Inside Track with John McIntyre

IF the Galway football camp was still feeling deflated over their shock loss to Meath in the All-Ireland championship quarter-final, the events at Croke Park on Sunday would only have darkened the mood further.

Of course, the Tribesmen would have produced a better show than the wasteful Royals, but it would be stretching the imagination to suggest that Shane Walsh and company would have gotten the better of Ulster champions Donegal.

I know it happened in the hurling semi-final between Cork and Dublin, but you do not expect to see a 20-point margin between two teams who have travelled a long road to the business end of the championship.

But that’s what we got at Croke Park on Sunday. Meath were taken apart by Donegal and players like Jordan Morris, who were so impressive against Galway, struggled to make any worthwhile impact.

Galway certainly weren’t at their best against Meath and having to line out for a third consecutive weekend after a series of draining outings left them vulnerable, but Donegal were different gravy on Sunday. Their counter-attacking, pace, range of scorers and in-depth strength had Meath in all types of trouble.

The Leinster finalists paid a serious penalty for so many attempted two-pointers being off target in the opening half. Up to the semi-final, Meath’s accuracy from outside the arc had served them well, but their persistence with the tactic on Sunday drained the life out of them.

Donegal may have only managed one-two pointer – a Michael Murphy free – but their ability to engineer scores close to the opposition posts reached a new level on Sunday. They repeatedly cut Meath apart in assembling an impressive tally of 3-26.

Murphy’s return after a two-year retirement has really ignited the team. Apart from being a dependable scorer, his fielding and vision make him critical to Donegal’s progress. But they are no one-man team given the serious quality in their ranks in the likes of young Finnbarr Roarty, Peadar Mogan, Ryan McHugh, Michael Langan, Ciarán Thompson, Ciarán Moore, Conor O’Donnell and Oisín Gallen.

Having guided Donegal to only the county’s second All-Ireland title in 2012, Jim McGuinness certainly knows what he is doing. The players have huge faith in their supremo and basically hounded him into returning to the team manager’s role in the winter of 2023.

Pictured: Galway’s Niamh McInerney aiming at the posts against Cork’s Millie Condon during the All-Ireland U-23 camogie final at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday. Photo: INPHO/ Lorraine O’Sullivan.