Kieran Donaghy thinks the midfield battle will be key on Sunday. Photo: Sportsfile

Donaghy believes midfield battle will be key to Mayo chances

HE might be a villain among the Mayo GAA fraternity after what happened towards the latter exchanges of the All-Ireland semi-final replay, but make no mistake, Kerry full-forward Kieran Donaghy is firmly in the Mayo camp this weekend, writes John Brennan.

When I caught up with the Austin Stacks man last week, he shed some light on the key areas that might tilt the advantage in Stephen Rochford’s favour.

The midfield battleground is one of the crucial areas, as Donaghy feels that you have to go at Dublin from the get-go.

“Yeah, I think you have to try and get him (Stephen Cluxton) to kick out as much as possible. Dublin are not normally used to breaking ball, because normally their kick-outs are short, like we saw against Tyrone. If Mayo push up when the ball goes dead and are all stuck to a man, you force Cluxton to go out long.

“As good as Dublin are in the middle of the field, if you can break that ball and make it a dogfight on the ground, and if Mayo are winning their own kick-outs, that could have a big bearing on where this game goes.”

That takes serious concentration and energy levels to maintain over 70-odd minutes, but Donaghy feels that Mayo 'have gone up a few notches from last year' and are more than capable of matching Dublin.

It is widely acknowledged that Dublin have a serious panel to pick from and at times Jim Gavin is unaware of his strongest 15 on any given day. That will be a crucial aspect on Sunday, according to Donaghy.

“I think the guys that Dublin are bringing on are probably a level above what Mayo have at the moment coming on. When I say that I’m talking about the six lads coming in, which will be four forwards. They are so strong from 15 to 21 and it has a huge bearing on what way this will go.

“When you can bring on the likes of Cormac Costello, Eoghan O’Gara and Paul Flynn, who are fresh with 10 minutes to go, it’s a nightmare for any defender. Tiredness creeps in and the forward firepower which Dublin have can reap huge dividends,” says Donaghy.

The Kerry ace name-checks Andy Moran, Aidan O’Shea, Keith Higgins, Lee Keegan and Cillian O’Connor as being 'in the form of their lives' and would be delighted to see lads who have soldiered for the last 12 years win that elusive All-Ireland medal.

When Aidan crept up on the agenda there was a slight giggle, but it’s easy to see the admiration that Donaghy has for the Breaffy man off the field. Whilst Donaghy feels that Mayo should target the midfield exchanges, he noted that Mayo 'should knock a few balls in on top of Aidan to test out the Dublin full-back line'.

However, when the Kerry man was pushed for a verdict, he nailed his colours to the mast.

“To be honest, I can see Mayo being a score or two ahead with 15 or 20 minutes to go. You’d expect Dublin to bring on the artillery then and get them over the line.”