YOURS TO LOSE
Donegal are in Championship form, says Pat
THE mind games have begun ahead of next month’s All-Ireland final as Dublin manager Pat Gilroy declared Donegal Gaelic football’s form team.
The defending champions’ manager was speaking a day after Donegal captain Michael Murphy, in the wake of his side’s impressive defeat of Cork, suggested the winners of this Sunday’s meeting of Mayo and Dublin would go into the final as favourites.
Whoever advances faces a tough task on September 23, given that Donegal have already defeated three of the last four All-Ireland winners in this year’s campaign alone en route to the decider.
‘I wasn’t surprised at all to see them come through,’ said Gilroy of Donegal’s win over Cork. ‘Donegal have been the form team in the Championship, probably after Cork. But maybe Cork hadn’t got the tests along the way like Donegal had. That stood to Donegal. Even some of their earlier matches in Ulster, like the Tyrone game, really stood to them so they’re here on merit and would have to be the form team.’
Dublin have shown patchy form in the defence of their All-Ireland title and to return to the final
7 points was the advantage Dublin let slip in the 2006 loss to Mayo.
hasn’t been near as good as their form so they have probably rightly taken a lot of the limelight. Even Cork, up to Sunday, had played much better than we have played.
‘But look, if they are still not talking about us and we win the next two matches I’ll be happy. It’s not about being talked about, it’s about the result.’
Gilroy was wary about considering a final date with Donegal. The Dubs were perhaps guilty of looking to the final too soon in 2006 and were caught out by Mayo in the semis. Yet, for All- Star midfielder Michael Darragh Macauley, a player featuring predominantly in attack this summer, it must be difficult not to allow his mind to wander. His father hails from the Tír Chonaill county and the Ballyboden man admits it would be a bittersweet moment if a repeat of the 1992 final comes to pass.
‘My Dad is from Donegal and I’m hearing a lot about their win at the weekend from my cousins,’ said Macauley. ‘I heard about it all going into the semi-final last year and, if we were to beat Mayo, I’m sure I’d hear all about it again going into this year’s final.
‘There’s no Donegal flags outside my house though, definitely not. And I do believe there is a photo of my father in a Dublin jersey before the All-Ireland semi-final last year, so hopefully it would be something similar again for the final if we were to get there.’
Like Gilroy, Macauley was quick to qualify his remarks with notes of caution about taking Mayo for granted. They have learned not to do so after travelling to Castlebar for a rescheduled National League tie earlier this year and being beaten out the gate by the hosts. Many have been keen to make comparisons between this year’s semi-final and the 2006 match, which Dublin famously lost having led by seven points at one stage, though both Macauley and Gilroy believe the League match this year is far more significant.
‘It is and it’s a good indicator and a good warning to us that if our intensity is anything like that day again then we will get wiped out of it here at Croke Park,’ said Gilroy.
‘We haven’t visited that place in terms of [lack of] intensity since, thank God, so I certainly don’t think it will be a match like that.
‘ Regarding 2006, there hasn’t really been any talk about that. There are so few lads left from that day, probably only six or seven, that it’s not really relevant.
‘I barely remember the game myself,’ he added.
‘I was sitting in Croke Park as a spectator and it was a day that maybe Dublin threw it away. I think it shows as well that Mayo don’t really fear Dublin at all.’
Macauley was at midfield beside Ross McConnell for the League tie in April that Dublin lost by 0-20 to 0-8.
‘We definitely had to have a good look at things after that because things obviously weren’t going right if we were losing by that many points,’ said Macauley.
‘We took stock after that and assessed things. Hopefully we’ve straightened out a few issues since then.
‘I think it was down to things not clicking on the day really. They were very clinical and everything they seemed to kick went over the bar. We were kind of the opposite.
‘It was definitely one of those days. Not taking anything away from Mayo though. It was a super performance, they were just hands down better than us on the day.’ OF ALL the little nuggets of history mined by Donegal so far in this year’s Championship, one has surely made Pat Gilroy sit up and wince.
Having now neatly defeated the 2008, 2009 and 2010 All-Ireland champions so far in the campaign, Donegal can potentially win the title themselves next month by adding the 2011 winners, Dublin, to their impressive list of scalps.
For the omen to hold good, Dublin must, of course, defeat Mayo this weekend to qualify for the final, though as holders, they have every confidence in doing so.
Then they will have the opportunity to pit their wits against a team which some are already claiming have devised the ultimate template for modern success.
Dubs manager Gilroy has Mayo on his mind this week but, speaking yesterday, he was first asked to consider the great strides Donegal have made since losing to his own side in last year’s semi-final with a heavily defensive gameplan.
‘There’s far more attacking in their game now anyway,’ said Gilroy. ‘They’re still very, very good defensively too but a much more potent threat up front.
‘Our form, particularly up front,