Paul Earley: Goals key for Donegal in Dublin All-Ireland quarter-final
Saturday 6 August 2016 16:23, UK
Donegal will have score at least two goals if they are to beat Dublin, says Paul Earley in his All-Ireland quarter-finals preview.
I am really looking forward to Saturday's All-Ireland quarter-final double-header, live on Sky Sports.
Tipperary's win over Galway, and the dynamic nature of it, has blown the championship wide open and whetted all of our appetites for another cracking day at Croke Park.
We should see a sell-out affair with two close games to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Tyrone v Mayo (Sky Sports 3, 4pm)
I expect to see something different from Mayo this weekend. I would like to see them play three across the middle, go long with their kick-outs and play Aidan O'Shea at full-forward for periods during the game.
Winning their own kick-outs gets their half-back line on the front foot and allows them to get quicker ball into the full-forward line before Tyrone can fully set up their defensive structure.
Also, a fully fit Diarmuid O'Connor can add more than 10 per cent to the Mayo team.
He is a phenomenal athlete as well as being a highly-skilled footballer and his tackling ability as well as his creative attacking skills will be in big demand against the lightning quick counter-attacking Tyrone team.
Mayo haven't shown the consistency in the qualifiers to suggest that they can compete with the quality and form that Tyrone are bringing.
Tyrone's performances have been at a very high level all year and I expect that to continue on Saturday.
They always play well at Croke Park and Mayo will have to produce a performance well above anything we have seen from them so far this year if they are to compete and win.
Players like Peter Harte, Tiernan McCann, Mattie Donnelly and Sean and Colm Cavanagh have had very good seasons and their form line is very strong at the moment.
In addition to playing their high-paced running game, I expect Tyrone to target the Mayo full-back line, which has been weakened by the absence of Ger Cafferkey and the very recently returned Chris Barrett.
Mayo have not shown the consistency in the qualifiers to suggest that they can compete with the quality and form that Tyrone are bringing.
However, they won't fear Tyrone and even though I believe there is a performance in Mayo, it may just not be good enough to topple the Ulster champions.
Dublin v Donegal (Sky Sports 3, 6pm)
It sounds a bit harsh but Donegal scored 21 points last weekend without being overly impressive.
Their defence was far too easily penetrated by Cork, their midfield won very little in the air and the forward line was far too dependent on the brilliance of Paddy McBrearty, who gave one of the great individual displays ever seen at Croke Park.
If their defence is as open on Saturday, then Dublin will carve through them at ease.
Much will depend on whether James McCarthy plays in the Dublin defence. He marked Michael Murphy effectively in the league semi-final earlier this year.
If McCarthy is missing, and we don't know if he will play or not through injury, and if Murphy plays inside, Dublin's defensive strength in depth will be tested to the max.
It remains a great crux for the Donegal management but they must get Murphy closer to goal. He is one of the most lethal forwards in the game and yet the absence all year of Neil Gallagher in the Donegal midfield has meant they need Murphy far too much in that outfield sector, and so their forward threat is significantly diminished as a result.
The problem is Donegal will need two or more goals to win and I can't see them getting those scores unless Murphy is positioned closer to goal.
Plenty of food for thought in that for Rory Gallagher.
There will be problems at the other end of the field for Donegal, too. Dublin's exceptional creative forward play should be too much for the Donegal defence.
Dublin's forward movement, creation of space, team interplay and quality finishing really is a joy to watch.
Now that he has fully recovered from his cruciate injury, Ciaran Kilkenny is playing the best football of his career and with Diarmuid Connolly and Paul Flynn also in great fettle, they have the best half-forward line in the competition.
Dublin should also dominate midfield. The mobility and pace of Brian Fenton and Michael Darragh Macauley, and the ball-winning ability of Denis Bastick, should be too strong for Donegal.
While I expect Donegal's running game to be driven by the McHugh cousins, Ryan, Eoin and Mark, and they will doubtlessly ask questions of the weakened Dublin defence, the Dubs' defensive structure, which is built around Cian O'Sullivan, should be good enough to hold them at bay.
Watch Tyrone v Mayo and Dublin v Donegal live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Saturday from 3.30pm. Catch both matches for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.
