Make no mistake, this was a poor performance from Derry at Parnell Park. Putting it into a neat little nutshell, they had a serious inability to get the ball to the forward line. And when that happens you struggle to get scores. Derry struggled to get scores.
The question Damian Cassidy will be asking himself in the aftermath of this game is 'why?'. Why did the execution of the basic premise of the game elude his side so readily?
He could point to the fact that his forward line was missing several of its key components: Eoin Bradley, Enda Muldoon, Paddy Bradley. Not to mention two of last week's impressive performers: the injured duo Raymond Wilkinson and Declan Mullan. James Kielt was the only constant in the forward division. A big turnover in personnel. And it's not easy for things to click in such circumstances.
So what of the incomers. Most impressive was Aidan McLaughlin. He plays most of his football at midfield, but on Saturday night he staked a claim to become a more permanent member of Derry's forward line. He can win his own ball, turn a defender and take a score. He had a good first half, but Derry's second half collapse meant he would see limited possession. Caolan O'Boyle was also a victim of a lacking supply.
The problem Cassidy will likely dwell on - not a new one to Derry football - was the half-forward line. Joe Diver and Andrew McCartney started in the wing-forward positions, and the Ballymaguigan man was unlucky to be replaced in the opening half. Mark Craig came in; meaning that in the two wing-forward positions (pivotal to the system they are trying to play) the Oak Leafers had a midfielder and a corner-back. The link play was virtually non-existent. Derry only produced a single point in the second half. The likes of Enda Lynn would possibly have been better deployed in this role.
Yet things looked reasonably good at half-time. Derry were patchy in the first period - getting turned over on countless occasions - but they were efficient in front of goal. Mark Lynch and James Kielt were accurate from frees while and McLaughlin hit a nice score from play. Similar to last week against Tyrone however, Derry were aided by some loose shooting from Dublin. They missed several scoring opportunities - kicking a few balls into Gillis' hands. Derry's two-point lead at half-time was as good as it got.
Overall Dublin were poor. They fielded a weakened side also, but their passing was poor and they seemed to struggle with the basics. They really only got going midway through the second half when Bernard Brogan came on to steady their forward line, and they were aided by Derry's increasing ability to gift them possession - in central areas. Derry had defended well up until this point, with Dermot McBride impressive at corner-back, Gerard O'Kane comfortable at full-back and Charlie Kielt impressing again at right half-back. But Dublin eventually took advantage of the cracks in Derry's performance, with Kevin McMenamon's goal finishing the game as a contest.
Derry had looked edgy in possession. There was too much lateral passing, too few runners to make use of the open spaces, and too many players taking too much out of the ball. Derry's turnover rate probably increased in the second half. It was a miracle the game stayed so close for as long as it did (Derry were in the lead midway through the second half). Actually, it's probably a measure of how poor this Dublin side themselves played. All told, this was a horrible match.
No one should get carried away with the performance of Derry in this game - it's still 'still only February' - but the squad as a whole must learn from the deficiencies displayed at Parnell Park. When the gameplan goes AWOL, it's time to ensure that the basics are done correctly, and that simple passes find their targets. Derry struggled in this regard throughout the game and there's much work to do before the visit to Kerry in three week's time.
Derry should have a stronger squad available for Kerry, let's hope the mentality is stronger also.
A few other points from the game:
- Bernard Brogan's introduction basically won the game for Dublin. It shows how costly Eoin Bradley's indiscretion last week proved.
- On that point, Derry's discipline needs to improve. Fergal Doherty and Patsy Bradley picked up needless yellow cards. Derry need to learn the lessons of previous suspensions.
- Did Declan Mullan and Raymond Wilkinson increase their championship prospects on last night's performance alone?
- Seamus Bradley was extremely unfortunate to suffer a knee injury after landing awkwardly. Fingers crossed for his quick recovery.
- The fist-pass rule needs to go. You can see players brains churning at the thought of having to do a proper fist-pass. It leads to mistakes and slows the game down. There's no benefit to this new rule.
- Did neutrals actually hang about long to watch this game on Setanta Sports, considering they were also showing Cork v Kerry? Turns out, it was nearly as bad.
- It's mad that within about ten seconds of the referee blowing for half-time the Parnell Park pitch is covered in children playing football and hurling.
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