Basquel leads line as Dublin dig deep
In-transition Donegal put it up to All-Ireland champions who finish with a flourish to maintain winning run
FOR as long as this marvellous Dublin side dominate the Gaelic football landscape, these counties will be intertwined by what happened in the seismic All-Ireland semi-final of 2014 when Jim McGuinness plotted a masterful ambush of Jim Gavin’s men.
How much Donegal football is in transition, though, can be gauged by the fact that of the 21 players who featured on that August afternoon four years ago, only four started last night – Patrick McBrearty, Odhrán MacNiallais, Ryan McHugh and Leo McLoone – with two more, Michael Murphy and Marty O’Reilly, coming off the bench.
Contrast that with the All-Ireland champions. Seven of the team that started in front of 21,462 hardy souls in Croke Park last night were chastened by the experience of that semi-final, while another five of those on the substitutes bench were among the 21 who played that day.
For all that, this focused Dublin performance, which they did just enough to secure the points, was crafted by three players that weren’t around back then. Brian Fenton maintained his immense start to this Allianz League campaign, lording the skies last night, and nailing a tremendous point within five seconds of the restart.
Niall Scully caught the eye with his fine first-half display, slotting four excellent points from play, while Colm Basquel walked away with the official man-of-the-match award, after enhancing his reputation with another busy display at corner-forward.
There is a reason that Dublin seem to be stretching away from most other teams – and that is because the conveyor belt in the capital hasn’t stopped churning out these special talents.
Another sign of how Donegal have changed since they shocked the Dubs was that Paddy McBrearty wasn’t even an established starter back then, coming off the bench in the 43rd minute of that semifinal.
He is now his team’s most important player by far. He came to Croker, having scored 19 points in his opening two League games – and while it took him time to find his range yesterday evening with his first free into the Hill muiscued wide – he dragged his team back into this game in the second half.
McBrearty finished the game with seven points, three from frees, while his younger brother Stephen also showed plenty of endeavour as Donegal shaved the seven-point lead that Dublin held early in the second period.
Jamie Brennan, who was part of the Donegal minors that beat Dublin on the same August afternoon almost four years, also showed glimpses of promise yesterday evening, nailing a fine point in the fourth minute that gave Donegal an early lead, and ensured that Dublin had to shake off their lethargy. In the first half, both Brennan and McBrearty suffered from the quality of the delivery to the full-forward line but when the Bundoran man was finally released, moments before half-time, he was unfortunate not to be rewarded with a goal. He sold Philly McMahon a dummy and his rasping shot had Stephen Cluxton beaten, but it came off the upright.
At the time, it was felt that Donegal needed a goal to make it into a contest as Dublin had streaked into a 0-11 to 0-5 interval lead, with Scully and Basquel catching the eye while Brian Howard, who courted controversy during the week when he didn’t play with DIT, got on the scoresheet early in the second half.
‘Colm, Brian Howard and Niall, I thought they did very well. They were laying it off and finding their man, that is what we saw with their clubs last year and that is what they are good at,’ Jim Gavin explained of his new faces afterwards.
Dublin were reeled in by the inspirational McBrearty, whom Gavin called ‘a class footballer’ and by the 60th minute, there was only a single point between the teams. The Ulster side were also buoyed by the returning Michael Murphy, who came off the bench in the 55th minute for his first appearance of 2018.
But as Gavin claimed afterwards, his team showed great mental
strength and resolve in the final 15 minutes. Donegal wouldn’t score again after McBrearty’s seventh point as Dublin turned the screw and dug deep. They got the final four points of the game, including a splendid score from Eoghan O’Gara, one of those under pressure by the emergence of Basquel. O’Gara also found himself in Joe McQuillan’s book within four minutes of coming off the bench.
Declan Bonner suggested that there was a bit of inexperience in his team before the break. ‘We played within ourselves in the first half, stood back a bit from Dublin. But we battled really hard to come back in the second half.’
Bonner lamented the opportunities that his team wasted in the first half. And had the delivery into the full-forward line been better, they could have asked even more questions of Dublin.
But this is a new dawn for Donegal football, where they are trying to overhaul their style of play. There will be teething problems which is why they are still pointless after three games.
Bonner says a win would do wonders for the confidence of his young players. It can’t be too far away, judging by this performance.