Tactical analysis: Donegal and Armagh are two teams that ask all the right questions

Irish Times

13-05-2025

'The Ulster Championship asks questions of you, and if you can stand up and answer those questions, you'll learn an awful lot more about yourself and about your players.' – Jim McGuinness' post-match interview with Off The Ball.
Both teams were asked questions in Clones, with kickouts coming in for the harshest examinations, as the two sides went after strong goalkeepers.
Ethan Rafferty was
rightly lauded by Malachy Clerkin
in advance of the game following his exhibition in terms of kickout retention against Tyrone in previous round, with Armagh winning 23/24 (96%).
But Donegal forced Rafferty to go to his left rather than out to his right, where he really dominated against Tyrone. The Donegal kickout set-up looked to control the space to out to Rafferty's right (see image below), meaning he is forced out to the lottery on the left. Over the course of the game, Armagh only retained 20/31 kick outs (65%) and this was as low as 57% at half time, as Armagh only won 8 from 14 of their own restarts.
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Donegal squeezing Ethan Rafferty's favoured right side of pitch on a kickout in the 46th minute
Donegal looked to shut off the zones that worked for Rafferty against Tyrone
Not only did Donegal manage to win kickouts, they also managed to make use of them. Donegal knew what they were doing once they won the ball from the kick out − float it into Michael Murphy. This very move led to a return of 0-3 in the big momentum period for Donegal from the 16th to 25th minute. Murphy had his fingers on all three points, winning a free for the first, scoring the second and assisting Oisín Gallen for the third.
Finbarr Roarty floats quick ball into Murphy after Shaun Patton won Armagh kickout
Ball into Murphy, again bypassing Armagh defenders following Rafferty miscue over sideline
Murphy wins aerial battle despite being outnumbered after quick ball fired in after securing Armagh kickout
Murphy was immense for Donegal. He operated inside in the first half when his presence was needed, while in the second half he worked to control ball a little outside the arc. In the final phase of normal time he won the free to turn Armagh over when they were attacking, as he managed to spoil Peter McGrane with the clock on 68:07. He was then involved in the final phase on six occasions before Donegal lost possession.
Shaun Patton also had difficulty from his kickout as his options were restricted at times too − both Rafferty and Patton had lower kickout retention rates than they had in their respective semi-finals.
Interestingly, Rafferty was a thorn in Patton's side, as the Armagh man managed to secure possession from three of Patton's kickouts in the second half. The damage off these three possessions was 0-2 but would have been more if Rafferty had converted his two-point effort in the 59th minute.
He did spin one lovely ball into Conor Turbitt who tried to palm it to Rory Grugan in the 58th minute. Patton was alert to this and came out to intercept but Grugan managed to force a 45. It is worth noting that this 45 was spotted by the excellent positioning of Brendan Cawley's umpire. While it is obvious Armagh and Donegal have excellent support teams, it is just as important for referees to be supported capably by their umpires and linesmen.
Games can come down to fine margins, and this 45 was awarded by expert positioning from the umpire
Patton has that extra tool in his locker of the kickout over everything, which was displayed in the 54th minute as Gallen caught the ball directly inside the far arc and found the on-running Jason McGee for a crucial score.
Patton's long kick can remove the press from the equation, and here led to Jason McGee scoring a point
After the game, Jim McGuinness talked about how Donegal managed the end phase of both normal time and extra time. 'Every county in Ireland are working on scenario-based final phases. Armagh are probably the best team in the country at that.'
He wasn't pleased with how Donegal managed the final phase of normal time, as a loose Michael Langan pass to Peadar Mogan was intercepted, which allowed a final chance for Armagh. They needed a one pointer to bring the game to extra time and Oisín Conaty (a man of the match contender) duly obliged, with the score created by Armagh quickly working an overload on the covered stand side.
Armagh managed to overload one side of the pitch ahead of equalising score towards the end of normal time
McGuinness also referenced looking to see who was going to 'underlap' in that tight sideline zone during the end phase of extra time. Donegal managed to get players underlapping back the pitch in order to retain possession as Armagh aggressively hunted them, before the pitch eventually opened up as the clock ticked towards the red. It showed the composure of an expertly coached team.
Donegal managed to get players underlapping back the pitch in order to retain possession at the end of extra-time as Armagh aggressively hunted them
All the praise can't go in one direction, as this was preceded by Armagh showing ambition to try and get the ball back as goalkeeper Rafferty pushed out to try and dispossess Ciaran Moore with the clock at 89:24, but he was just a little too eager and conceded a free. It was brave and the right thing to do from an Armagh perspective, as even Donegal getting the free meant they were under pressure to secure possession as Niall O'Donnell stood over the free kick before they 'underlapped' their way out.
Rafferty advancing from goal in a defensive ploy as the clock ticked down
After being at the centre of losing possession in the final phase of normal time, Langan showed his worth to the Donegal team as he assisted the final two scores of the game, with the pass for Ciaran Moore's goal and Niall O'Donnell's winning point.
His movement to receive the pass before offloading to Moore, managed to completely unlock the Armagh defence. Ciaran Moore was another to stand out on the day and while his goal was a key score, his point in the 48th minute, where he attacked into space with a strike run as Donegal forwards vacated space for him, was a joy to watch. These were beautifully coached plays.
Michael Langan's one-two to open defence ahead of assist for Ciaran Moore goal
Space expertly cleared for Ciaran Moore's strike run
McGuinness finished that post-match interview with a message that further work is required, and that it is on the training ground and through analysis where a further edge will be found. 'We now need to take the learnings, and there will be a significant amount of learnings from the game, and see can we apply them to the group stage and the All-Ireland series.'
Paul O'Brien is a performance analyst with The Performance Process (
twitter.com/NoPlanBGAA
).