SURELY the sweeper keeper approach has to be swept aside.
We all love copycat tactics in the GAA, that’s for sure.
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Niall Morgan, Rory Beggan and Shane Ryan are proper ballers and were among those who started this trend of coming out from goal to have more of an influence on open play.
They are also three of the true expert kickers in Gaelic football, they are sharp in possession and race out from their goalmouths with purpose and confidence.
The trio added a new dimension that seemed to be working and it really came into vogue two years ago as the masses followed, with goalkeepers even starting to kick scores from open play.
But it has gone too far, and a series of unfortunate events on Saturday in particular could force a major rethink.
Derry stopper Odhrán Lynch has been pressing since 2022.
He was caught out in his side’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Galway that summer when Conor Glass was turned over and Damien Comer lashed into an empty net from range at Croke Park.
A harsh lesson you would think but fast-forward to last Saturday’s Ulster SFC quarter-final and he was beaten in a similar fashion THREE times.
In the first half, he pressed the Donegal kickouts but Ryan McHugh picked up a break from Shaun Patton’s long-ranger and Daire Ó Baoill gleefully raced on to lob the Magherafelt man.
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After the break, again Lynch pressed and again he was caught.
An almost identical move at the start of the half saw Ó Baoill chip him again, though the Derry man got a hand to the ball this time.
Donegal’s third goal past Lynch in the 4-11 to 0-17 win at Celtic Park was a penalty from Oisín Gallen but the keeper was a long way from home once more when Jamie Brennan hammered the fourth into the roof of the net with six minutes to go.
This time Gavin Mulreaney was the launcher after Patton went off injured and Jason McGee flicked on the breaking ball.
There is no manager like Jim McGuinness to examine potential weaknesses in the opposition and try to exploit them.
He did it to Jim Gavin’s Dublin in 2014 with a swift counter-attacking game and he has done it again to Derry a decade on.
It was nothing short of a catastrophe for Mickey Harte’s men and their goalkeeper as their Ulster three-in-a-row bid went up in smoke.
Harte admitted afterwards they may need to reassess the fly keeper approach and it will be interesting to see if they go back to basics for the All-Ireland series and tell Lynch to stay where he is.
Even the brilliant Beggan was caught out a fortnight beforehand against Cavan.
He was just back from NFL kicking trials in the USA when he got a welcome home from hell.
Ciarán Brady fed Paddy Lynch from a quick free as Beggan pressed to try and salvage something from the game for Monaghan.
But the ball travels faster than anyone and the Breffni ace had no keeper to beat.
These were big warning signs for two Ulster giants who must rethink before the All-Ireland groups throw in on May 18.
SHOULD BE DITCHED
Opposition teams are out to exploit sweeper keepers now and punish a tactic that has already run its course.
Nobody is denying the role of the keeper is more crucial than ever now from kickouts.
Stephen Cluxton, Ryan, Beggan, Morgan, Patton and Lynch are masters at it.
But the risk of coming out from goal to press the opposition or play as an extra defender is simply not worth it when it comes to the crunch.
Lynch was a slave to the system on Saturday.
He stuck to his guns and kept coming out — and time after time his team were punished.
