KEVIN CASSIDY: Tactical malfunction

LET me begin by saying a very well done to Kerry on their well-deserved win. We cannot have any complaints up here in Donegal as we were well beaten on the day. Kerry showed up from the very first attack and from that moment, for me, the writing was on the wall.

Going into the game a lot of people, including myself, thought that Donegal could match Kerry but in reality we were miles off it.

Before we get to Kerry there are a lot of questions to answer from a Donegal point of view, but the harsh reality is that tactically we got it completely wrong.

Here is an extract from last week’s piece: “From a Donegal point of view, obviously the whole talk has been around how they stop David Clifford but I actually think Jim McGuinness will flip that on its head.

“Most teams make the mistake of trying to stop Clifford. I think Donegal might just do the opposite. I think Jim might look at the overall scoring threat that Kerry pose and he may go after the likes of Paudie Clifford and Seán O’Shea.

“If Donegal can tie those two down and just say David Clifford does what he does, and kicks 1-10, then I’d be confident Donegal will hit more than that at the other end of the pitch. I think that may be the smartest way to go in-terms of trying to stop Kerry.”

We all knew what needed to happen but only Jim knows why he didn’t take that approach. Paudie had 76 possessions, scored three points and I think he had his hand in at least eight more. Seán O’Shea also contributed heavily on the scoreboard, kicking some very important points.

Obviously we are not privy to what goes on behind closed doors, but to not double-team David Clifford or go after the two lads mentioned seemed very strange. It would have been hard to do both but at the very least we should have gone after either David or the two boys, but we just stuck to our zonal marking.

I’m sure it will be a long winter for the lads looking back at that performance but they will have to take the positives from the season and try and build on that.

Looking at Kerry, they got everything absolutely spot on in terms of their approach and match-ups. Looking at them and listening to their interviews after the game, it’s clear that they took this one personally and they felt a level of disrespect by the hype that surrounded Donegal.

Kerry were battle hardened this season and I said it here at the time that I felt that the loss to Meath was the best thing that could have happened to this Kerry team. It gave them an extra game but it also galvanised their squad after the criticism that they received.

The hurt was clear to be seen against Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal and now they sit as winners.

Obviously David Clifford was immense again and he just keeps breaking the ceiling in terms of his skill levels, but I also feel that the performances of Joe O’Connor played a massive part this season. Kerry’s midfield sector was questioned and this man met that challenge head on and drove his team forward at every opportunity.

There is another man who deserves a lot of credit and that is Cian O’Neill. From speaking to a lot of people in the know, he is well liked in the Kerry camp and he once again got the better of Jim tactically.

Kerry have answered all of their critics and they can now sail off into the sunset and enjoy the rest of the summer as the rest of the teams wonder about what they could or should have done better.

A final word as the season ends for the Football Review Committee. They have given us our game back and as I said to Jim Gavin on Sunday: “Go raibh maith agat Jim, you and the lads have given us our game back and now the young lads up and down the country can once again dream to be a David Clifford and that will do wonders for our game all over the country.”

We now look forward to what should be a fantastic club season with these new rules in play.