It may be that in the rush to atone for looking beyond Dunloy in the All-Ireland semi-finals, there is a tendency to puff the Ulster champions going into today's final. If it were Mount Sion who had progressed to the final by virtue of a debatable free, who'd be favourites this afternoon? Seán Moran, Gaelic Games correspondent reports.
Birr are hot favourites to win a record fourth All-Ireland on their own merits. It has nothing to do with belittling Dunloy. The Leinster champions bring a formidable array of qualities to the table.
The club championship is such a process of attrition that it has always inhibited repeat success.
Yet half the Birr team stand on the threshold of having competed successfully in a record four finals.
The greatest strength of the favourites is the extent to which they confound that wear-and-tear of relentless campaigning. Appetite is usually the first casualty of success but the Offaly champions have perfected the Maoist doctrine of perpetual revolution.
Their achievements have never rid them of the notion that they're in some way disrespected and every match is approached with a freshly honed grievance.
This afternoon they have in a roundabout way been done a favour by the Games Administration Committee who exiled Birr manager Pad Joe Whelahan to the stand for the final, as punishment for his frequent pitch incursions in the semi-final.
Afterwards - especially should Birr win - reporters will need asbestos notebooks to get Pad Joe's quotes. It can be said that the team will lose out on the constant hectoring that the manager's intrusions facilitate but of all teams, Birr are not short of on-field generals.
In Dunloy's favour is the history between the clubs and the not unrelated fact that the Offaly champions - like the county team - struggle with the pressures of hot favouritism.
Last year Birr were lucky enough to get past the Ulster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final and had Dunloy closed the deal eight years ago, Birr would be chasing a third rather than fourth title today.
Against Mount Sion a couple of things were evident. The Dunloy attack is a consistent, well-balanced unit.
Tactically they are smart, as the centrefield back-up for Gary O'Kane's crucial job on Ken McGrath indicated.
And crucially they held their nerve when the match was on the line.
In the final minutes despite the demoralising loss of an early initiative it was the Ulster champions who had greater belief.
Interestingly Dunloy have greater experience of the new Croke Park than Birr, courtesy of Antrim's good showing in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary last August.
But in general the champions have the hurling, drive and star quality to make history.
Birr (Offaly) v Dunloy (Antrim) Croke Park, 2.0. On TV: TG4
