Diarmuid Connolly has tipped Donegal to land this year’s All-Ireland football final.
Donegal meet Kerry in this year’s decider on Sunday and Connolly has tipped Jim McGuinness side to lift Sam Maguire.
“Jim McGuinness has that magic” declared Connolly. “It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but that knack of having players primed for the big games.
“It’s a mental challenge. You have such a big squad and you have to make sure you’re getting them all right for one particular day”.
“I’m sure there are guys sitting on the bench thinking they should be on that pitch; but it feels like the squad is all together, and that’s what you want from a managerial team.”
“Donegal have no weak points” explained Connolly a six time All-Ireland winner with Dublin.
“Donegal’s running power from the back is absolutely awesome. If they can turn you over in their scramble defence, their back to front is like something I’ve never seen before.
Kerry’s forward chance
“If Kerry could up their shots to scores percentage, they could blitz Donegal” Connolly explained. “But I just think defensively Donegal are so strong, in their transition they’re so strong, their weapons from their kick outs”.
“They have a lot more options around midfield and there are question marks about Kerry in that part of the pitch”.
“I just have a suspicion that this Donegal team could wrap you up for 10 minutes and really hurt you”.
“Do Kerry have that many weapons from off the bench?” Connolly questioned. “I think where it’s going to be won and lost is that impact coming on”.
“We’ve seen Jason McGee coming-on around that 50-minute mark and just making that middle third of the pitch tick again”.
“The advantage for Donegal is the goalkeeper, that defence, that running power and middle third”.
“That’s where they could win the game and I think they’ll just edge it by two or three points".
Diarmuid Connolly is a Gaelic Games ambassador for BOYLE Sports.
