Greater battles lie ahead.
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