NOTHING ever looks quite right on the first Sunday in January.
The sogginess of the Páirc Mac Cumhaill pitch, even in spite of the glorious winter sunshine in which it bathed and the ankle-high grass would be enough to make your eyes water at the thought of ploughing through it for 70 minutes. But in spite of that, you could see certain characteristics in the way both Down and Donegal set their stalls out in their Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup opener.
There was more interest in the Down setup, given that it was their first competitive game under new manager Éamonn Burns. As he admitted himself after the game, there are tweaks that will quite visibly need made to the attacking side of their game from last Sunday.
Caolan Mooney, lining out at 11, looked like the right move, but his willingness to rove far and away from the centre left the Down inside forward line looking very isolated. With their two wing-forwards dropping back, they ended up without any real half-forward line at times in the first-half.
Whether it was the gameplan or it was the heaviness of the legs during the opening 35 minutes, they kicked the ball in Donegal’s favour too often. Down’s midfield and half-back line were trying to deliver the ball to their inside forwards from behind the halfway line, with no red-and-black shirt in the 70 yards in between.
It became quite easy for Donegal to either pick the ball off in flight or, on the occasion that Down did win it, to double and treble up on the poor isolated men inside. Rookie forward Gareth Johnston was dispossessed a few times as he found the physicality of the Donegal tackling hard to contend with and, yet, the Tullylish youngster actually showed the makings of a finisher when he did get half a yard. On this showing, if he can bulk up, he could be well worth holding on to.
Arthur McConville showed well, even at full-forward, and it was his switch with Mooney that actually brought about a better shape to the Down attack. McConville held his position better at 11, allowing them to more easily link the play from back to front.
When they did run at Donegal, they threatened to open them up. And as with the rest of the country, their running game is never going to look as slick in January as it might in June. But Burns did hint he was impressed with that side of their play.
As for Donegal, they were simply a bit craftier in attack. Frank McGlynn saw so much ball in the opening 20 minutes by just dropping five yards off his man to make himself available for the hand-pass.
Odhrán Mac Niallais spent much of the day closer to goal than he usually would, but their attacking structure was just further down the line. Mac Niallais picking up the ball outside the 45 and playing in McGlynn for the goal evidenced that. The Glenfin man’s casual drifting run inside was aided by the movement of the others, who pulled the inexperienced Down defence right out and left a huge gap.
The visitors had struggled down the middle early on, but they quickly employed Aidan Carr as the sweeper and his presence was enough to force Donegal to corners. It reduced the home side’s goal threat dramatically.
Watch footage from the game:
