Colm Boyle: Meath's strength became their weakness in stroll for Donegal

Irish Daily Mirror

3 days ago

My fear that this All-Ireland semi-final might get ugly for Meath unfortunately became a reality for them.
Donegal were playing football from a different planet to them and it sets up a fascinating final against Kerry in two weeks.
The Ulster champions were absolutely electric in the second half and once Oisín Gallen cracked home their first goal, they sprinted for home, outscoring Meath 2-12 to 0-5 in the process.
One of Meath's biggest strengths in the lead up to the All-Ireland semi-final was their two-point shooting, but in the first half it became a huge weakness.
With the wind at their backs the game plan was clear: don't bring the ball into Donegal's zonal defensive system and get your shots off from outside the arc. It's great when it comes off, but converting only two from seven two-point attempts completely sucked the life out of them.
The more they missed, the more Donegal became comfortable with letting them shoot from distance.
Donegal, on the other hand, were red hot in the opening stages, scoring their first six from seven shots into a tricky breeze at the Hill 16 end although their shot efficiency did drop off for the rest of the half.
Leading by five points at half-time and with the wind at their backs, I didn't think there was any way that they would not win the game and the second half proved a stroll in the park.
Michael Murphy coming off so early in the second half was interesting; he didn't seem to be moving particularly well despite scoring an early second half point. But Jim McGuiness will be delighted that he didn't have to exert himself too much.
One of Donegal's greatest strengths is that they regularly hit double digits in terms of scorers - different players raised a flag this time and it's something that Jack O'Connor is going to find very difficult to plan for in two weeks.
For Meath, it's definitely an anti-climax to what has been a great season for them and was eerily similar to Cork's dismantling of Dublin in the hurling semi-final eight days earlier.
The loss of Bryan Menton after 20 minutes coincided with Donegal completely taking over around the middle third.
Donegal just never let Jordan Morris and Mathew Costello in particular have any sort of influence on the game. But with injured players such as James Conlon to come back into the mix next year it will be interesting to see how much more this team can improve and develop.
It's all about Donegal, however, and they and Kerry have proven themselves to be the top two sides in the country with their displays over the weekend.
One thing that is for certain ahead of the final is that David Clifford will not be afforded the same space that he got against Tyrone, which is just one aspect of what should be a fascinating tactical battle.
The impact of the benches could be vital too, and Paddy McBrearty followed up his big performance off the bench against Monaghan with another sharp display this time.
All told, the semi-final weekend was a bit of a letdown as a brilliant summer of football winds down.
Here's hoping we get the thrilling final that this Championship deserves.
======
Pádraig Hampsey was handed the hardest task in Gaelic football on Saturday on David Clifford and Tyrone's back-up plan failed badly.
Taking on Clifford in the wide-open spaces of Croke Park in sweltering conditions is incredibly difficult but, still, it's a job that Hampsey would have been much better able to tackle three or four years ago, before he was wracked by injuries. He just didn't look like he had it in the legs at this stage and Clifford was in near unstoppable form.
In the circumstances, he needed greater support around him but the plan to get Ben McDonnell back as extra cover didn't work out.
McDonnell struggled to get into a position that affected the ball getting to Clifford. When Clifford left Hampsey for dead on the run in for his goal, it was McDonnell that came across but he offered little to no resistance to Clifford, who finished expertly to the net.
McDonnell dropping also allowed the Kerry half-back line to carry loads of ball and I thought Gavin White, Mike Breen and Brian Ó Beaglaioch all had brilliant games.
Seán O'Shea and Paudie Clifford weren't at their blistering best but were still hugely influential in the game. They will both feel that they can up it a few gears in the final.
But one man who seems to be doing just that with every game is Joe O'Connor. He gave a powerhouse of a performance again on Saturday.
His appetite for work is infectious. He has got himself into incredible physical shape. He was fouled for two scores in the first half and drove right through the heart of the Tyrone defence for two scores of his own in the second half.
Malachy O'Rourke will be scratching his head at how his team fell away so badly after Darragh Canavan made it a one-point game in the 42nd minute. His team didn't score again for another 20 minutes and had eight missed attempts at the posts in the meantime.
It completely sucked the life out of them on an evening when scores give you the oxygen you need to survive in such blistering heat, with Kerry rattling off nine points without reply to finish the game as a contest.
Relief must be the overriding emotion for Brian Flanagan as his Kildare side survived a huge scare against Limerick in the Tailteann Cup final.
Winning the competition isn't what Flanagan's term as Kildare manager will be judged on, but had they lost it could have been a mortal blow to what he hopes to achieve going forward.
Win it they did, however, and they had to survive a last minute Limerick onslaught for a goal as Brian Byrne made a heroic block to force a goalbound Rory O'Brien shot over the bar.
Kildare are often a team that get criticised for their inability to win big games and, in many ways, this could be a great platform for them to build from because when Killian Ryan crashed in a brilliant second half goal for Limerick it looked like it was going to be Jimmy Lee's side's day.
But Darragh Kirwan in particular was exceptional in the closing stages to dig out the result for Kildare.
Lee simply could not have asked any more from his team and they looked as exhausted as they were devastated at the end. But what a year it's been for them.
The big question for Kildare is whether this can be a springboard to greater things for them now.
It's a start but, on the evidence of this display, they have a hell of a long way to go.