Colm Boyle column: I just couldn't deal with my 'keeper trying to master all trades
We are now expecting a goalkeeper to be a sweeper, a playmaker, a midfielder and even an attacker and if they can save the odd shot and kick the ball out too, well, then that’s a bonus.
The goalkeepers’ union has had a testing week defending the actions of its members.
Is there a more satisfying sight for the rest of us than seeing a wandering goalkeeper watching helplessly as the ball sails over his head and into the net after being punished for sallying upfield?
They are becoming the game’s pantomime villains and Odhran Lynch is not the first and won’t be the last to be caught out this year.
Rory Beggan was left red-faced by Paddy Lynch in the Monaghan-Cavan game. Kildare’s Mark Donnellan should have been punished by Matt Nolan of Wicklow in the Leinster quarter-final. But both of these were from turnovers forced while the goalkeeper was trying to supplement the attack late in the game.
Lynch’s nightmare evening came mainly as result of punishing up on Donegal’s kickouts.
When this tactic was introduced a few years back it was used very sparingly, with the obvious objective to fill a pocket of space that the players were trying to run into to win a kickout. Now it’s being employed regularly, with the likes of Lynch even contesting kickouts.
I remember we talked about it in a team meeting once with Mayo. Our strategy was that if a ‘keeper was standing on a particular side blocking a channel, then rather than avoiding that channel, load players over there and put it on top of him to see how brave he was then. They would usually retreat before the ball had even left our goalkeeper’s boot.
But there is no doubt, due to the freedom and instructions from coaches, a lot of goalkeepers now have no fear and are attacking opposition kickouts just like Lynch did ahead of Donegal’s fourth goal.
The sight of him contesting an opposition kickout with Brendan Rogers, an All Star midfielder, standing five metres behind him looking on is simply staggering. Donegal threw Lynch the bait and he snapped at it.
I was in Hyde Park on Sunday and was interested to see would events of the previous evening curtail Conor Carroll or Colm Reape. The answer was a resounding no. Both were serial contributors to slow phases in attack with the ball regularly recycled to them.
Reape was turned over in the first half while carrying the ball into Roscommon’s 45 which left his teammates scrambling to stop a calamitous goal.
Reape actually plays as a sweeper in front of his full-back line during some opposition attacks and survived two lobbed attempts against New York when performing this role.
I hope I am wrong, but all the signs are there that he will be caught before the summer is out.
We are now expecting a goalkeeper to be a sweeper, a playmaker, a midfielder and even an attacker and if they can save the odd shot and kick the ball out too, well, then that’s a bonus.
Part of me is glad I am not playing in this new era of football, I don’t think I could deal with watching my goalkeeper trying to be a master of all trades.
For all the chaos the wandering goalie brings, the greatest goalkeeper of all time, Stephen Cluxton, just sits back and does the basics brilliantly. I know which I’d prefer my goalkeeper to be.
But, as Roy Keane would tell you, that’s his job.
Cavan-Tyrone was an Ulster classic
They say a week is a long time in politics, but it was certainly the case regarding the provincial championships.
After the doom and gloom of the opening weekend, we were treated to some cracking games last Saturday and Sunday.
One that probably slightly went under the radar was Cavan-Tyrone. When all is said and done at the end of the Championship, we could look back on that as possibly the game of the season.
It made no sense really, which is often the case with the best games. Tyrone were cruising in the second half until a black card for Padraig Hampsey and the concession of a quickfire 2-2 left their Ulster title hopes dangling.
But they came through a testing extra time period and now go in as big underdogs against a revitalised Donegal.
Donegal themselves were underdogs last Saturday but the tables have now turned and they are being viewed through a different lens. That brings a different type of pressure. How they handle that will be interesting.
If Shaun Patton hasn’t recovered, then that will be a big blow for them.
Niall Morgan’s role tomorrow will be fascinating. He is a better ‘sweeper keeper’ than Odhran Lynch, but no doubt Donegal will try and target this area in some way.
Tyrone had nine Ulster Championships debutants last week which is crazy. They certainly are a team in transition. They have the potential to give Donegal plenty of problems and I don’t think it’s as clearcut as what some observers are saying it will be.
But if there is any man that can bring Donegal back down to earth after a huge win and get them ready for a different challenge it’s Jim McGuinness and I expect they’ll come through.
Meanwhile, Armagh have a huge opportunity to reach back-to-back Ulster finals. They won the same fixture by 10 points last year and should be comfortable against Down once again tomorrow.
Leinster semis have no business in Croke Park
The more things change, the more things stay the same. You would have to wonder what planet Leinster Council officials are living on.
How many times do they have to watch Dublin maul over opponents in a practically empty and soulless Croke Park before they will decide to take these games to provincial venues?
It’s actually got to the stage where even the Dublin players are calling for it, as Ciaran Kilkenny did in the aftermath of the Meath game. Offaly, unfortunately for them, will be in for a long afternoon at headquarters.
The other semi-final will, of course, be a much tighter affair but most observers will view Louth as favourites. While many will see that as a reflection on how far Kildare have fallen, huge credit has to go to Louth with the progress they have made over the last few years.
In a lot of ways, they are everything Kildare aren’t: they play with an edge, are reliable, full of honesty and effort and seem to know their system inside out.
They will view themselves as the best of the rest in Leinster. Tomorrow, they need to go out and confirm that and I think they will.
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