There’s just something about Donegal and Jim

We should have known it was always going to be like this.

The return of Jim McGuinness to the Donegal managerial hotseat was bound to generate a significant upswing in the county fortunes, and it did, with the men from the hills winning the 2024 Ulster Championship and reaching the All-Ireland semi-finals.

The return then, last winter, of Michael Murphy to the fold was the sign that things were about to go to the next level in 2025. As we discussed in these pages last November, the Murphy-McGuinness axis was in line to propel Donegal back to the top of the pile.

They are close to the summit, but standing in their way is a rejuvenated Kerry team with the bit between their teeth. It all makes for an absolutely mouth-watering clash in this Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final.

The battle on the pitch has many different sub plots, but there are also striking similarities. For one, both teams are led by totemic figures.

Neither Michael Murphy nor David Clifford are captain of their respective sides, but they are the players who the others look to for inspiration when it’s needed on match day.

Both are figures without equals in their respective counties in the modern era yet Clifford and Murphy have only one All-Ireland medal each. One of them will double their tally on Sunday.

David Clifford is at such a level now that, especially with the new rules allowing him that bit more space, you just have to take it as a given that he will score, at worst, about six points against you. He's able to mix his game now slightly more effectively too; he can hold his position on the edge of the square but, if he’s clogged up there, he can roam with even more purpose out the field because he isn’t just coming to collect the ball and get a touch, he’s there to try and provide a threat from outside the two point arc. How do Donegal go about managing his contribution to Kerry’s tally on Sunday?

It’ll be fascinating to see how Jim McGuinness sets his team up to limit Clifford’s impact but the best tool to use is that of primary possession; limit the supply to Clifford by winning more ball for yourself than Kerry manage to supply to the Fossa man. Dedicating a man-marker, or even two, to Clifford has been futile for other teams in this year’s championship.

There were probably three matchups Donegal would have targeted ordinarily; the Clifford brothers, David and Paudie, and Sean O’Shea. But, given his form, Joe O’Connor now needs watching too. He has been superb in the middle third and is, on current form, one of the leading contenders to be crowned Footballer of the Year. Michael Langan is capable of quelling his influence and if Donegal can manage that, it will remove one of the key weapons Kerry used to great effect in their wins over Armagh and Tyrone.

On the flip side, what do Kerry do with Michael Murphy? Jason Foley has been in marvellous form at full-back and with that confidence flowing he may well be the man tasked with tracking Murphy from the off. Foley can play ball further out the pitch, too, where Murphy will operate at stages, and he is physically strong enough to compete. Someone getting the better of Michael Murphy is a rarity but if Kerry can even manage to get close to even with him, they know that’s a major dent in the Donegal challenge.

But, there are others. Paddy McBrearty, the team captain, has been limited to an impact role off the bench this season due to the form of his fellow forwards but his services remain crucial. Oisin Gallen has proven himself to be a forward capable of scoring heavily; the aforementioned Michael Langan can also add plenty on the scoreboard and Peadar Mogan raids forward from the back with real purpose. Ciaran Thompson is also extremely effective from range. So Donegal have many different ways to hurt you, possibly more than Kerry.

But the men from Munster seem to have a real aura about them since the action moved to Croke Park for the quarter-finals. How many times have we seen that over the years with Kerry sides? They know when to turn it on, and they needed to for their win over Armagh in the last eight.

The fifteen minutes they produced in kicking 0-14 without reply against the reigning All-Ireland champions is as good a period of play any team has had in the last decade. They didn’t need to fully replicate that against Tyrone, but even still, their display in the semi-final was littered with evidence suggesting that there’s a huge hunger to get over the line and win Sam this season.

Jack O’Connor is an experienced operator and, if local chatter is to be believed, he may be coming to the end of his tenure as Kerry boss. He knows what it takes to get it done on All-Ireland final day and, for me, the most fascinating thing of all coming in to Sunday’s game is the battle of wits on the sideline and how it’ll play out.

If Kerry manage to get over the line, it will be one of the sweetest All-Irelands they have ever won given they’d have beaten top Ulster opposition in their four knockout matches en route to silverware. Yet there’s just something about Donegal and Jim McGuinness that’s hard to put your finger on. They have a unity of purpose that seems to be unstoppable and they’re on a mission to land the big prize once again.

It’s hard to look past them on Sunday, but whatever way it goes, it has all the makings of one of the best All-Ireland finals of the modern era.