Ciarán Meenagh – the All-Ireland final through a coaching eye

Ciarán Meenagh has coached teams ahead of championship jousts with Armagh and Galway. Michael McMullan picked his brain on Sunday’s finalists.

TENERIFE is the perfect spot for swapping the satisfaction of Down ticking their promotion and Tailteann Cup boxes for some down time.

Football has been busy for Ciarán Meenagh. He hasn’t known much else. This time last year, in the wake of Rory Gallagher stepping down, he took control of the wheel to lead Derry to within touching distance of an All-Ireland final.

He is making a habit of walking down the season’s final furlong.

Even on an island off the coast of Africa, there is no getting away from GAA. There was time to dip into the All-Ireland hurling final in a crammed hostelry.

It was similar to the football semi-finals. With Dublin and Kerry, like the hurlers of Kilkenny and Limerick, now off the scene, Sam Maguire is there for whoever can put their hand up at the right time.

“It has almost awakened football people in Galway,” Meenagh said. And he knows too well, having helped Derry climb from Division Four to the top flight and win back-to-back Ulster titles.

He was impressed with how Pádraic Joyce’s side saw off Mayo in the Connacht decider before gathering momentum that chinned Dublin.

“You could make a case that Galway’s name’s on it, but Armagh will feel the exact same thing,” he said.

Bouncing back to take down Kerry after shaking off a second Ulster final penalty shoot-out nightmare could suggest Armagh can get both hands on Sam Maguire this weekend.

Armagh’s resilience on the back of that level of disappointment or Galway shaking off their injury problems, in Meenagh’s opinion, would leave them favourites against any other team. The fact they are playing each other leaves it “impossible” to predict.

Their taxing road to Sunday’s showpiece leaves both teams in a stronger position for having made it over the semi-final humps.

Having planned to take on Galway in 2022, Meenagh makes the point of Galway’s bench. Paul Kelly hasn’t played this season. John Daly, Kieran Molloy and Johnny Heaney have gone from regulars to impact men. Now they have John Maher, Céin D’Arcy and Seán Ó Maoilchiaráin as starters.

Another reason is the balance in Galway’s defence. Dylan McHugh is the polished diamond that has steered many of their attacks. Meenagh adds in the marking capabilities of Johnny McGrath and Jack Glynn.

“There’s the potential for having Seán Kelly back for the final now as well,” Meenagh added. “I think football now, more than ever, is replicating other sports like basketball or rugby.

“We’re maybe a bit slower learners in the GAA, but there is, you can see now the importance of a squad.

“You can see the importance of having not just 20 players, but having 25, 26 and up to 30 players that are really competing, that can take their opportunity at any time.”

Armagh tick the same box of having the options to leave Sunday a fascinating conclusion to the race for Sam.

When Joyce took over as Galway manager he was bullish enough to chat about winning All-Irelands and doing it with an attacking mantra.

Since then, Galway have made sure to check their defensive foundations too. Meenagh understands why. We all want to play on the front foot but “pragmatism” kicks in and stability becomes important.

After the debate of the Galway number one jersey, Connor Gleeson’s presence and booming kick-out won out over Bernie Power’s short game. With their maroon skyscrapers, going long suits Galway.

“To me, one of the biggest strengths that Galway team have, apart from having a squad now and having two really marquee forwards, is the size that they are on their team,” Meenagh outlines.

He namechecks Finnerty and Walsh as their finishers up top, adding in Paul Conroy and Cillian McDaid as the athletic mountains at midfield. D’Arcy, Maher and Matthew Tierney add to the mix Armagh need to factor in.

“Another one they use a number of times in the game is Damien Comer for kick-outs as well,” Meenagh adds. “He’s a huge threat in the air as well, so if I was up against Galway in an All-Ireland final, that’s something that I would be very wary of.”

Niall Grimley and Ben Crealey are Armagh’s twin towers, but they don’t have the same height in their defence. It’s the same with goalkeeper Blaine Hughes who hasn’t the commanding size to play as an extra man on opposition kick-outs.

For Meenagh, that’s where their plans need to focus this week, the four Galway kick-out targets. That’s where much of the game hinges. It will determine who dictates the pattern of play.

“Donegal went after Gleeson because he’s not renowned for being a brilliant short or medium range kicker,” Meenagh said of Galway’s semi-final win that highlights the Tribesmen’s strengths.

“That backfired (on Donegal) because of his long kicking and how quickly they (Galway) scored.”

The five kick-out targets and Comer is one half of a day’s work. The other is the threat of Walsh and Finnerty if Armagh put all their eggs in the basket of making midfield a battle they don’t win.

“That’s a huge danger if you go after those kick-outs or when they turn the ball over,” Meenagh explains, ”because against Donegal, they played a very deliberate style of leaving two and a lot of times three players up the field…very potent attackers if they turn you over.”

Rian O’Neill and Andrew Murnin fit the bill as extra help behind midfield but then you have the balance of the energy they need to offer the focal point up top.

Meenagh can see Armagh dropping off many of Galway’s kick-outs and take their chances with a platform elsewhere. The approach may be about playing safe until releasing their weapons off the bench.

Greg McCabe, Conor O’Neill and Ciaran Mackin were three men Meenagh was planning for in last year’s Ulster final. The fact Armagh have absorbed them speaks volumes with how Kieran McGeeney has built a squad and kept everyone on board.

And they’ve even changed how they’ve played their cards. Analysing Armagh’s championship win over Fermanagh, Down noted how Armagh went all in with their attacking threats from the first whistle with the idea of killing the game early. Most notably, Stefan Campbell – their main impact man – was in from the start.

“Playing against us in the Ulster semi-final was a very similar psychology to playing Fermanagh,” Meenagh added. “They wanted the game to be over after 15 or 20 minutes.

“That’s probably why they went with their most attacking threats, all playing at the same time.”

Down’s plan was to hang tough and take the game down the stretch. And they did only for Oisin O’Neill, Jason Duffy and Aidan Nugent kicking points to take Armagh over the line.

“There’s a different sort of psychology when you play the Kerrys, the Galways and the Donegals,” Meenagh added, pointing once again to their impact off the bench. Oisin O’Neill, Duffy, Campbell, Nugent and Ross McQuillan. The names roll off the tongue.

“Even the athleticism of Jarly Óg Burns, it’s the legs that they have coming off the bench. You definitely could argue that they’re finishing with a stronger team in terms of attacking threats than they’re starting with.”

Another element of Armagh’s play that has changed in recent years is how the system defence has taken root. A look at their McKenna Cup game win over Tyrone back in January. Only Aaron McKay and Peter McGrane were present of the defensive unit that tamed Kerry. But the rest of the pack knew the drill. Shuffle left, shuffle right.

It was working a treat in the Ulster final until Jemar Hall decided to tuck into the centre rather than push out to Odhrán Doherty who kicked the equaliser to take the game to penalties.

“That’s something that you’ll recognise that has changed hugely over the last number of years,” Meenagh explains. “They don’t set out to mark too many players. It’s very much a systematic approach and it was very evident Galway did the same thing in their semi-final against Donegal.

“All the word was that you have to mark Peadar Morgan, you have to mark Ryan McHugh. They didn’t mark any of them. The system marked them all, so both teams will defend quite similarly. That leaves them very compact and it leaves it for a very tactical game.

“That’s why it leaves this game that there’s going to be very little between them. As a result, if I was calling it…and it’s not sitting on the fence, but I would call this game a draw at normal time and a draw after exit time.”

Meenagh’s prediction comes with a caveat and a giggle. He admits he tipped Donegal and Kerry to make the final. He insists he’s the wrong man to ask but points to how football is impossible to predict at the cutting edge. He had a concern over Galway’s injuries and felt Kerry would’ve learned from how Derry defended.

“For the way the games (semi-finals) went, both could have gone the other way,” he added.

Momentum. Flow of play and accuracy in front of goal. The bounce of a ball or a referee decision. Any margins are small ones.

Does Galway’s 2022 final appearance count for anything? Ten of the team are expected to start on Sunday. That climbs by one if Seán Kelly gets the nod. They have a perfect age profile.

“It’s an advantage to Galway to have the disappointment of a final behind them and the experience of that,” Meenagh said before quickly stressing why Armagh are not at a disadvantage for playing their first final. Provided they can shut out the hype.

“They have been beaten in so many big days…in big, big games, particularly in two Ulster finals,” he offers.

“I think they’ve got the experience of the big games, and they’ve got the experience of defeat in those big games. I think that’ll stand to them.”

Add in their ability to dig victory from the jaws of a shock defeat to Down in Ulster and the manner in which they dismantled Derry. It was the making of Armagh into the team that was able to stare out Kerry without blinking in the semi-final.

Meenagh touches on how players like Rory Grugan and Andrew Murnin bring experience having been around since winning the 2009 All-Ireland minor title. There is a crux of players from the u-20 team beaten in the Ulster final of 2018.

“Their age profile is good,” Meenagh concludes.

“They’re not an inexperienced team. Together with their age profile, they’ve got the experience of a lot of big games over the last number of years, so they’re well set for a huge assault on this final.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Armagh: Andrew Murnin and Rian O’Neill with Stefan Campbell key man coming off the bench.

Galway: Shane Walsh, Cillian McDaid and Damien Comer.

Check out the neutral view of Sunday’s All-Ireland final with columnists Gerard O’Kane and Kevin Cassidy

Check out the view of Sunday’s All-Ireland final with Stevie McDonnell and Seán Óg de Paor.