Cork to pull away late on against Donegal while Tyrone are playing at a level above everyone

DONEGAL ENTER this All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork with a battle-hardened veneer forged and polished in two excellent victories over Derry and Galway. They managed to eclipse two formidable teams in hard-fought encounters that, quite apart from footballing prowess, required a strong mental edge to prevail.

The question for Donegal is whether they can bring that form to Croke Park or will they revert to the lacklustre football that undermined their performances in the Ulster championship. The suspicion is they will be able to sustain the momentum of recent wins. The team ethic in terms of work-rate was very much in evidence against Derry and Galway, and Donegal were tactically astute.

Colm McFadden and Michael Murphy carry a huge threat and provided Donegal can be physically imposing in midfield the two forwards can provide lucrative scoring options.

Cork haven’t had a competitive fixture since the Limerick match, a game that highlighted several weaknesses and was a long way removed in terms of quality from their replay win over Kerry. The Cork players have managed two rounds of the county championship since the Munster final, which is largely counter-productive because it lacks the intensity and quality that will be required tomorrow.

Cork will be looking to rid themselves of the assertion that they have tended to peak against Kerry, looking like genuine All-Ireland contenders, only for their form to collapse when they reach Croke Park.

There can be little doubt Donegal have enjoyed the better preparation and that it may take Cork a little while to get into their stride but the Munster champions possess plenty of quality and a strong spine, manifest in players like Nicholas Murphy, Graham Canty, Alan O’Connor and Pearse O’Neill. John Miskella will get forward at every opportunity.

Donegal corner back Karl Lacey will probably pick up Cork’s main attacking threat, Daniel Goulding. Lacey will need to be as uncompromisingly effective as he was in policing Galway’s Michael Meehan. At the other end of the pitch, Cork full back Michael Shields is having an excellent season so far, and he will pick up either McFadden of Murphy.

The manner in which Limerick threw Cork out of kilter in the Munster final is something that Donegal will have examined closely. The Limerick players harried and hassled their opponents out of any rhythm and it was only Goulding’s accuracy that allowed Cork to escape with a victory. Unlike Limerick, Donegal will need to sustain it for the 70 minutes.

Cork appear to have the better balanced team with that little bit more quality and also possess the stronger bench. It will be close but I’d take the Munster champions to pull away late in the match.

It is difficult to discern how Kildare can topple the strong favourites for the Sam Maguire, Tyrone. There are some minor peripheral factors that might suggest that the Ulster champions would be a little undercooked if the game remained tight for the duration of this quarter-final.

Tyrone haven’t been stress-tested to any great extent in the championship so far, while recent history suggests that a quarter-final can be a “good time” to meet them. Manager Mickey Harte will be well aware of that dynamic. Tyrone are playing football at a level above everyone else in the championship. The team is backboned by outstandingly talented individuals who mesh together seamlessly in pursuit of a common goal.

Every player buys into the shared work ethic and that is why they are so difficult to break down. Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney will be well-versed with trying to achieve that goal from his days with Armagh but it doesn’t make the assignment any easier. Tyrone attack teams from every angle and it almost becomes a fire-fighting exercise for opponents: every time you think you have one blaze under control, another breaks out somewhere else.

Players are able to interchange positions and this allows the half-back line to surge forward, players like Davy Harte, the excellent Philip Jordan and even Ryan McMenamin. When they go, others simply slot in the holes behind. Harte is a shrewd tactician and may elect to push Seán Cavanagh into full forward against a Kildare line that has looked fragile.

Mikey Conway is a huge loss to Kildare not alone for his defending but also his ability to get forward and his distribution. I wouldn’t be surprised to see McGeeney employ an extra defender. Kildare will be hugely reliant on Dermot Earley to try to shade the midfield battle but he must be used cleverly between the two 45s and not over-commit himself in terms of covering too much of the pitch.

Kildare must try to win the match rather than attempting not to lose it. They have to have the courage of their convictions and genuinely believe they can win – that means not being afraid to take on long-range points while mixing it up with early, direct ball into the full-forward line. If they over-indulge in short passing it’ll play straight into Tyrone hands.

Kildare will not play their way through the Tyrone defence. The Leinster county will need to score a couple of goals to win this match and in that respect I’d like to see Johnny Doyle play closer to the posts. There is no room for a lazy player in the Kildare ranks; if just one player doesn’t track back then the team will be undone because there’s no better team than Tyrone at exploiting numbers.

Tyrone to win; it’s just a case of how hard and how far Kildare are willing to push them.