Conor McManus: Trusting their process left Donegal playing entirely on Kerry's terms

Irish Times

29-07-2025

When you're doing an All-Ireland broadcast, it means being in Croke Park a good few hours early. Sometimes it's possible to pick up bits of information but I don't think I can be overly smart and claim to have spotted anything untoward.
When
Donegal
made the late replacement, it was hardly a big surprise.
Jim McGuinness
was always going to try and get Caolan McGonagle involved if he was fit but very few were expecting Hugh McFadden to drop out.
Before the match, I had remarked that McFadden is a better starter than a sub but the assumption was that Donegal might go with an extra defender. That didn't happen and McGonagle played a fairly orthodox midfield role.
Then there was the parade. Donegal broke early and went off but
Kerry
had war-gamed this and decided to hold formation behind the band until the parade came to a halt. You can fit the result into the parade any way you want so I'm not inclined to draw big conclusions because teams do whatever makes them comfortable.
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From my experience of big matches, it always felt easier to follow the parade until it was finished because that didn't place any demands on a team.
If all the prematch activity was hard to read, there was no mistaking the mood Kerry were in.
Gavin White burst on to the very first ball, the very first play and galloped right at Donegal before laying it off to Dylan Geaney, who scores. This is all within 14 or 15 seconds of the throw-in and you're just thinking, Kerry mean business here.
They started the final in fifth gear in the way they approached the kick-out and the breaking ball. I had been thinking that the first 15 minutes – never mind the first 15 seconds – might be cagey enough, a wee bit of feeling each other out and ease into the game.
But Kerry didn't allow Donegal any comfort, any time in possession even in those opening phases. They just railroaded them and made sure from the start that the game would be played on their terms.
They were so on top that MOTM could have been given to one of five Kerry players, the two Clifford's, White, whose movement was exceptional, Joe O'Connor and I'd include their keeper, Shane Ryan as well. It was a real team performance.
We saw the collective strength against Armagh and the 14-0 in 15 minutes during the second half and then 8-0 against Tyrone in a similar period. In Sunday's final, the push came early and they went from leading by one, 0-4 to 0-3, to 10 minutes later, stretching that out to 0-13 to 0-4.
Kerry's David Clifford scores two points despite Brendan McCole of Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
It was hugely impressive and their efficiency was off the charts. By my calculation, they got 1-16 out of 22 shots inside the large D.
It was clear that Jack O'Connor and his team had decided they were going after this and not waiting to feel out the opposition. They would impose themselves on the game and see what Donegal had, after that.
They were completely facilitated by Jim McGuinness sticking with the zonal defence. Kerry moved fast and never carried into contact. This robbed Donegal of their big tactic and momentum builder, turnover ball and deprived them of the oxygen of a big dispossession when they take the ball off you and break, fast. Turnovers were like hens' teeth and as a result, there was no opportunity to counter-attack at pace.
After the early exchanges, Donegal had a decision to make: continue as they were with the zonal defence or push out on to Paudie Clifford. That's difficult for a team as structured as Donegal.
They have backed the 'process' all year and didn't panic at half-time against Monaghan when losing by seven. This must have been planned in minute detail. So, are you going to give up on it after a few minutes when it's been your trusted MO all season?
Very quickly, we got the answer to that. Donegal were man marking David Clifford and putting a bit of pressure on Seánie O'Shea when he got to the arc area but outside of that, they were going to rely on the zonal defence.
There's a point in the game around the 20th minute when Ciarán Thompson goes down injured and Michael Murphy hits the post with a kickable free and you're thinking to yourself, this has the potential to get very messy.
To be fair, there's a bit of a revival after this. Michael Langan makes a great catch and Oisín Gallen points. Conor O'Donnell gets one and Murphy steps up, sticks one over the bar and then another. Donegal are easing themselves back into it. It's still not convincing.
Even when they had the ball, it was on Kerry's terms and not theirs. Their defence is getting worked cleverly, having to chase quick moving attacks that give up little opportunity for a smart dispossession. All of that defensive movement saps the energy. Michael Murphy is made chase short kick-outs.
Kerry were well set up when they didn't have the ball. Donegal just couldn't bend their opponents out of shape.
Donegal's Conor O'Donnell dejected after the game. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Thompson was also a big loss. When Monaghan were turning the screw in the quarter-final, his two-pointers kept them going. He was done after 23 minutes at the weekend and Ryan McHugh followed him early in the second half. Whatever chance Donegal had with the two of them on the field, hope was fading in their absence.
Although they needed to cut the gap on the scoreboard significantly because Kerry were able to put up scores with hardly any fuss at the other end, Donegal made no sustained effort to shoot two-pointers. Maybe this was also following a process but they had no real experience of trailing a top team by so much.
They did though stay in touch with Tyrone and Monaghan by kicking two-pointers. It was hard to understand the reticence. A couple of snatched efforts in the second half appeared to be the sum of it.
Kerry on the other hand, having mostly ignored the two-pointers in the early part of the year have become devastating in their use of them. I think it's because when you're playing league football in the mud and rain, it's a completely different experience to kicking the ball in Croke Park with its great surface in the middle of summer.
David Clifford showed the value of it before half-time. He had been playing brilliantly moving around with his marker Brendan McCole, taking him off to one side and then another, opening space for others.
After the hooter went for half-time, he was moving around while McCole just stayed tight, eyes on him the whole time but like that, he was gone on to a ball from Paudie and kicked a two-pointer. Instead of a five-point deficit at half time, which wouldn't have been bad on the run of play, Donegal were down seven. It was a hammer blow to morale.
Why did leave him for those closing seconds one-on-one? Kerry were obviously going to be looking for Clifford to kick the last scoring attempt. Make it difficult and try to force someone else to shoot.
In the end, it was the story of the All-Ireland. Donegal were unable to force anything. It was all played on Kerry's terms.