McShea’s Say: Opportunity in front of Donegal too good to blow

There is a great buzz in Donegal this week as we wait in anticipation for our All-Ireland semi-final with Meath in Croke Park on Sunday. 

Donegal go into this game as warm favourites to win but the one county that have, over the years, confounded the critics were the team from the Royal County

And no doubt Sunday will see them provide Donegal with a stern test of their All-Ireland credentials.

One of the most memorable championships I was lucky enough to witness was back in 1991 when I drove to Dublin to see Dublin play Meath in four epic encounters in Leinster, when Meath’s traditional battling spirit saw them finally defeat Dublin with a last-minute goal from wing-back Kevin Foley. 

Meath were beaten by Down in that year’s football final, but they have won Sam Maguire seven times, having contested sixteen All-Ireland finals. They also have 21 Leinster titles to their credit and have won 7 National League titles.

The prize on offer this Sunday, a place in the All-Ireland final, makes semi-final day an occasion laced with much pressure and exceptional tension. In a game with the stakes so high, there are many imponderables. 

Will both sides finish the match with fifteen men on the pitch, or will some player succumb to the tension of the occasion and pick up the dreaded red card?

To their credit, Donegal have been exemplary when it comes to discipline this year and so have Meath, and we expect that both sides will continue in that sporting vein this Sunday. 

Looking at the young Tipperary forward receive his marching orders against Kilkenny for an ill-advised tackle in Sunday’s hurling semi-final, the distress was etched on his face as he sat on the sideline. 

He was very fortunate to see his teammates play heroically in the closing moments of a great game, as his moment of madness could have had dire consequences not only for his team but for every fan in Tipperary.

The main point to make is that getting sent off doesn’t make you a hard man, but it does show an incredible lack of discipline. 

A hard man is one who will run thirty yards to go down on the ball at the risk of getting a boot on the head. Lashing out, losing control, is no way to act.

In beating Galway in their quarter-final, Meath corner forward Jordan Morris played superbly. 

Morris is a very talented forward, but I was amazed that Galway manager Padraic Joyce was not aware of the threat that Morris posed and that little was done to dilute his impact on proceedings. 

In today’s game, all managers having video of the opposition is simply a way of life. The opposing team’s strengths, their weaknesses, how they attack and how they defend are scrutinised in minute detail, and this just does not happen to the opposition - the home team are also put under the microscope in similar detail.

I believe that every single player on the opposing team is analysed. What did they do with the ball? What way did they attack? 

What did they do when they were under pressure? I believe that modern analysis is now so advanced that practically every county has a computer system in which a player can name an opponent from an opposing county, and every instance of that player touching the ball in a league or championship game can be brought up instantly.

I am confident about the result of Sunday’s semi-final because Donegal have a special ability to get results on the odd occasion that they are not at their best, but the second-half display against Monaghan was exceptional. 

This team are playing with a confidence and self-belief that has clearly been honed on the training pitch, and the quality of football played by the players introduced against Monaghan was exceptional.

We have the best and most vociferous supporters in the country, and they are now as good as a sixteenth man, as the noise levels, even when not going well, have to be a major encouragement to the players. 

We are fortunate to have a group of footballers who all have a very good first touch and are very comfortable on the ball.

After our very convincing win against Louth, who beat Meath in the Leinster final, we will, I believe, justify the bookmakers’ odds that see Donegal at 2/7 and Meath available at 7/2. 

While it is always foolish to tempt fate, I have a feeling that the demand for tickets for the football final will reach incredible proportions starting shortly after 5:30 on Sunday evening.