Pat Spillane: My verdict on where Dublin lost their way

Sunday World

16 hours ago

Game's star players now have the time and space to display their skills
After another pulsating, enjoyable, entertaining weekend of championship football, I must thank Jarlath Burns, the GAA president, for appointing Jim Gavin and the FRC who are responsible for making me fall back in love with Gaelic football.
And for making the playing, and in particular the watching, of Gaelic football so enjoyable again.
Isn't it gas? People were complaining about the first 50 minutes of Galway v Meath and some of the Dubs v Tyrone match. But if those matches were played last year, we would have been full of praise for them.
I'm not going to go down the route of talking about my predictions from last weekend. Suffice to say, I'm sticking to my Declan Nerney soundbite as my excuse: 'If I knew then what I know now, I'd be a wiser man.'
There are so many talking points, so many brilliant individual and team displays, that I'm not sure where to start.
How about the very best? Completely biased, I start with Kerry's 15-minute third-quarter performance against Armagh, when they hammered the hammer. They went at Ethan Rafferty's kick-out, flooded the middle third of the field with players, and owned possession, kicking 14 points without reply.
Wow. And believe it or not, they only missed one shot in that period, and that was from David Clifford. He is human after all.
What about Donegal's second-half performance? A 13-point turnaround when scoring 1-15 to Monaghan's five points in the second half. A display of ruthless efficiency. Teamwork at its very best.
And Meath? Looking dead and buried after conceding 2-3 to Galway, they showed spirit and resilience to come back.
And Tyrone. Dublin drew level just after half-time. The crowd was getting behind them, the Hill was in full voice, and yet Tyrone saw out the game and beat Dublin easily. Oh, what fabulous games and fabulous performances.
I could talk about all the individual displays and I could talk about the brilliant skill execution. I'll just mention one as my standout highlight.
Mathew Costello delivers a no-look pass for a Meath goal in their win over Galway. Photo: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Mathew Costello's no-look pass to Jordan Morris for a vital Meath goal. Magic. Absolute magic.
But there's two words that stick in my head from the weekend. Character and momentum. That word character summed up so many of the displays of the winning teams last week.
Meath. What character. Last year, beaten by Dublin and Kerry by 16 and 15 points, respectively. Yet this year, an awful lot of the same fellas have come back, beaten Kerry and Dublin, and deservedly beaten Galway. That's character.
And what about Kerry? Written off by everyone, even in their own county. And producing a performance like that against the All-Ireland champions. That's character. But of course, a word for Jack O'Connor, who took something straight out of Jimmy McGuinness's playbook.
He created a siege mentality with the whole world, including the Kerry pundits, against them. He said the same things in 2009 when Kerry beat Dublin in the quarter-final; he could have cut and pasted those statements.
But of course the bottom line, as Páidí Ó Sé said, is that a grain of rice can tip the balance. And if players are motivated, from whatever source, then that can be the grain of rice.
There was character shown by Tyrone to dethrone Dublin after a desperate performance against Mayo.
There was character shown by Donegal in that second half against Monaghan. This was a Donegal side who looked lethargic in that first half. Yet in the second half they produced a power-packed display of relentless running. What conditioning, what pace, what character.
The second word that sticks in my head is momentum. And there's no doubt that under the new rules, the importance of a team gaining a foothold around the middle third, winning the kick-out and securing possession can't be overstated.
Once that momentum is gained, it's very difficult to get it back. Kerry's third quarter of 14 points without reply is a perfect example.
Or Donegal's second half, a 13-point turnaround, eight points without reply. That's momentum.
Meath regaining control of the middle after Galway went ahead. That's momentum. Galway never got it back.
Tyrone's Eoin McElholm. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Or Tyrone, when they brought on the fresh legs. Ben McDonnell, Ruairí Canavan, and, in particular, young Eoin McElholm. That brought momentum and energy.
Dublin, even with the introduction of Con O'Callaghan, never looked like they were gaining any.
Last weekend once again confirmed that the new rules have allowed teams to play football again.
The game's star players now have the time and space to display their skills.
This is what the rules of all sports should be about – that we see the best playing the best. Hallelujah!
And before I talk about the losers, three more things.
Thanks, in particular, to Joe Brolly for motivating Kerry. It was absolutely brilliant. But I know Joe. Joe adopts the Oscar Wilde mantra, that there's only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's not being talked about. Once he's being talked about, he's happy.
But thanks Joe, for helping out.
Dessie Farrell stepped down after Dublin's defeat to Tyrone. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Well done to Dessie Farrell on a wonderful career as a player and as a manager.
He guided a lot of those players from under-14 to winning All-Ireland medals. He has left a hugely positive and admirable legacy.
And while we're on managers, Kevin McStay deserves a mention. The blatant lack of respect shown to him by the Mayo County Board statement infuriated me, I have to be honest.
I know Kevin. After working with him on The Sunday Game , I can vouch that he is a very honourable man, a guy who gave huge service to Mayo both as a player and manager.
A man who was, in my opinion, the most insightful Gaelic football analyst in the game. He didn't deserve that blackguarding.
And finally, it's time to talk about the losers. Because guess what? We won't be talking about them again. Let's deal first with the All-Ireland champions.
Here's a fool's guide to winning a game of Gaelic football. You need the ball. And sadly, for that 15-minute spell when Kerry ran riot, Armagh had no ball.
They were helpless. Because this was a clinical destruction of them by Kerry.
They kept losing the kick-out, but they never changed strategy. They lost 19 out of 33. Most were being kicked to the same side repeatedly. Most had the same result.
Their shooting efficiency was woeful – just 43 per cent. Kerry were at 76pc.
Under the old rules, a team could very easily stick to the process, stick to the game plan from start to finish because they were so programmed. This year, Armagh were programmed to zonal marking.
They were programmed last Sunday to protecting that arc. They were programmed to having the plus-one in front of David Clifford.
Unfortunately, they left the outside of the arc free.
And the likes of Seánie O'Shea prospered, as did David Clifford, when he came outfield.
They made hay because they were able to kick unopposed in loads of space. And the frightening part about it was this problem reared its head in the very first match against Antrim.
On that occasion, like the Kerry match last Sunday, Armagh left players free outside the arc. Antrim kicked six two-pointers.
They got away with it against Antrim. They didn't get away with it against Kerry last Sunday. Better players, better forwards, will crucify you.
And interestingly, you look through the Ulster teams that have won All-Irelands and the great managers they have had, they never put All-Ireland titles back-to-back.
Mickey Harte didn't. Jimmy McGuinness hasn't. Nor Kieran McGeeney, a great manager too.
And here's the problem. To retain a title you've got to play with the same commitment, effort, hunger and energy as the year you're winning the medal.
A drop of even one per cent and the team is vulnerable. Last week, those players were that one per cent off.
Armagh were passive in their play compared to last year. Less physical than last year. Less in your face. That's why they're out.
And that brings me to the Dubs. You will have noticed from the Indo podcast last week the headline was that Dublin are an ordinary team without Con and I still stand by that.
Sure, Con came on with 20 minutes to go, but he was carrying a leg and never had the same impact or brought the same energy as before.
The bottom line is that Dublin were great champions, but they lost too many of their top players in recent years.
They've been running on dirty petrol. They were playing on muscle memory this year and, indeed, last year.
The key players didn't perform last week. Like Seán Bugler and Brian Howard, who are normally so good.
The impact from the subs bench has been poor all year. But I see the two-pointers as the main reason why Tyrone won and Dublin didn't.
Dublin didn't adapt as quickly as they could to the modern rules. They certainly didn't adapt to kicking two-pointers.
That's because for 10 years, under Jim Gavin and later Dessie Farrell, Dublin were trained not to take long-distance, high-risk, shots.
They hit no two-pointers last weekend. And like Armagh, they had a passive defence that sat too deep, protecting the arc, and allowed Tyrone's two-point shooters to thrive.
Monaghan were tremendous in the first half, but the stats for the second half make grim reading.
Five points scored, 23 minutes without a score, 12 wides and two into the goalie's hands. What happened in the second half? They ran out of steam and they ran out of ideas.
They were exhausted. They couldn't keep up with the unbelievable fitness levels and non-stop running of Donegal. But on top of physical tiredness, there was mental tiredness.
When you get mentally tired, your decision making, your shot execution, your option taking is all wrong. Sadly, it was a collapse both mentally and physically.
And finally, Galway. On the podcast this week, Dick Clerkin mentioned something about Galway and he got it spot on. Galway are the new Mayo.
Like Mayo, Galway have lost big matches in recent years which were there for the taking. Like the All-Ireland final three years ago against Kerry and last year, even more so, against Armagh.
You see poor game management. Star players marked absent. A defence still conceding too much, 2-16 last weekend. And an attack that's not much different from last year's All-Ireland final.
Think back to that game when they were too slow and ponderous, playing possession football with no shots at the end of it.
Last Sunday's first half had more of the same – a lateral, slow, ponderous attack. That's no trouble to any defence.
And the final thing. We talked about hammering the hammer before and in fairness to Meath, they went after Galway's middle third. And when you lose the middle third, you're in trouble.
Pádraic Joyce has been a great servant, but if they continue with the same template and same game plan and probably the same players, they're going to end up like Mayo.
Heroic losers, a nearly team. They need a fresh approach next year. Badly.