Allianz FL D1 Final: Donegal destroy Kerry

Allianz Football League Division 1 Final

DONEGAL 3-20 KERRY 2-10

By John Harrington at Croke Park

Donegal’s second ever Division 1 League title and first since 2007 was won with the biggest of exclamation marks in Croke Park today.

They destroyed reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry with display of total football that combined skill, speed, physicality, and tactical acumen.

They were better than the Kingdom in every facet of the game, but it was their dominance of the kick-out battle that had the most telling impact.

They cleaned Kerry out under the high ball, especially off Kerry’s own kick-outs, and it was this greater physical intensity that laid the foundation for their victory.

Donegal seemed intent from the start to do all they could to prevent Kerry from getting into any kind of flow.

The selection of defender Peadar Mogan in their forward sextet was an early hint of the physically abrasive brand of football they wanted to execute, and he was very influential in a roving role.

Kerry actually started well as David Clifford slung over a trademark point with his left foot and then Keith Evans struck a goal on 13 minutes.

But it was a misleading opening act because Evans’ goal was the only time in the first half that Donegal’s very well-organised zonal defence was out of sync.

Before Evans scored that goal Michael Langan had kicked two sweet scores for Donegal, the second of which was a two-pointer.

He then landed his second two-pointer to give his team a fillip after the concession of that Evans goal, and the way he was getting into space around the arc and finishing clinically summed up the difference between the two teams.

Donegal were playing with real method and identifiable patterns, whereas Kerry were more off the cuff and struggling to get any real fluency into their play.

Mark O’Shea was a bright spark for them in the middle third early on when he made a couple of big catches, but when he faded in the second quarter Kerry had no other consistent ball-winner in the middle third and found themselves overwhelmed by Donegal’s physicality and energy.

Kerry simply couldn’t secure possession from their own kick-out and so found themselves pinned back as Donegal kept rolling forward in wave after yellow wave.

Michael Murphy landed a two-point free and then talented young defender, Max Campbell, swept forward for a nice score. The Naomh Conaill man had been given the sizeable task of marking Seán O’Shea but he was clearly unfazed because the sight of him putting Kerry’s captain on the back foot became an increasingly common one as the first half progressed.

Ryan McHugh pointed for Donegal and then very nearly scored a goal moments later when his shot was deflected over the bar by Shane Murphy.

Two more Kerry kick-outs won ended with two more Donegal points as Peadar Mogan and Conor O’Donnell knocked over a brace of classy points.

In the end Kerry needed to bring David Clifford down the field to win possession off their kick-out, but Sean O’Shea kicked the resulting chance wide.

O’Shea found himself down the other end of the field moments later watching his marker, Campbell, kicked his second point of the match, and by now Kerry were very much in crisis, trailing by 0-13 to 1-1.

Caolan McColgan had been given the onerous task of marking David Clifford, and when he robbed the Fossa man of possession with a crunching tackle it rose the biggest cheer of the day yet from the Donegal supporters.

Shortly after that Kerry had a goal chance when Joe O’Connor muscled his way through the Donegal defence, but his driven shot was well-saved by Gavin Mulreany.

The Kingdom’s first score for 20 minutes finally came when O’Shea clipped over from a tight angle to reduce the deficit to eight points by the time the half-time whistle blew.

Kerry started the second half well as Dylan Geaney and Keith Evans kicked two nice points, but then Donegal buried them six feet under by scoring three goals in as many minutes.

The first was the best of the bunch as Langan popped a lovely pass to Conor O’Donnell who took it at full pelt and then smashed an unstoppable left-footed drive to the right corner of the net.

The second goal wasn’t bad either, mind you. Michael Murphy showed great anticipation to intercept a slack Kerry pass ahead of the flat-footed Jason Foley and kept his cool to advance on goal before threading a low shot to the bottom left corner.

Kerry were a little unlucky with the third goal because Caolan McGonagle was almost certainly going for a point but his clipped effort dipped over the outstretched arm of Shane Murphy and into the net.

Donegal were suddenly 15 points to the good and they weren’t about to take their foot of Kerry’s throat just yet.

Points flowed from Murphy, Langan, Campbell, and Ryan McHugh as a by now very dispirited looking Kerry team found themselves chasing shadows.

It’s to their credit that they made the score look somewhat more respectable in the closing minutes as Clifford banged in a goal and Tomás Kennedy, Tom O’Sullivan, and Armin Heinrich also got the scoreboard moving, but by then Donegal had visibly eased their efforts.

Kerry were without six players who started last year’s All-Ireland Final and they’ll be significantly stronger when they return, but the sheer scale of this defeat will surely give Jack O’Connor pause for thought.

His team lacked energy and physicality in all areas of the pitch and those qualities should always be non-negotiables.

As for Donegal, they're getting stronger all the time and will look forward to the championship campaign to come with very justifiable optimism.

Scorers for Donegal: Michael Murphy 1-5 (2 tpf, 1f), Michael Langan 0-6 (2tp), Conor O’Donnell 1-1, Ryan McHugh 0-3, Max Campbell 0-3, Caolan McColgan 1-0, Peadar Mogan, Finbarr Roarty both 0-1

Scorers for Kerry: David Clifford 1-1, Keith Evans 1-1, Tomás Kennedy 0-3 (1tp), Armin Heinrich 0-2, Sean O’Shea, Tom O’Sullivan, Dylan Geaney all 0-1.

DONEGAL: Gavin Mulreaney; Caolan McColgan, Brendan McCole, Eoghan Bán Gallagher; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle, Max Campbell; Jason McGee, Hugh McFadden; Shane O’Donnell, Michael Langan, Peadar Mogan; Conor O’Donnell, Michael Murphy, Shea Malone. Subs: Finbarr Roarty for Michael Murphy (56), Stephen McMenamin for Shea Malone (61), Seán Martin for Max Campbell (63), Eoin McHugh for Ryan McHugh (64)

KERRY: Shane Murphy; Tom O’Sullivan, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Tadhg Morley, Mike Breen, Armin Heinrich; Mark O’Shea, Liam Smith; Joe O’Connor, Seán O’Shea, Graham O’Sullivan; Dylan Geaney, David Clifford, Keith Evans. Subs: Tomás Kennedy for Liam Smith (32), Micheál Burns for Graham O’Sullivan (46), Tom Leo O’Sullivan for Jason Foley (53), Paul Geaney for Dylan Geaney (56), Cillian Trant for Keith Evans (60)

Ref: David Gough (Meath)