McShea’s Say: One of Donegal’s best displays in Croke Park

Every quality essential to sport at its most enthralling found expression in Donegal’s wonderful display against Kerry in last Sunday’s league final. 

Donegal played with passion and aggression, harnessed to a single cause, to eradicate the memory of last year’s disappointing football final.

That objective was emphatically dissolved by players who may well be on the brink of a golden age in our county's football history. 

In what can only be described as a profoundly encouraging season to date, with winning the McKenna Cup and the league, this Donegal side is now a potent force on the brink of launching a serious attempt to win football's most coveted prize.

When Jim McGuinness returned to the Donegal hot seat, he was considered by many to be a pioneering radical, with his emphasis on a defensive strategy.

But his team played on Sunday as if he had told them to ‘keep it simple, go out and enjoy yourself.

Management deserves great credit for this league's success.

I felt that Donegal’s display in hammering Mayo in Letterkenny was our best display in the last five years.

But on Sunday, this young team brought excellence to yet another level.

Management got all the match-ups spot on, to those who suggested that Kerry were off colour, they played as well as they were let.

I do not ever remember a team from the Kingdom being so comprehensively outplayed in Croke Park. 

A team of lesser passion would have felt demoralised after last July's final, but Sunday's excellent display confirmed this team's quick and effective rehabilitation.

This Donegal victory will be acclaimed by every county that is eligible to play in the quest for Sam Maguire this year.

Kerry was considered in every county to be almost a shoo-in to retain their title after the excellence of their football in winning Sam last year, but that invincible tag that they assumed is looking less secure after Sunday.

Kerry’s disappointment on Sunday was clear in the body language of their manager after the game.

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It was obvious that Jack O’Connor was not in the mood for a chat with Jim McGuinness after the customary handshake between the managers.

I don’t ever remember a Donegal team playing so well as a unit as this team did in dismantling Kerry, every player carried out his task to perfection, and when we enjoyed a 20-point lead in the last quarter, it was an accurate summing up of our side's excellence.

Joint team captain Michael Langan led from the front in this game. He was outstanding, and along with Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee and Michael Murphy, their ball-winning ability and dominance in the air was the platform for their side's stunning display.

After two years in limbo, Michael Murphy's return and his incredible displays since then have been so vital, correctly acknowledged as our greatest ever player.

He is famed for his style on the pitch, his relentless ambition, and passion for the game, and he too was a contender for the man of the match award, but he was fortunate on this occasion to only pick up a yellow card as his tackle on a Kerry player was more than a little aggressive and out of character for the Glenswilly man.

Young Max Campbell justified his late call-up with an outstanding display. Apart from his three excellent points, he was tasked with marking Sean O’Shea and from the word go, he had the much-vaunted Kerry attacker in his pocket.

Caolan McColgan also excelled. Charged with picking up David Clifford, McColgan did exceptionally well to keep the Kerry genius to 1-1, and no defender has limited Clifford to such a humble return for a very long time.

The modern game is very much about the strength of a squad's panel, and Donegal have unearthed some real young jewels in this campaign. Winning only our second League title is a great achievement, and the confidence going into the championship is a real boost.

While there is much speculation about the visit of Down for our first-round match, watching Down in their Division 3 final victory over Wexford, they struggled for long periods to close out the Leinster side. 

Donegal will, I believe, win that quarter-final match with a bit to spare, and then it may be a blockbuster Ulster semi-final against Armagh.

But in the meantime, let us bask in the glory of one of Donegal’s best-ever performances in Croke Park. It was simply stunning.