Mac's View: Donegal mixed the good and the bad in Killarney

It wasn't a good day for Donegal after the long journey to Killarney on Sunday last. We mixed the good with the bad and the loss of Michael Langan as well as Caolan McGonagle was a hammer blow.

But in saying that, we settled well early on and brought the game to Kerry. It was not the sort of football you would like to play, but into the teeth of the gale force wind, it was working.

But then we went totally out of it for the second quarter and in the second half, with the wind at our backs, it took us a long time to get our first score.

But after that again, we hit four in-a-row points and then got in goal. It is easy to be wise after the event but maybe Ryan McHugh could possibly have gone for goal himself. We got nothing out if it with the pass to Paddy McBrearty a bit wide and the chance was gone. Ryan McHugh has that capacity to hit the net and a goal would have brought us back into it.

We had conceded a freak goal when David Clifford's tame effort for a point squirmed in past Shaun Patton. That happens sometimes; a player can be looking up the field working out the next move and what he would do with the ball. I can remember doing it a few times in my playing career.

That's what really happened the Kerry goal. It was a freak and had to be seen to be believed. It tore the arse out of the game. You could understand it if Kerry were playing with the wind. And then if we had got our goal.

Overall some aspects of our game was quite good, when we decided to take the game to Kerry, but at other times it looked like damage limitation.

The style of football that Donegal are playing, I wouldn't like that type of football, but we have been playing it for a long time now, not just with Declan, but with Rory Gallagher and Jim McGuinness.

We would have done it too back in 1992 due to the physical size of our half-forward line. It is about ball retention.
But overall, it is something we need to look at and to do it we need a physically bigger side. We need to have a big man on the edge of the square and if Murphy was back that would help.

I can understand that supporters are not happy at the moment. I have had a feeling for some time that the GAA need to take a long look at the way football is being played. Maybe there is a need to look at limiting the number of handpasses to two or three.

We have picked up some stuff from Aussie Rules, some good and some not so good. Maybe we could do something like basketball with a rule that would keep a limited number of players up the field.

But just take a look at the way Mayo have progressed their game overnight. Last Saturday night in Croke Park, they were getting the ball forward quickly and it put the Dubs under pressure. Armagh did the same a couple of weeks earlier.

It is something we need to look at. But then clubs are playing the same sort of game. It is a lot easier to defend than to have an attacking plan. It is not a very attractive game and that's why spectators are getting agitated.
We need to change the coaching and have a different type of player up front.

Tyrone on Saturday
Saturday night's game against Tyrone is now a very big game and we will be without Murphy, Langan and McGonagle and Jamie Brennan too.

It was nice to see big Hugh McFadden back and he gave his best as you would expect. McGonagle will be a big loss and I'm hearing he may be out for a while. It is a big chance for the Cloughaneely man, Jason McGee, and he is doing well and getting plenty of games.

After Tyrone, we have Monaghan two weeks' later. It is going to be a tight division and we need to get points. Otherwise, we could be going to Dublin and both of us needing points to survive.

Monaghan did very well against Armagh at the weekend and but for the sending off, which I thought was harsh on Conor McManus, they would have won. They were five up at the time.

Kildare deserved at least a draw if not a win against Tyrone. They had their opportunities, but Tyrone will be a lot stronger when they come to us. It is important to win the two points on Saturday night and that would put us in reasonable shape. But they will want the two points also.

Congratulations to the Ladies on their win over Westmeath at the weekend and good luck to Mickey McCann and the hurlers on their trip to Wicklow on Sunday.

Congratulations to St Columba's, Stranorlar on winning the Markey Cup and best wishes for a speedy recovery to the Coláiste na Carraige player who was injured in their Faul Cup final on Monday.