Christy O'Connor Talking Points: Odhran Lynch gets punished to devastating effect

When Brendan Rogers was mugged by Joe O’Connor in Tralee in January, Lynch was stranded outfield and Conor Geaney finished into an empty goal from 30 metres. Yet Derry won both games. And Lynch was pivotal to both successes.

Ever since Galway’s Damien Comer kicked the ball into an empty net in the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final, Derry have refused to waver in how they use Lynch, in how he continues to be a creative attacking option on the basis that Derry won’t give the ball away.

Derry and Lynch are the market leaders in that strategy but Lynch was caught out to such a staggering degree on Saturday night that the level of damage inflicted from his walkabouts was almost incredulous.

Derry are always willing to risk the concession of one goal for the cumulative reward that might accrue from Lynch’s contributions elsewhere. But to concede three was almost unbelievable.

Donegal’s first two goals from Dara Ó Baoill came off booming Shaun Patton kickouts, where Lynch was marking space on the opposite flank to where the ball dropped, but Donegal were on to it immediately.

As Ryan McHugh released Ó Baoill for his first goal, Lynch hesitated momentarily on his run back, thinking about going towards Ó Baoill for a split second, before increasing the pace of his sprint.

By that stage, it was too late. Just as Ó Baoill had done to Ross Bogue against Fermanagh in the league, he chipped the ‘keeper to devastating effect.

For the second goal, Lynch was even more out of position as he was higher up the field, on the half-way line, as Patton stood over the kickout.

Derry had two players behind Lynch but Patton’s missile cleared them and Lynch had only crossed the 45 metre line when Ó Baoill secured possession after Niall O’Donnell had flicked on the ball.

Lynch got his hand to the chipped effort but he was scrambling back so frantically that the goalkeeper was only able to bring it down in front of him and his momentum forced the ball to glance off his leg and roll into an empty net.

Patton was gone off by the time of Jamie Brennan’s goal but Gavin Mulreany launched the ball on top of Lynch.

When Donegal won the break, Derry still had two defenders behind Lynch but, as they had done all evening, the lighting speed of their attacks meant that Brennan had Donegal players as options left and right of him before he drilled it into the net. In total, Donegal mined 3-2 of their long kickout.

One of the standout trends of the league was the huge volume of goal chances that were coughed up while the goalkeeper has been operating higher up the field. Goalkeepers got caught out at various stages in 2022 and 2023, but, in the majority of instances, the ‘keeper’s team was chasing the game. Yet this spring, goalkeepers have been perilously dangling on the tightrope with no safety net below them. And nobody was doing so more than Lynch.

The high risk involved didn’t dissuade Derry and other teams from advancing the practise, but analytical coaching and innovative minds inevitably began to coach around the tactic and exploit the gamble it entails. And nobody is more innovative than Jim McGuinness.

And Lynch and Derry paid an extremely high price on Saturday evening.

Wexford draw – again

When Wexford qualified from the Leinster round robin format in 2019 and 2022, much of that success was down to their ability to grind out draws, having drawn five of their nine group games in those two seasons.

Wexford have been so synonymous with draws in Leinster that it’s not surprising that they have now only won won one more game in the round robin (7) than they have drawn (6).

In a handful of those big games (especially their 2019 final round robin match against Kilkenny, where a Lee Chin additional time free kept them in the championship before they went on to win Leinster), Wexford have been the team to find a way to get a result.

Yesterday’s draw with Dublin though, was at the opposite end of the scale – it felt like a defeat considering Wexford led by five points as the clock moved into additional time before goals from Danny Sutcliffe and Cian O’Sullivan secured a point for the Dubs.

It was also another day that Wexford failed to win their opening round robin match. The only time they had won their first game was in 2018, against Dublin. However, prior to yesterday, that was the only game Wexford had won against the Dubs in their previous eight championship meetings.

Having only won four of their previous ten round robin games over the previous two years, Wexford were desperate to get a win yesterday. They just had to settle for a draw.

Again.

Cork show huge bravery in Killarney

The opening quarter of Saturday’s Cork-Kerry game was a real throwback for multiple reasons; a pile of goal chances, or half goal chances; long kickouts; long kickpasses into the full-forward line; man-on-man defending; forwards consistently backing themselves in attacking scenarios.

The tone and trend was set by Cork because everything about their approach was positive and plucky. 

They arrived into Killarney loaded with intent and ambition, showing none of the hesitation that had crippled them so often in the past in these games.

Cork did drop off and go more zonal in the second half but it still took Kerry until the 50th minute to get ahead. Even when they did, and were expected to drive on, Cork continued to dig in and make Kerry grind hard for every score.

Cork clearly benefited from their match against Limerick but the high-octane, high energy game they came with from the first whistle was always going to be difficult to sustain, especially in the heat.

After scoring 1-6 in the opening 18 minutes, only managing 0-6 for the remainder of the match underlined how much gas Cork were leaking after that first quarter.

It still took Kerry an age to find their groove and a rhythm that they were comfortable with.

They finally began to do so in the second quarter when dropping off to become more compact, outscoring Cork by 0-4 to 0-1 in that period.

Kerry were below par and rusty, turning over more ball up front than they had in an age. Nobody summed up that frustration more than David Clifford, who spilled, dropped, was turned over or prevented from securing possession on four occasions by Daniel O’Mahony.

Cork did drop Seán Powter back as a plus-one after 24 minutes but Cork were content to leave O’Mahony defensively isolated on Clifford up to that point of the first half.

Clifford has set such an un-merciless standard that he was deemed to be way below par, largely from that lost possession.

Yet from 19 possessions, Clifford still scored 0-3 from play, had two assists, set up a goal chance and was fouled for two converted frees.

Clifford’s evening encapsulated Kerry's. Cork were brave in how they frustrated them. But Kerry still found a way.