It’s hardly a surprise that Kerry’s only loss of the championship season happened in a quiet game for their two marquee forwards. Seán O’Shea missed out through injury, while David Clifford “only” scored 0-5 and Meath romped to a nine-point victory.
Statistically, Kerry are incredibly dependent on those players for scores, and the Kingdom are lucky that that’s the only game either man has missed in the championship, as they head into the last four of the All-Ireland.
Clifford has single-handedly accounted for just under a third of Kerry’s total score; the Fossa man tops the scoring charts in the championship with 7-44. Adding O’Shea to the mix accounts for 55 per cent (8-85) of the Kingdom’s total. No remaining team is as reliant on just two players for scores, but at the same time, it could be argued that no remaining team has even one forward of the quality of Clifford or O’Shea either.
With Jordan Morris missing the start of the championship, Meath’s two key scorers have been Eoghan Frayne and Matthew Costello, who have scored 1-61, a third of the Royals’ total. Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan have led the way for Tyrone, with 40 per cent (1-54) of their scores coming from the two corner-forwards. Defenders have made a massive contribution to the scoreboard as well for the Red Hand County, with the backs averaging four points per game.
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That statistic is mirrored by Donegal’s defence, with Finbarr Roarty, Ciarán Moore and Peadar Mogan being particularly dangerous in front of goal. The trio have combined for 2-25 this campaign, with one of those being Moore’s crucial goal in extra-time of the Ulster final. Donegal have enjoyed the widest spread of scorers, with their two top scorers, Michael Murphy and Michael Langan, scoring just over a quarter (1-59) of the county’s total.
Although there’s plenty of scope for things to go off-script this weekend, Kerry and Donegal are the favourites to reach the final. For Kerry, the form of Clifford and O’Shea goes a long way to explaining that tag, as does the expected return of Paudie Clifford to the starting line-up. On the other hand, Donegal’s success has been less about individuals, and more about the consistency of team selection by Jim McGuinness.
Despite playing the most games of any team in this year’s championship, Donegal players have 12 players who have featured in every match, two more than Meath and Tyrone, and five more than Kerry. This has been particularly critical in defence, where Ryan McHugh, Brendan McCole, Roarty and Moore have started every match. Mogan is excluded from that group only by one substitute appearance, meaning that the Donegal defence has had a settled look all season.
Up front, Murphy, Ciarán Thompson and Shane O’Donnell have started throughout, supported by Conor O’Donnell, Oisín Gallen, Patrick McBrearty and Daire Ó Baoill, who have also played in every game. Having missed the first game against Derry, Michael Langan is omitted from that list, but has started every game since.
His 1-21 from midfield is one of the most impressive tallies of the season and far outstrips anyone else in his position. Meath’s Bryan Menton and Kerry’s Joe O’Connor have both been big attacking threats, but have a comparatively paltry 1-7 and 1-5 to their names.
McGuinness may have had a point when he complained that Donegal’s schedule was too cramped, given the amount of games his side have had to play, but whatever he’s feeding his players is working. His job can only be easier when they’re able to get their best players out on grass so consistently, and their only real hiccup this year was the group stage loss to Tyrone.
In the opposing camp, Robbie Brennan has also built on stable team selection, with nine players starting every game. Now that Costello and Morris are both back from injury, the Meath manager will only have to mull over changes in a couple of areas.
For Tyrone, their forwards will be under pressure to step up against Kerry. McCurry and Canavan combined for just five points against Dublin and will need a much better return to win on Saturday evening.
Defensively the likes of Kieran McGeary, Peter Teague and Rory Brennan have played every game so far, and their defence will be one of the strongest Clifford and O’Shea have faced. Tyrone will be hoping to exploit the Kingdom’s reliance on the pair, and not get added to the pile of statistics they have left in their wake throughout this season.
