Rochford: only to a point can you plan for Donaghy

August 15, 2017

Kerry's Kieran Donaghy celebrates after scoring a goal against Mayo.
©INPHO/Tommy Grealy.

Stephen Rochford admits that Kieran Donaghy at his best is very difficult to counteract.

Mayo will have to come up with a plan to curb the influence of Kerry's inspirational former Footballer of the Year in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final, but their manager points out that this is easier said than done:

"You start to over-focus on Kieran Donaghy, and James O'Donoghue is going to make a fool out of you or Paul Geaney will start to pull the strings or Johnny Buckley and David Moran," Rochford is quoted in The Irish Independent.

"We can spend the next 20 minutes talking about the list of options that they have but I think we have a couple of players who will look to probably keep Kerry busy.

"Look, it won't come down to any one individual. Kieran, by the position he plays, the physical attributes he brings to the game, has proven to be a challenge for Mayo defences over the years.

"We'll try and plan for him but at 6'4" or 6'5", only to a point can you plan. But that might also be around what's happening around the field in trying to starve possession. There will be a couple of things in that but they will take more time to tweak in the coming days."


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