Donegal take command of the race for Sam

Donegal established themselves as a firm favourites for the All-Ireland title with a resounding win over a favoured Cork side at Croke Park last Sunday. Yes, there is still football yet to be played in this years Championship, but is hard to imagine how Mayo or Dublin, on current form can break down the interpretable wall that is Donegal's defence. Cork, with arguably the best group of forwards in the country, succeeded for spells, but ultimately they too were revoked. Dublin got over the line last year because Donegal couldn't get the scores to put them away, but that won't be the case of those two meet again in four weeks time. Dublin have regressed hugely from last year, and they would be ideal fodder for a Donegal team which lives off frustrating its opponents - something which the Metropolitans are easily susceptible to.

One of the more nonsensical points of debate which has arisen in the last couple of days, is the claim that Donegal don't possess the same natural footballing talent that other elite counties do, and that their success is purely down to hard work and the discipline imposed on the squad by manager Jim McGuinness. This suggestion was first made by Tom Carr on RTÉ Radio's 'Take Your Point' on Sunday evening, and again was a topic of conversation on 'Drivetime Sport' yesterday. Personally I think such a suggestion lacks substance and is totally unfair to the Donegal team. Donegal may employ a defence-first style of play, but this doesn't mean that they don't play good football. Some of Donegal's play last Sunday, particularly the speed at which the moved from defence to attack, was superb. Colm McFadden is one player in particular who has been singled out as a beneficiary of the system he plays in, though he is now tied as the top scorer in this season's Championship with 3-28 to his name. Admittedly his tally has been bolstered by the fact that he's Donegal's free taker, but most of top-scorers each year have had that same boost to their numbers. McFadden has struggled with his consistency in the past, but every player does at some point. Look at Bernard Brogan over the last two years. Has he really been a consistently stellar performer? Certainly he hasn't played up to the hype that sponsors, pundits and supporters alike still attach to him. The bottom-line, you don't become such a prolific scorer at inter-county level unless you're a really talented player. Michael Murphy is another interesting case. If anything he's taken a lesser role than his talent demands, for the betterment of the team. He's scored much less in the last couple of years and instead has done much of the donkey-work, winning the ball to create scoring opportunities for others. In defence, Donegal's strength is definitely based on team work and determination, but it's unfounded to suggest that those players are not good footballers. Karl Lacey won an All-Star before McGuinness ever came along, and he continues to be the most key player for Donegal now. I find it very hard to believe that Dublin would have come back to beat Donegal in last year's semi-final had Lacey not missed most of the second half through injury.

It will be interesting to see over the coming months what the fallout from this loss will be like for Cork football. I think Sunday's defeat in many ways, will come to define how we look back on this Cork team in future. They'll always be a team that should have won more. At first, there was the alleged 'Kerry stigma'. Cork could always beat the Kingdom in Munster, but Kerry in Croke Park was different animal, and one that the Rebels couldn't tame. The won their All-Ireland in a year when Kerry and Tyrone had begun to decline, and Dublin were not yet ready. Last year they were taken down by a gallant if not spectacular Mayo side, and last Sunday they went down looking helpless and broken. This is Cork team that promised so much more. They've been consistenly superb in the league and Munster championship, and brought a size and physicality to the game that no other county could boast. Cork should have been the dominant force in football over the last five years, particularly given the lack of stand-out teams competing. Last year was a riveting Championship, in terms of entertainment, and Dublin's heroics gave the GAA a needed boost, but they were arguably the weakest team to win an All-Ireland in 20 or 25 years. The last few years could have been a dominant era for Cork football with 3 All-Irelands to supplement their league titles, instead this team will forever be looked upon as one that could have been truly great, but never managed achieve it's lofty potential.