BACK IN 2016, when Micheál Donoghue undertook his first tour of duty as Galway manager, the jigsaw pieces were already on the table.
The team had come off a second All-Ireland final defeat in four years. Still, the players saw room for improvement, judging by the acrimonious vote of no confidence which put paid to Anthony Cunningham’s tenure.
They had come close to the mountain top and were now launching a mutiny to climb even higher.
For their first league outing, an impressive six-point win over Cork, Donoghue sent out a team featuring a dozen of those beaten finalists of the previous September. Eleven who played that day would feature a year and a half later when Donoghue led Galway to the promised land.
This time around, Donoghue returned to the hot seat with seven debutants and a 12-point defeat to Tipperary.
What Donoghue witnessed fell far short of the minimum requirements for work rate, which the Clarinbridge native has emphasised at every opportunity across the subsequent four months.
Only five of the starting team survived to face Kilkenny the following week. None of the 10 excluded have regained their places in his preferred championship team.
However, that game could neither be counted as a turning point nor has progression been linear since then. That 12-point margin of defeat has recurred three more times; against Limerick, Cork, and Kilkenny in consecutive road trips across March and April.
In that time, Donoghue has trialled a whopping 57 players, giving game time to 40. The experimentation has continued into championship, particularly in their attack. He called on 29 players in the Leinster round-robin.
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Galway's defeat to Kilkenny prompted a rethink. Leah Scholes / INPHO
Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
Compared to their position of strength back in 2017, when they pocketed Liam MacCarthy and the first of four consecutive All-Ireland minor titles in one memorable afternoon, their squad looks callow.
Six of those All-Ireland winners remain ever-present cogs. But those minor teams have been slow to produce senior dividends.
The first of those champion sides developed the likes of Darach Fahy, Darren Morrissey, Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon, and recent debutant Colm Molloy. Of the 2018 victors, however, only Dónal O’Shea has featured at any stage for the Tribesmen this term.
Even the transition to U20 hasn’t quite worked. They haven’t won an All-Ireland at that grade since 2011, and were beaten by double-digits in both finals they’ve reached in the meantime.
Perhaps the defining characteristic of Donoghue’s 2017 champions was the combination of size, power, and ball-winning ability, plus the sharp scoring touch, of their forwards. An attack built around Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning, Johnny Glynn, Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, and Cathal Mannion was an imposing mix for any opponent.
Currently, Galway have a rotating cast of inside snipers. Declan McLoughlin bagged 2-2 against Kilkenny in the league as a late call-up. The next day, Anthony Burns stepped forward with 2-3 against Clare on his first start. That same evening, Evan Niland nailed 0-9 from 10 shots. Against Offaly, Molloy was a late change for his first start and raised 0-5 from play.
They have each been in and out of the team as Donoghue seeks the right mix of grafters and scorers. Making the ball stick is the first imperative. Then, the score-taking comes in. Whelan and Mannion remain the heartbeat of their forward line as the players who best perform both roles.
Similarly, Pádraic Mannion and Daithí Burke have filled in as the full-back-line anchors, while David Burke has provided the midfield shield.
They still need those warriors to compensate for inexperience elsewhere.
Conor Whelan signs autographs after the victory over Dublin. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Donoghue pointed to players “learning the trade” after Dublin pilfered a couple of late goals to take the gloss off an eye-catching result at Parnell Park. Transition and evolution remain part of the vocabulary at this early stage.
“We’re still only a short time here and everything is still evolving for us,” he added. “We’re still trying to get the magic number, if you like, of lads in their best positions.”
All along, there has been hit-and-miss progress.
Where they lost four games by 12 points, they have now taken care of business in the last four by an average margin of 14 points per victory.
Where Mannion accounted for 49% of their scoring total in the first three championship games, they managed to construct an appropriate haul in his absence against Antrim and suitably diversified responsibility against Dublin.
Where they didn’t reach the 30-point barrier in their first seven games, they have broken it in three and clocked 0-29 in their fourth match since then.
The goal-scoring balance remains an issue. They have only kept one clean sheet in 11 games this year. At the other end, they have been shut out four times themselves; even if Donoghue’s side didn’t need goals back in ‘17 either.
They will be tested at both ends by Kilkenny in the Leinster final.
There remains a significant distance to travel before Galway could be classed as Liam MacCarthy contenders. But should they smuggle the Bob O’Keeffe Cup back across the Shannon after six years characterised by near misses and flops, their prize would be an All-Ireland semi-final. One that avoids the Munster champions too. From there, a return to the biggest stage wouldn’t look so far.
They have cast off one hex by beating Dublin, and with that, accomplished a significant marker of progress from the early elimination that ended Henry Shefflin’s reign.
Donoghue, as the Dubs’ head honcho, was responsible for that downfall. His return has reinstituted the minimum acceptable levels of performance for this new-look group.
Consistency is the next marker. Then, a Leinster title. Then, we would get a better sense of what’s achievable in the rest of Donoghue’s four-year term.
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Galway still leaning on the same few warriors as Micheál Donoghue searches for consistency
BACK IN 2016, when Micheál Donoghue undertook his first tour of duty as Galway manager, the jigsaw pieces were already on the table.
The team had come off a second All-Ireland final defeat in four years. Still, the players saw room for improvement, judging by the acrimonious vote of no confidence which put paid to Anthony Cunningham’s tenure.
They had come close to the mountain top and were now launching a mutiny to climb even higher.
For their first league outing, an impressive six-point win over Cork, Donoghue sent out a team featuring a dozen of those beaten finalists of the previous September. Eleven who played that day would feature a year and a half later when Donoghue led Galway to the promised land.
This time around, Donoghue returned to the hot seat with seven debutants and a 12-point defeat to Tipperary.
What Donoghue witnessed fell far short of the minimum requirements for work rate, which the Clarinbridge native has emphasised at every opportunity across the subsequent four months.
Only five of the starting team survived to face Kilkenny the following week. None of the 10 excluded have regained their places in his preferred championship team.
However, that game could neither be counted as a turning point nor has progression been linear since then. That 12-point margin of defeat has recurred three more times; against Limerick, Cork, and Kilkenny in consecutive road trips across March and April.
In that time, Donoghue has trialled a whopping 57 players, giving game time to 40. The experimentation has continued into championship, particularly in their attack. He called on 29 players in the Leinster round-robin.
Compared to their position of strength back in 2017, when they pocketed Liam MacCarthy and the first of four consecutive All-Ireland minor titles in one memorable afternoon, their squad looks callow.
Six of those All-Ireland winners remain ever-present cogs. But those minor teams have been slow to produce senior dividends.
The first of those champion sides developed the likes of Darach Fahy, Darren Morrissey, Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon, and recent debutant Colm Molloy. Of the 2018 victors, however, only Dónal O’Shea has featured at any stage for the Tribesmen this term.
Even the transition to U20 hasn’t quite worked. They haven’t won an All-Ireland at that grade since 2011, and were beaten by double-digits in both finals they’ve reached in the meantime.
Perhaps the defining characteristic of Donoghue’s 2017 champions was the combination of size, power, and ball-winning ability, plus the sharp scoring touch, of their forwards. An attack built around Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning, Johnny Glynn, Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, and Cathal Mannion was an imposing mix for any opponent.
Currently, Galway have a rotating cast of inside snipers. Declan McLoughlin bagged 2-2 against Kilkenny in the league as a late call-up. The next day, Anthony Burns stepped forward with 2-3 against Clare on his first start. That same evening, Evan Niland nailed 0-9 from 10 shots. Against Offaly, Molloy was a late change for his first start and raised 0-5 from play.
They have each been in and out of the team as Donoghue seeks the right mix of grafters and scorers. Making the ball stick is the first imperative. Then, the score-taking comes in. Whelan and Mannion remain the heartbeat of their forward line as the players who best perform both roles.
Similarly, Pádraic Mannion and Daithí Burke have filled in as the full-back-line anchors, while David Burke has provided the midfield shield.
They still need those warriors to compensate for inexperience elsewhere.
Donoghue pointed to players “learning the trade” after Dublin pilfered a couple of late goals to take the gloss off an eye-catching result at Parnell Park. Transition and evolution remain part of the vocabulary at this early stage.
“We’re still only a short time here and everything is still evolving for us,” he added. “We’re still trying to get the magic number, if you like, of lads in their best positions.”
All along, there has been hit-and-miss progress.
Where they lost four games by 12 points, they have now taken care of business in the last four by an average margin of 14 points per victory.
Where Mannion accounted for 49% of their scoring total in the first three championship games, they managed to construct an appropriate haul in his absence against Antrim and suitably diversified responsibility against Dublin.
Where they didn’t reach the 30-point barrier in their first seven games, they have broken it in three and clocked 0-29 in their fourth match since then.
The goal-scoring balance remains an issue. They have only kept one clean sheet in 11 games this year. At the other end, they have been shut out four times themselves; even if Donoghue’s side didn’t need goals back in ‘17 either.
They will be tested at both ends by Kilkenny in the Leinster final.
There remains a significant distance to travel before Galway could be classed as Liam MacCarthy contenders. But should they smuggle the Bob O’Keeffe Cup back across the Shannon after six years characterised by near misses and flops, their prize would be an All-Ireland semi-final. One that avoids the Munster champions too. From there, a return to the biggest stage wouldn’t look so far.
They have cast off one hex by beating Dublin, and with that, accomplished a significant marker of progress from the early elimination that ended Henry Shefflin’s reign.
Donoghue, as the Dubs’ head honcho, was responsible for that downfall. His return has reinstituted the minimum acceptable levels of performance for this new-look group.
Consistency is the next marker. Then, a Leinster title. Then, we would get a better sense of what’s achievable in the rest of Donoghue’s four-year term.
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GAA Galway GAA Hurling Leinster SHC final Micheal Donoghue