As a starting point I watched Sunday’s semi-final between Limerick and Cork and was as enthralled as anybody. It’s obvious the differences between the games that make hurling such a satisfying spectacle.
Every few seconds there was a contest for the ball whereas in football you can be waiting what feels like 10 minutes for one. I think the main differential is the impossibility of setting up defensively in hurling. Players can score from all over the pitch so teams have to press up on potential scorers and that leaves space inside.
Speaking as an observer it looks to me as if the only way of keeping things tight is to show more aggression in the one against one duels or drop a sweeper back but you can’t drop multiples back and leave the ball out the field uncontested, which just creates a shooting gallery.
Because of this there is a fundamentally different imperative. In football teams can go out not to lose; in hurling they go out to win. From a football point of view it’s a tad depressing.
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This weekend we have four football semi-finalists, who are almost certainly trying to figure out how not to get beaten and then how to finish stronger rather than how to win on the front foot.
Armagh played Fermanagh in the first round in Ulster in 2018, and out of the 20 players used that day14 are still playing, including half the starting team. That year they played Fermanagh in the Division Three final and then lost to them in Ulster.
I’m amazed by their longevity because of the record over those years, the scarcity of wins. They went out in the first round in Ulster in the first four years. Add to that the nature of the defeats in recent years: two Ulster finals and two All-Ireland quarter-finals – all four of them on penalties. My initial reaction to all of this was to despair at their inability to get over the line in these matches.
At this stage I’m reconsidering in the light of the resilience they have shown to keep coming back. Their defence is excellent. In 15 games played this year they have kept a clean sheet in 14 of them.
They have a more challenging championship CV than Kerry have faced and yet their defensive records aren’t that much different. Armagh’s vulnerability is going forward. They have really good attackers but they are going to need goals on Saturday. Encouragingly that looks possible. Kerry have conceded in four of their six matches to date on a comparatively easy championship run.
It is also significant that the Clifford’s and Seán O’Shea haven’t been quite at previous levels. That’s not to say they won’t click into gear this weekend but so far they have not been at their best.
But I’m still not sure about Armagh. Earlier in the year, after their first-round win, Paddy Burns was interviewed. They had put Fermanagh away with this 15-minute blast, which was awesome, front-foot, high pressure even allowing for the opposition.
Defensively they were really solid and transitioned really quickly into attack. I asked Paddy “why do you not play that way all the time?” He replied that it must be in the players’ psyche because Geezer is not telling them to drop off and attack slowly – which is the hallmark of when they are struggling in matches.
If that’s the case it’s a mindset they have to alter. Look at what Derry did to Kerry in terms of getting them to accept the game at a slower pace and to embrace it. I think if Kerry do that again this weekend, which every indication is that they will, they will face far more searching questions than were put to them in the quarter-final.
Armagh aren’t as bruised or hurt as Derry were – we have just seen the fallout in manager Mickey Harte’s resignation – and have a collective strength from improving slowly but surely every year and finally getting to an All-Ireland semi-final.
They will hurt Kerry defensively but can they hurt them enough going forward? I’m not so sure.
Keeping a balance is also important in the second semi-final. Donegal have not conceded a goal in six of their seven matches, which is defensively solid. That solidity is about keeping clean sheets and marking key opponents out of the game.
Against Derry it was McGuigan, Glass, Rogers who were shut down; in the first Tyrone match Canavan was for large spells out of the game. Ulster final: Rian O’Neill was taken off that day. Cork scored three goals but that was the kick up the backside they needed.
Look at what they are conceding, 17, 14, 18, this kind of total but it’s not the key men that are scoring and they aren’t conceding goals plus they have sufficient variety up front to score 16 points even when being beaten by Cork.
They will need to do the same against Galway. It sounds simple but there are a few influential opponents to keep quiet if we go on the optimistic basis that Pádraic Joyce will have a full choice of players.
They have definitely travelled a harder road than Donegal and average a winning margin of two points but consistently against top teams. Defensively they have been miserly.
Around the middle third Maher, McDaid, Paul Conroy and Tierney are all big, 6ft 3in or 6ft 4in, and on paper have a big advantage of strength and power compared to Ryan McHugh and Peadar Mogan. They could really do with Jason McGee coming back.
Galway will know that their second half against Dublin will be enough to beat any of the teams left in the championship but the question is will the injury situation undermine them?
