The Alternative View: Bogey? What bogey? Ó Baoill nails it for Donegal against Fermanagh

The smile on Jim McGuinness was beaming as he made his way from the dressing room at the back of the Jim McDaid Stand at O’Donnell Park to conduct the after-match interviews.

He would go on to play down the 14-point win over Fermanagh but one felt inside he was happy that progress was being made.

Three games into the league season and this was another test which was passed with flying colours. Any young footballer who ever dreamt of playing intercounty football with the No 7 on his back would have had the performance of Dáire Ó Baoill on Saturday afternoon to the forefront.

The Gaoth Dobhair man showed the way from distance and is one of a number of players who are thriving under the return of the Glenties Messiah.

The forecast for the day was one of the factors in the turnout on Saturday, although the official attendance of 3,845 looked like the number crunchers had failed their maths exam. It looked bigger, but I suppose U-16s and ‘others’ would  not be counted in the official figure.

With Donegal going so well, the expected attendance was around 6,000 but there were mitigating factors, the weather forecast being top of the list.

The timing of the game, 2 pm, in O’Donnell Park would also have put others off. On a busy shopping day, getting to the ground could entail a long walk and plenty of traffic tailbacks, although to be fair to the St Eunan’s club, they went out of their way to provide any help possible, including shuttle buses.

But even with that, elderly supporters probably made the decision based on all the above factors to  either tune in on radio or watch on TV, if they had access to GAA GO or BBC online.

There were plenty of tailbacks and that was long before you reached Letterkenny. Roadworks on McGrory’s Brae outside Ballybofey had a stop and go system. Surely, the road could have been opened for the weekend, especially as no works were involved on Saturday or Sunday.
https://www.donegallive.ie/news/gaa/1426284/daire-o-baoill-revelling-in-trust-jim-mcguinness-is-placing-in-him.html

Simple things can make life so much easier. There was an interesting post on Facebook  from Charlie ‘Yank’ Boyle about his match-day experience, which was a good snapshot of an intercounty fixture. He was very complimentary of the Gardai and the St Eunan’s club for the smooth transportation from the town to O’Donnell Park but was a bit disappointed with two County Board officials who ‘didn’t have time to talk to him’ when he requested help with a digital ticket that wasn’t showing up on his ‘phone due to a poor signal.

He did, however, gain access when he was able to provide proof at another turnstile of the validity of the ticket and inside when looking for a cup of tea, a very helpful young club steward even went to the stand area to bring it to him.

He referred to the ‘matchday experience’ being important to bring punters to games and despite the one downside, he felt the overall ‘matchday experience’ on Saturday was brilliant.

Donegal’s second half performance would also have helped, although if he was noting items of a negative nature, the performance of the umpires would have raised his blood pressure.

Is it me, or is there a noticeable decline in the performance of umpires on a grand scale at the moment? Hardly a game that I have attended in the last few weeks has gone without some talking point thanks to umpires. At the Mac Larnon Cup final in Armagh the previous Sunday, Conor Meehan hit a ‘mark’ and the umpire came forward, reached down for the white flag, then stood up and waved it wide. Thankfully, the referee was in position to award the point.

On Sunday, the umpires at both ends were like bunnies who needed their batteries recharged. They were taking ages to make a decision and at times it was clear they weren’t even sure when making a call.

It was a game that could have been in the running for the least number of frees ever (I recorded nine in the first half and just three in the second; I may have missed a few but those are very small numbers).

There weren't any shenanigans that needed the umpires to be involved and it’s a bad look when the two people at the post look at each other and can’t make a call.

Forget about those negatives, just like Jim McGuinness, we left O’Donnell Park with a smile on our faces. All talk about the old ‘Letterkenny bogey’ was well and truly buried (although we were wavering a little at the end of the first quarter when we trailed 0-4 to 0-2). The win means that Donegal have won two and drawn one of the last three games at the venue.

Apart from the excellence of Ó Baoill’s points and two goals, we could see that Donegal are trundling along nicely. Patrick McBrearty was hungry for ball and is in the shape of his life; Ryan McHugh showed how to assist in a goal when setting up Dáire Ó Baoill for the second when he could have gone himself.

The hunger of the second half was typified by the three early substitutes. Mark Curran was eager for work and did what we all wanted to see him do, break forward and make an impact in the opposition half; Aaron Doherty has that innate talent that has been there since he was U-10 and Donegal will need his ‘head-up’ football ability, while Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí is like a calming super sup who just does his thing without any great fuss. There were  plenty of other notable parts of the jigsaw also.

Michael Langan was in from the start and we need to get him on the ball around the ‘45’ and ask him sidestep and go for the posts. He is a go-to shooter but he was kinda shot shy on Saturday last.

But it all added up to another step in the right direction. We have the ‘big’ test on Sunday next in the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. There is nothing between the two table toppers - Armagh ahead on score difference by a point. In the scoring stakes, Donegal have scored two points more.

Interestingly, Donegal will have two more home games after Sunday (Louth and Meath with Kildare away) while Armagh have Cavan as their last home game, wedged between trips to Fermanagh and Cork.

Whatever happens on Sunday next in Armagh, it would seem both sides have it in their own hands to return to the top flight after just one season away.

ANOTHER GAA ANOMALY

The rules of the Gaelic Athletic Association always throw up a talking point and Saturday’s was no different. Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí was a temporary replacement for Ciarán Thompson after 38 minutes and he was still there at the final whistle, scoring two points while out there.

Donegal were able to legally use five other substitutes during the game because Mac Ceallabhuí was a temporary substitution.

It was to Donegal’s advantage on Saturday but surely there is a need to revisit the rule. In rugby there is a 10-minute period for a HIA (Head Injury Assessment). Then the player who has been replaced either comes back on or is permanently replaced. It would seem a common sense approach to have a similar 10-minute period for a temporary replacement in GAA and at that point a decision taken on whether the player can come back on or is permanently replaced.

It is also relevant in relation to county appearances for statistic purposes. In written reports of games temporary substitutions are not normally detailed. But after Saturday, that is also something that may have to be revisited.

FOCAL SCUR:

I just have to mention the match programme on Sunday and especially the input of Fr Seán Ó Gallchoir with his stats on Donegal and Fermanagh and St Eunan’s record on county teams. The work involved in putting these stats together is very time consuming, but for Fr Seán, it’s a labour of love. Retirement is not wasted on Fr Seán

MATCH STATS

Scorers for Donegal: Dáire Ó Baoill 2-3; Patrick McBrearty 0-3,1m; Oisin Gallen 0-3,2f; Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí, Aaron Doherty 0-2 each; Michael Langan, Peadar Mogan, Mark Curran 0-1 each.

Scorers for Fermanagh: Sean Cassidy 0-3,f,m; Declan McCusker (m), Conor McGee, Brandon Horan, Diarmuid King, Tiarnan Bogue (m) 0-1 each.

Donegal: Shaun Patton; Kevin McGettigan, Brendan McCole, Stephen McMenamin; Ryan McHugh, Ciaran Moore, Dáire Ó Baoill; Ciarán Thompson, Caolan McGonagle; Peadar Mogan, Odhran Doherty, Michael Langan; Patrick McBrearty, Oisin Gallen, Jamie Brennan.

Subs: Mark Curran  for McGettigan; Aaron Doherty  for J Brennan (both ht); Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí for Thompson (temporary 38); Hugh McFadden for C Moore (54); Luke McGlynn for O Doherty (57); Domhnall MacGiolla Bhride for Langan (63).

Fermanagh: Ross Bogue; Lee Cullen, Ché Cullen, Oisin Smyth; Declan McCusker, Shane McGullion, Josh Largo Ellis; Brandon Horan, Joe McDade; Conor McGee, Ronan McCaffrey, Conor McShea; Ultán Kelm, Garvan Jones, Sean Cassidy.

Subs: Diarmuid King for G Jones; Tiarnan Bogue  for McCaffrey, Cian McManus for Largo Ellis (all 53); Callum Jones for B Horan (61); James McMahon for McShea (70+2)

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)