Joe Brolly Sums Up Exactly How Kerry Decimated Donegal's Masterplan In Final Thumping

Jack O'Connor's Kerry once again reached the pinnacle on Sunday, beating Jim McGuinness' Donegal 1-26 to 0-19 to lift Sam Maguire with a ten-point buffer.

It was a tactical masterclass from the Kingdom, who made a mockery of the odds, of Donegal's favourite tag, and of McGuinness's reputation as a master tactician.

Kerry outclassed Donegal in every area of the field and brutally exposed their defensive zonal system, which proved completely insufficient in repelling the brilliance of the Clifford brothers.

David, now a shoo-in for player of the year, had no shortage of influence on the result, scoring 10 points, including a crucially deflating two-pointer that had been minutes in the making right at the brink of half-time.

His influence was perhaps topped only by Paudie, who from just outside the new arc controlled the Kerry attack like a prime quarterback, boasting an astonishing 76 possessions in the 70 minutes of football.

While Donegal's system faltered in the face of the Clifford's, who refused to take on any unnecessary risk in the face of turnover-hungry Donegal defenders, the same couldn't be said for Kerry's defensive system.

Led by captain Gavin White, the back six all but nullified the impact of Michael Murphy, one of the game's greatest players, depriving him and his teammates of the fast counterattack ball they thrive on and holding their sweeping support lines well outside the shooting zone. Of Donegal's 19 scores, not a single two-pointer was scored.

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Writing in his Irish Independent column, Joe Brolly summed up exactly how Jack O'Connor's Kerry dismantled Kerry, putting the key difference between the 'ordinary' Donegal footballers and Kerry down to the three-man 'virus' Kerry planted in the middle of the field.

It was a plan that, according to Brolly, showed up a McGuinness' system that when under pressure, provides no fallback to get out of trouble.

They kept three players in the middle third, preventing the lightning counter attacks that Donegal depend on.

They swamped the top of the defensive arc where Donegal create most of their scores. They fouled tactically. They defused the Donegal kick-out. They refused to solo into contact or crowd each other, moving the ball fast through multiple hands.

For a team that depends on turnovers, Donegal couldn’t even get a tackle in. A system like Jimmy’s is awesome when it works, but when it doesn’t, there is no Plan B.

While their standard of footballer was never in doubt, plenty of questions had been asked of Kerry's tactical ability coming into Sunday's All-Ireland Final.

As Brolly himself sums up, it was false inefficiency that Jack O'Connor well and truly proved to be untrue, outsmarting one of the game's great tacticians so brutally as to create a second half showing that just about remained competitive.