Anthony Daly once quipped about the sport of hurling, remarking that it is a game filled with “a million mad things and someone wins”. This phrase fits aptly to many matches featuring the Mayo football team. The scoreboard alone does not fully depict the riveting encounter that transpired between Mayo and Derry the previous Saturday.
Many of the performance indicators fell short of the normal standard expected from two sides at this level of competition. Moreover, there was a distinctive difference in the shooting efficacy of Mayo with regards to left and right shots, as opposed to Derry who primarily focused on left-side shooting around the D.
Part of Mayo’s attack strategy involves their forwards working to the bone.
In an attempt to neutralise Mayo’s prominent forwards, Derry employed a dual-strategy. It involved their relentless suffocation of the Mayo forwards anytime the latter initiated an offence.
Players like Ryan O’Donoghue, Tommy Conroy, and Aidan O’Shea returned to their area of the field repeatedly throughout the match. Their tireless dedication in working back the field is praiseworthy. They had to put in this effort as Derry defenders, including Conor McCluskey, were constantly on the offensive.
Mayo’s strategy of individual assignment restricts them attack-wise, seeing these three players working in the far reaches of Mayo’s defence instead of resting nearer their 20-metre line would have been more appropriate. This style impeded their ability to rapidly manoeuvre through a cluster of opponents for a swift offense.
These three were held back in their defensive half and thus, couldn’t propel forward to participate in Mayo’s characteristic agile attacking play. Much to Derry’s satisfaction, Mayo’s dangerous players were kept busy with defensive tasks.
The forward trio of Mayo accounted for nine dispossession in defense: O’Donoghue (four), Conroy (two), and O’Shea (three), with four occurring within their own 20-metre line. These figures account for nearly half of all dispossession by Mayo in that game, although they could only partially convert these turnovers into points upfield, with a return of four points. Also, O’Donoghue was primarily engaged only as a free-kicker due to his defensive obligations.
It seems improbable that Kerry would permit a situation where the valuable duo of David Clifford and Seán O’Shea are trapped deep in their own territory, burdened with hefty defensive roles. Conversely, Derry have shown a tendency to manipulate prominent players of their opposition into executing roles they would not usually embrace. This approach mirrors their tactic with the Mayo forwards, forcing them back on to the pitch where Ciarán McFaul engaged Tadhg Morley, directing him away from his usual role as a defender on Kerry’s team during the previous year’s All Ireland semi-final.
Lessons from Derry
The frequent missteps of Derry during long kick-outs and turnovers in the centre field against Armagh have been noted, especially considering how these mistakes led to penalty kicks for their rivals. Derry were successful in thwarting the random offensives from Mayo before they could get off the ground.
There were five specific instances where Derry players gave strategic fouls; Chrissy McKaigue fouled Aidan O’Shea during a mid-party possession change in the 18th minute; Eoin McEvoy tackled O’Donoghue as Mayo made a brisk counter-attack following a turnover in the 22nd minute; and Shane McGuigan mirrored this action at the start of the extra time. None of these three turnovers led to any gains for Mayo, as Derry quickly organised their defence.
In addition, Mayo’s attempt to execute a rapid free pass following Aidan O’Shea’s high turnover on McEvoy during the 43rd minute was thwarted by Derry. Later, in the 68th minute, during a mammoth kick-out from Colm Reape where Jordan Flynn managed to leap higher than Glass and land goal-side, he was halted brusquely. Attempts to get the free pass away were quickly neutralised by Derry.
Referee Brendan Cawley rightly advanced the free kick into Mayo’s shooting range on both occasions. O’Donoghue was successful on the first attempt, but Reape missed the opportunity on the second swing. With a score of 1-all from these five assaults that left them exposed, Derry has dramatically improved their form in recent times.
Derry’s Leadership Emerges
At key moments in Castlebar, Shane McGuigan demonstrated his inherent value as a player, and as a key contributor to Derry’s engagement. In the closing stages of the game, at minute 66, he made a crucial score, reducing Mayo’s advantage from two to one point. McGuigan skilfully managed to slip away from the resolute Mayo defence on the left wing, shifting to the right and maintaining possession. He then widened the gap with a strategic cutback and put his team within striking distance with a point from the edge of the D.
In the late stages of the game, during the second extra-time period, McGuigan excelled again in the 84th minute. He seized an Odhrán Lynch kick-out and quickly passed it on, outrightly disregarding the mark. Brendan Rogers assisted him in securing Derry’s final score, accentuating the impact of his decision making.
Over recent years, McGuigan has held significant responsibility for the team’s score accumulation. However, Lachlan Murray is starting to pull his weight, having added an impressive 0-5 to Derry’s tally in Castlebar, including a mark and four from play. His reliability shown in the accuracy, not missing a single shot. While successful in previous games against Dublin and Roscommon, he needs to replicate the performance at Croke Park this coming weekend.
Veteran player, Rogers, gave a typically commanding display in the primary extra-time half, spurring Derry forward single-handedly. With a point to his name, two turnovers won and an Ethan Doherty point assisted, his impact was truly felt.
This weekend, Derry will need their leaders to step up as they take on Kerry. Implementing a strategic plan to curtail the impact of the Clifford brothers, Tom O’Sullivan and other threats is essential for them to stand a chance. However, crafting this plan proves challenging for Derry, as they may not have fully gauged Kerry’s capabilities yet, given they haven’t been subjected to demanding situations to reveal their full potential.
Paul O’Brien, a performance analyst with The Performance Process, closely watches these dynamics.