Finnbarr Roarty is being primed for Paudie Clifford showdown - Pat Spillane 

Pat Spillane says Jim McGuinness is already planning for the ultimate showdown with Kerry come summer and the All-Ireland series. 

Donegal came undone in last season’s decider against the Kingdom and a first-half blitz from Jack O’Connor’s team left the Ulster champions facing an uphill battle they simply couldn’t scale. 

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Much was made at the time and has been since, about Donegal’s decision to allow Paudie Clifford to go untagged throughout as Kerry ran out deserving 1-26 to 0-19 winners.  

But speaking to the media recently in his role as an Ambassador for Comfort Keepers,  Ireland’s leading homecare provider, the Kerry legend says he sees a Donegal side that has already taken real lessons from that painful loss. 

“Jack and the boys outwitted Jimmy at the game he was supposed to be the master of,” Spillane said. 

“And look, Jimmy is hurting. Jimmy is shrewd enough - he can slag off the critics and he'll only accept criticism from managers and ex-managers. Actually, the first criticism he got was from Brian McEniff. But Jimmy is learning.

“What I see in Donegal, Donegal are evolving. There was one incident last week against Galway, they had three or four fellas, three or four corner-backs, cornered into a corner, like there was that full-on press. 

“And they’re man-marking. I thought, ‘Jeez, Jim is shrewd now’. Outside the fact that the low block isn’t there as much, the zonal marking - sometimes it’s there - but it’s more man-marking now. They’re very good defensively on an individual basis.”

And the former RTE Sunday Game pundit sees a serious coming together down the line as Finnbarr Roarty, in a new marking role, continues to collect some fairly impressive scalps. 

With the likes of Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue and Armagh’s Oisin Conaty already shot down, Spillane says McGuinness’ intent is fairly obvious. 

“AIl I’m saying is he’s looking ahead. Guess who’s going to be marking Paudie Clifford in a couple of months’ time?

“The thing about having Finnbarr Roarty out on a top player like that is he’s running the game on his terms. 

“He’s driving forward and he’s forcing Ryan O’Donoghue and Oisín Conaty into places they don’t want to be, retreating back. 

“No different than many years ago when Gooch (Colm Cooper) had to track Philly McMahon all the way up for minutes upon minutes in an All-Ireland Final.”