The 'game from hell' and the era that rose from its ashes

Dublin and Donegal remains a rare enough championship fixture, but when the counties cross paths, they tend to make for memorable occasions.

Sunday marks just the eighth time - including a replay in 2002 - the sides have locked horns. Donegal have only emerged victorious twice, but they remain two of the county's most famous wins.

Their breakthrough All-Ireland success of 1992 will forever haunt Dublin fans of a certain vintage, while younger ones also got to experience a sobering Croke Park experience against the Tír Chonaill men when Jim Gavin’s swashbuckling side were brought crashing down to earth in a 2014 All-Ireland semi-final.

It forced Gavin to reevaluate their all-out offensive approach, and that tactical realignment had a seismic impact. It would be 45 games, six All-Ireland titles and 2,541 days later before they were upended again in the championship.

Arguably however, the most talked about encounter took place three years previous and the infamous low-scoring semi-final of 2011 played in front of 81,436, a figure that won't be remotely threatened 15 years on.

Heading into the 2011 All-Ireland semi-final joust with Dublin, Jim McGuinness would have been more than pleased with how his first year in inter-county management was going.

Promotion to Division 1, a first Ulster title in 19 years and a thrilling quarter-final win over Kildare, sealed with a long-range bomb from Kevin Cassidy.

The football, to some observers, was overly pragmatic, but there was no doubting its effectiveness.

Facing them was a Dublin side that since the 1995 triumph, had faltered in four subsequent semi-final assignments. With the Brogan brothers the focus of their eye-catching attack, the game was billed as sharp contrast in styles.

That's not to say the Dubs themselves were not averse to flooding bodies back, something then Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney lamented during their one-point Leinster semi-final defeat.

During that year’s league campaign, Down manager James McCartan was left bemused when at one stage in the closing 10 minutes against Dublin, every player on the pitch bar Down goalkeeper Brendan McVeigh was camped inside the Dublin half.

"Never thought I’d come to Croke Park and find that Jedward would be the highlight of the evening," he remarked afterwards.

It was put to Pat Gilroy in the lead into the semi-final that perhaps the difference between the sides - defensively at least - may not be as great as some suggestions in the media.

"I don’t think we do the same," he said. "Every team is bringing men back when you lose possession, but I think we play it very differently to Donegal. There are big differences in what is actually happening on the field."

Even the most pessimistic could hardly have predicted just two points – evenly split - after 24 minutes of play.

Ger Brennan manned the Dublin defence that day, surrounded by space more than yellow jerseys, Colm McFadden and Michael Murphy appearing as lonely looking characters at times up top for Donegal as McGuinness’ suffocating style took hold, with Dublin forced into some erratic shooting under all kinds of pressure.

What was unfolding was a nightmare of epic proportions for the traditionalists.

When Maurice Deegan - who would later describe it the most difficult assignment of his career - blew for half-time, Donegal had four points, Alan Brogan had four wides in a Dublin attack that had just two frees to show for their efforts, the scoreboard a scarcely believable 0-04 to 0-02.

From the confines of the studio, a seething Pat Spillane spoke of having seen an apocalypse for Gaelic football

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"Remember that tribe in Iraq, the Shi'ite tribe? Well, we’ve been watching Shi’ite football," he said.

"You know, there are people who go to the Hague for war crimes – I tell you this, some of the coaches nowadays should be up for crimes against Gaelic football."

"A game from hell," was fellow pundit Colm O’Rourke’s succinct summation.

Kevin McManamon’s half-time introduction would eventually give the Dubs a different dimension with his direct play.

Remarkably on the hour mark he registered their first point from play to level matters at 0-06 apiece, with Bryan Cullen - the only starting forward in blue to score from play - and Bernard Brogan (free) sending 14-man Dublin through, Diarmuid Connolly seeing red after lashing out at Marty Boyle.

Donegal didn’t score after the 44th minute and made 242 handpasses in a game that seemed to shock and intrigue in equal measures, the lowest-scoring semi-final in 55 years, back when games were 10 minutes shorter.

"Dublin came through a waterboarding," was Malachy Clerkin's summation in The Irish Times as deep-dives began into the ultra-defensive, free-heavy contest.

Gilroy, after some chastening defeats in the preceding seasons, appeared more relieved than anything else after the match, praising his side’s patience during the free-fest.

The rookie manager in the opposite dugout was unfazed when Spillane’s half-time analysis was relayed to him.

"We won’t be going to Ballybofey or Castlefin next year when we start off training thinking how we can make Pat Spillane feel good," he said.

"We’re not the finished article, but we’re going to try and make them better. And if we can’t try and make them better let some other man come in and try and make them better in a year or two’s time."

Two years after the "startled earwigs" were humbled by the hands of Kerry, Gilroy’s side came through the sternest of examinations, and what would later prove to be a significant step in the decorated journey that lay ahead.

Current GAA president Jarlath Burns, a playing rules committee member at the time, drew on events some 9,000km away to highlight the plight of the game as he saw it.

In an era well before the FRC, he was tiring of the cynical fouling, with Donegal and Dublin managing just five points from play across the entire 70 minutes.

The World Athletics Championships were taking place in South Korea and there was huge drama in the men’s 100m final where defending champion and redhot favourite Usain Bolt was disqualified for a false start.

"The fact is Gaelic football is the only sport where it is profitable to foul," he said. "You look at Usain Bolt at the weekend. One false start in the World Championships and he was disqualified. In Gaelic football, you gain an advantage by fouling, especially in the forwards."

While the introspection continued, Dublin ended their Sam Maguire drought in dream circumstances, a match-winning free into the Hill to down rivals Kerry.

Jim McGuinness would steer his side to glory 12 months later – the gameplan loosened up a little to allow a gifted forward line flourish – but Dublin were laying building blocks for future dominance.

The 2011 semi-final was the antithesis to today’s game – packed defences, scores at a premium, few long-range attempts and ponderous play.

The debate in the aftermath around swarmed defences and sweepers became so wide-reaching that even the hurling fraternity were dragged into it. Ahead of the third successive meeting of Kilkenny and Tipperary in the showpiece, Cats manager Brian Cody was asked if he would consider an extra body in defence.

Cody, not one for dwelling too much on the tactical side of the game, publicly at least, was almost affronted by the question.

"To me, there’s no suggestion of a Kilkenny way of doing it. How many teams play that sweeper type thing in hurling? I don’t know. We won’t be playing sweeper, that’s all I can tell you for sure."

Dublin: S Cluxton (0-2, 1f, 1 '45), C O’Sullivan, R O’Carroll, M Fitzsimons, J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan, D Bastick, MD Macauley, P Flynn, B Cahill, B Cullen (0-1), A Brogan, D Connolly, B Brogan (0-4, 4f).

Subs: P McMahon for O’Carroll, K McManamon (0-1) for Cahill, E O’Gara for McCarthy, E Fennell for Bastick, Ross McCarroll for Flynn

Donegal: P Durcan, E McGee, N McGee, F McGlynn, A Thompson, K Lacey, K Cassidy (0-1), R Kavanagh, N Gallagher, M McHugh, D Walsh, R Bradley (0-1), C Toye, M Murphy, C McFadden (0-4, 2f).

Subs: M Hegarty for Toye, M Boyle for Lacey, M McElhinney for Hegarty, P McBrearty for Walsh

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