Donegal v Mayo: The Alternative View - Mayo for All-Ireland; Murphy still sweeping the boards

Just when we thought he had been written out of the script, there he was - centre stage. Yes Michael Murphy, and not just centre stage, but winning again on Sunday.

Bad enough getting a hammering from Mayo in MacCumhaill Park, but then, like a bad dream, we were reminded about the good times, that goal in Croke Park, the greatest footballer Donegal had ever produced.

And who have we to blame for this - a writer/director/actor Shaun Byrne of the Butt Drama Players, who took his new play “Darkness Echoing” to the Ballyshannon Drama Festival last week and went on to sweep the boards when the gongs were given out on Sunday night.

‘Murphy’ was front and centre of the play, but we never got to see him. We did hear him though as he was the guard dog for the main character in the play, Da. JC Bonar gave a performance that was outstanding and his love of ‘Murphy’ was just brilliant,  culminating in his delight in the final scene when ‘Murphy’ survives an assassination attempt, ordered by the terminally ill Da.

It was a brilliant piece of script writing and maybe if the Glenswilly man gets to see the play, he, too, might have a change of heart.

Croke Park hierarchy to probe Donegal GAA

Donegal GAA chiefs are to seek out Karl Lacey to tease out the possibility of the Four Masters man returning as Head of Academy

It is going to be a slow burner getting Murphy out of the Donegal system. How we needed him on Sunday to give us leadership. We have suffered greatly from retirements and injuries.

Our record against Mayo was so good; never lost to them at home; played 18, won 8, lost 4 and 5 draws before Sunday. And some of those draws should have been wins - remember O’Donnell Park in 2009; Ballybofey in 2018 and Markievicz Park last year.

Despite that record, we knew that this could be different, but we didn’t think along the lines of an 11 point hammering.

It was just a pity that the Donegal defence was not as well manned as the press entry to the game (unless you were TG4 or RTE). Different rules for them boys.

Donegal were just outclassed when the game got into the second quarter. This looks a very well drilled Mayo side and Kevin McStay has them looking like winners. It is still only March and we are talking Mayo here; but could it be the year that they finally break the hoodoo?

But what of Donegal? 

We have four weeks from next Sunday until we travel to Newry for the opening game of the Ulster Senior Championship and based on our league form, it could be a difficult day. Our scoring rate is well below what is required - 0-13 against Kerry; 0-8 against Tyrone; 0-15 against Monaghan; 1-9 against Galway; 0-10 against Armagh and 0-9 last weekend against Mayo.

That’s an average of just over 11 points per game and we have just netted one goal in those six contests. While we should have had more points and have created chances, we haven’t been creating many goal chances.

The other worrying aspect of performances in recent weeks is that our fitness levels seem to be behind other counties. That is something that is very much in our own hands and will need to improve.

The number of pacey players on the field is something that we are lacking and if we can  point to one thing that’s vital in the modern intercounty player, it is pace.

There is plenty to work on ahead of Sunday, April 23rd in Newry and hopefully there will be no more distractions off the field after this week’s Donegal Co Board meeting. The Academy issue has dragged on and it was embarrassing in the last few weeks with Donegal’s dirty linen being washed in public.

The Co Board have been the whipping boys and, for some reason, they have allowed themselves to be. There has to be sympathy for new chairman, Fergus McGee, who found himself at the centre of something that was not of his making. 

We will likely have a clearer picture after tonight’s Co Board meeting but we will probably never, ever hear the full story and we could argue ‘till the cows come home about the rights and wrongs. And I have no  doubt that there are plenty of rights and wrongs. But as I approach that famous Three Score and Ten made famous by ‘The Follower’, I have learned hard lessons. You can be assured that the nature of humans is that they tend to be difficult in how they react to each other. Even I have my moments. 

It was cringing to watch our dirty linen being aired on ‘League Sunday’ on RTE on Sunday night. You  had Sean Cavanagh and Cora Staunton addressing the nation on the issue as if they were aware of all the facts. But the bottom line is that we have not heard one side of the story. Because of that the county board is taking a bashing and that is essentially because they have left that vacuum. And in the modern media era, vacuums tend to be filled one way or another.

But there is another bottom line and that is life has to go on. Ideally that would include the Donegal Academy resuming with Karl Lacey as its head. But if an agreement can’t be reached or mediation fails, life still has to go on.

It’s just a pity that we don’t have The Follower with us at this time. His column would have been worth a read!

All of the off-field action is a hindrance and God knows, Donegal and Paddy Carr have enough to contend with at the moment. The negative vibe seems to come naturally to Donegal supporters. The DNA of the Donegal supporter needs an injection from those following Mayo. They have suffered setbacks year on year, yet still keep coming back. They were waiting in the rain for the gates to open on Sunday and within half an hour they were claiming half of the MacCumhaill Park stand.

Imagine the lift that gives to a team when they come out onto the pitch. I listened to Matthew Ruane on RTE Radio after the game and he said it was his first ever time to play in Ballybofey and he thought it was a great stadium.

Mayo are a confident outfit, on and off the pitch. Donegal need to take a look at that and try to replicate it. Being relegated to Division 2 is not the end of the world. It has happened on numerous occasions, even in our period at the top table over the last 15 years.  We have bounced back, invariably in the next season. But it is time to bin all the negative talk about the Tailteann Cup and get a positive vibe going again.

AND THEN . . .

Just when you think things can’t get worse, we hear that our manager, Paddy Carr, has resigned. We have had our problems in the past, but this is a new low. My stomach dropped when the news came through, especially as it seems that he had no option.

I was in attendance at the Co Committee meeting back in 2008 when Brian McIver walked out and it was an unseemly event. This is just as bad. He did not deserve to be treated like that.