Maurice Brosnan: eight observations from the football championship
Goal Armagh's Scoring A Celebrates Rian O'neill
Dr Hyde Park produced the wonderful and the weird last Saturday as Mayo held off a late Roscommon rally to secure their second victory of Group 2 in the All-Ireland Sam Maguire series.
Overall, it was an engrossing contest that kept the 8,597-crowd invested right until the final whistle. A bit of border-infused bite, penalties, three goals, more penalty pleas, one red card; plenty of the boxes for a good game were ticked.
As we arrived at the ground, everyone was starting to realise that the suggestions of a strong Cork challenge for Donegal were legitimate. GAA fans across the country were crying out for an opportunity to witness it. Let it be said, it is an odd situation when one screen in front of you is full of social media complaints about a non-broadcasted match while the same match is on a screen nearby.
RTÉ’s The Saturday Game, a welcome addition to their highlights offering, was broadcast from the same venue. So, their crew were in situ watching one of the matches that would feature on the night-time show. They understandably had to make the action in Páirc Uí Rinn available live while the rest had to make do with radio or highlights coverage. The GAAGO live offerings were Roscommon v Mayo and Cavan v Dublin.
And when you consider the hullabaloo around the fact that three Cork SHC games were on GAAGO as well as one football, against Kerry in the Munster SFC semi-final, you start to understand why. The storm has passed and somehow we’ve settled in an absurd place where it is less controversial to not show a game whatsoever than it is to charge for one.
From that peculiar occurrence to an even weirder one. After the match, the attending media gather outside of the dressing rooms for a series of interviews. Generally, they are split between print and broadcast outlets. Managers turn up and answer questions. Players usually do too.
Here, however, it was going to be different. As Ryan O’Donoghue prepared for a one-on-one interview with a mic-wielding journalist, there came an intervention by a member of their backroom team. Players wouldn’t be doing any post-match media. They have a plan in place. No time for talking.
The new championship format, barstool justifications for one’s own unfulfilled playing career, the travails of GAA media; things nobody cares about. Readily acknowledged. And look, the broader point about promotion of our games, a lack of awareness for the people behind the player and what it means for the long-term presence of the sport has already been well-articulated elsewhere. We can’t keep playing the same sorry tune.
Now this level of paranoia around the media in the GAA is ever rising. The ground is shifting beneath our feet, the walls are closing in. Previously, a county PRO would organise the logistics post-match. In some counties, like Roscommon, this remains the case. Others have elected to utilise media coordinators as added expertise. Mayo have a capable PRO who we liaise with when it comes to interviewing the hurlers’ management and players, but their footballers also have two media experts.
It should also be said that manager Kevin McStay is a superb public speaker and consistently good to deal with in this regard. Sound, basically. Of course, the county are also fully entitled to organise arrangements as they see fit. The games will get coverage regardless. Another sport or a different athlete will seamlessly occupy the O’Donoghue space.
Really the overarching impression was just how needless it was. Here was a talent willing to revel in a terrific personal performance until he was denied that opportunity. It’s hard to see how such a policy benefits him, the county or the sport. There will be hundreds of factors that will influence the result against Dublin in two weeks. A quick hit with a player after their last game, or lack thereof, won’t be one of them.
Here are eight observations from the football championship, as we turn eyes to Rd 3.
And then there was one. In the 2024 SFC championship, only Galway are yet to concede a goal. Across five games, the opposition have scored a combined 0-64 (0-47 from play.) They’ve produced nine green flags of their own.
While there is an obvious caveat in that they’ve only played two Division 1 sides, in the 2023 SFC Galway had a terrific defensive record only conceding two goals as well.
How? Sticking to their principles, essentially. Any attacking strategy has to account for a defensive response as well. Donegal’s clean sheet record lasted as long as their attacking efficiency did. As soon as Cork forced them into costly turnovers, they were carved open.
Pádraic Joyce is one of the few managers who never experimented with his goalkeeper coming out as an outlet. They don’t flood defenders into attacking zones either. None of the current full-back line have scored this season. Usually at least one of them stays back to offer protection. In fact, Johnny McGrath, Sean Fitzgerald and Jack Glynn have only taken one shot between them.
Fresh from a U20 All-Ireland title and Football Player of the Year award, Shea O’Hare made his senior debut for Tyrone against Clare on Sunday. He is one of four from the victorious outfit drafted into the senior panel.
Ben Cullen also accepted an invitation to join the senior side earlier this year. As a result, he didn’t feature for the U20s. That was Tyrone’s second U20 title in three years. Of the 2022 side, eight have already played senior football. A ninth, Lorcan McGarrity, is a member of the senior setup at present.
Conor Corbett and Stephen Sherlock’s introduction early in the second half continued Cork’s trend of relying on their bench. In every single game this season they’ve made at least five substitutes.
In the championship, they’ve made at least three changes before the hour mark in every game. Only Kerry’s replacements have outscored Cork’s and Stephen Sherlock did assist a Brian Hurley point that day. Across their last four ties, the bench has contributed 1-6.
Turn the clock back a year. Armagh’s second group game was away to Ulster opposition. Rian O’Neill was sent off and Conor Turbitt was charged with leading the line. He kicked a free and a point but struggled overall. A straightforward free in front of the posts spun wide. He was taken off for Cian McConville just after the hour mark. Tyrone were deserving victors.
Afterwards manager Kieran McGeeney was asked about their habit of missing chances.
“A lot of the shots aren’t under great pressure. I think a lot of it is more pressure they put on themselves,” he said. “It is mental tiredness of not getting over that line.”
Turbitt didn’t start the quarter-final defeat against Monaghan and didn’t score when he came on. How would McGeeney manage him in 2024? Expertly. The Clann Eireann clubman is at the centre of their attack now. His four points from four shots in the Ulster final contributed to an immense shooting spectacle. He kicked 1-4 (0-1 free) from seven shots in a Man of the Match performance on Sunday. The finish for Armagh’s second goal was outrageous, soloing with his right from the halfway line to the square before cooly slotting in with his left.
Turbitt also had four assists. He was their leading creator along with Rory Grugan, who also had four assists. It has been long-established that Grugan makes their attack tick. Turbitt supercharges it.
Both managers had issues with the officiating after the Mayo and Roscommon fixture.
For Davy Burke, it centred around three calls. A tackle on Diarmuid Murtagh on the edge of the square, Daire Cregg’s shot that hit Matthew Ruane’s foot and the number of steps Ryan O’Donoghue took before his penalty.
“Eight steps are eight steps,” he said. “Were we not looking at Sean Bugler a month ago 14 steps in Croke Park and was there not a big clampdown on steps? Games being decided on eight steps by Ryan O'Donoghue. Was there not a penalty shout at the other end that he gave for a free out? Some of these decisions are baffling.”
He went on to address this reporter in taking issue with a black card call in Croke Park last week. Eoin McCormack was deemed to have cut across Eoin Murchan’s run during a break towards the Roscommon goal.
“We had a black card in Croke Park. For the first time ever, you might be the man to answer this, I think it was the first time in history a black card was given for a man in front, Eoin McCormack was in front and he got a black card. I’ve never in my life seen that. Look, when you are the poor old Rossies you don't get these calls, do you?”
On that point, replays suggest that was an extremely harsh punishment. He also has a point on the Mayo penalty. However, the foot block interruption is a commonly misunderstood one. As referee David Gough explained in his social media Q&A, it is not a free for the ball to hit the boot or be stopped by the boot of a player who is not within the swinging arc of the kicker.
Meanwhile, Kevin McStay focused on the Fergal Boland red card and a sideline ball that ended in an Enda Smith score. Both involved official Maggie Farrelly.
“The person that called it is pretty sure they saw it, even though we are pretty sure at the least it’s mistaken identity. How do you see something that’s mistaken identity?”
There was confusion around the Boland incident as GAAGO never showed a replay, but the hit on Ultan Harney was captured on camera. It was a stonewall red card and a terrific spot by Farrelly.
Referees do make mistakes. Managers also make mistakes when discussing supposed mistakes.
Two points from three shots ensured corner-back Tom O’Sullivan picked up Man of the Match against Meath. His total for the championship is 0-9 with only one wide.
Kildare secured a home quarter final in the Tailteann Cup with a seven-point win over Leitrim. A big win for manager Glenn Ryan against a side he once represented. Full credit to @CillDaraTimes for unearthing a gem of a 1994 newspaper report for a challenge between then-Connacht champions Leitrim and Kildare.
They were forced to borrow two players to make up the team. Glen Ryan and Tom Brennan lined out in midfield. Brennan kicked 0-1.
It will be an emotional night for Glenn Ryan tonight as he faces his former side Leitrim. Glenn, alongside Tom Brennan, had the honour of representing the then Connacht champions in a challenge game in Nov 94. 11:30am throw in on a Sat morning in Leixlip wasn't very favourable LM pic.twitter.com/i2Z8QoOyyi
— CillDaraTimes (@CillDaraTimes) June 1, 2024
For the second year in a row, a Munster side have fallen victim to the Tailteann Cup structure that sees New York enter at the preliminary stage. Following Tipperary in 2023, Waterford finished third in their group but were ranked worst of the third-placed teams due to their points difference.
The game that proved costly came against Kildare and finished 5-15 to 0-6. Waterford were competitive against Leitrim and beat Longford.
"When you're playing teams of Division 4 standard, the games are very competitive,” manager Paul Shankey told WLR FM last week. “When you're coming up against a team that's a Division 1 county, I know that doesn't reflect where they are at the moment but they're Division 1 in everything but name, it's difficult. I'm not sure what the value is of having strong teams in it.”
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