McShea's Say: 10 things Donegal must to do beat Armagh

Donegal are getting ready to play Armagh in the quarter-final of the Ulster SFC this Sunday. Even though many years have passed since I had the honour of playing Ulster championship football in Ballybofey, in my head I can still picture the dressing room scene, hear the familiar voices, smell the rubs, and see the fear, exhilaration and expectancy in all the eyes.

The dressing room before the first championship match was and no doubt is a special place to be, the tension of the occasion is simply a lifelong memory. This is a very big game for both teams, as both harbour serious ambition regarding their championship prospects, but for Declan Bonner and Kieran McGeeney a defeat will undoubtedly generate much discussion about who might or might not be wearing the manager's bib this time next year.

Both teams will have endured gruelling training sessions in preparing for this encounter. Those punishing schedules will have lasted several weeks, and there is a big element of mental toughness to every session of hard training, which must be done without complaint. Apart from the personal satisfaction of getting through the hardship there is also a major impact on team spirit when everyone puts their head down and gets on with it.

Those quiet moments when everybody is suffering a bit but will not give in are worth more than all the shouting and bawling that has ever been done in dressing rooms before matches.

Not only will both managers be in the spotlight on Sunday but some players on both sides may well be playing their last championship match - unless of course the game ends in a draw. Losing any major game is a disappointment but losing the last big one you are likely to play in is even worse. A player can’t say to himself “there is always next year”.

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So, the stakes are very high, and while it would be more than a little naïve to look too far ahead, the winners of this game will face Cavan or Antrim in the Ulster semi-final.

While in no way underestimating the ability of those sides and after what Cavan did to Donegal in the Ulster final in 2020 - a hard-earned lesson - Donegal or Armagh will be hot favourites to win their semi-final.

There is much talk about the teams’ last game, which ended in O'Donnell Park with a display of pushing and shoving which ended with players from both sides initially being suspended.

This was handbag stuff, and the silly trend continued in Enniskillen on Saturday night when Tyrone beat Fermanagh, but I do not believe that those suspensions would have have had a major impact on Sunday’s result.

Getting their suspensions lifted will be a plus for Armagh because, in particular, Rian O'Neill is a fine player, who travels the field, but is more of an individual player than most of his teammates. He is the forward who always seems to play to his normal high level even if the rest are somewhat below par. His ability to kick inspirational points from distance is a massive bonus to Armagh.

Jarlath Óg Burns is another Armagh player who is playing very well. His penetrating runs from half back can see him abandon defence and go on attack at every opportunity can cause serious problems for opposing teams and he needs special attention this Sunday.

Often teams who have played competitively during the league find themselves at a competitive advantage going into the championship, but both Armagh and Donegal were quite inconsistent in winter football this year so it would be wrong to read too much into their campaigns.

To win on Sunday Donegal need to:
1 - If we get a penalty, bury it in the Armagh net. I hope that this discipline was practised every night at training.

2 - Shaun Patton must catch and not punch any high balls.

3 - Donegal's tactic must be to use all of the pitch, and spread Armagh out and not get into a war of attrition.

4 - No player can show any degree of indiscipline, cards are far too easy to pick up, especially black cards which leave a team under extreme pressure. Sending offs could and probably would define the outcome of the game.

5 - Avoid short kick-outs as they are a recipe for lateral football. Shaun Patton’s excellence is in goal kicking and a strategy to utilise his ability should be in place.

6 - Every side has a dominant spell in any game, but Donegal’s ability to disappear and not score for 20 minutes was an unacceptable feature in some league matches. Concentration should not allow this to happen in championship football.

7 - If goal chances present themselves, and they will, do not take the easy option of punching or kicking a point. Points do not win games. Goals do. If Jamie Brennan or Patrick McBrearty get goal opportunities they must keep the ball on the carpet, anything else makes life easy for the opposing goalkeeper.

8- Michael Murphy to be located close to the Armagh goal and early delivery to him must be a priority.

9 - His corner-forwards must play wide as Michael will win every 50/50 ball when the opposing corner-backs are taken for a gallop.

10 - Our half-forward line must tackle back and not allow the opposing half back line to penetrate unchallenged. This happened too often in some league games and put serious pressure on the Donegal defence.

We all like intelligent footballers and football played the right way and I confidently expect Donegal to win this game simply because we have a most talented group of players ,who this year have not yet played to their full potential. If they do on Sunday, they will win and if changes are required it is essential that our management make quick decisive calls.