All-Ireland SFC final: Armagh v Galway, Croke Park, 3.30 – Live on RTÉ and BBC
Considering there have only been six, it’s curious that we have on Sunday the second Ulster-Connacht All-Ireland final in four years – and between two entirely different counties.
More than that, this year’s finale is the most interesting end to a championship in a long while. It brings the novelty of a unique pairing but also, unusually, a rivalry that has built up in recent years, including this season.
For all that it is commonplace in hurling, football hardly ever pairs two counties in a final that have already played in the same championship. In fact, during the recent years, which have made such a thing possible only Cork and Kerry in 2007 and 2009 have played out a second match on the biggest day of the year.
It’s not merely the repetition that feeds a sense of anticipation but the quality of the previous encounters, which have created the rivalry.
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In the course of three years and three contests, Galway have generally been the better team but have made hard work of converting that superiority into a winning position.
Acts of self-sabotage have been at the heart of the turnarounds and failures to win: a calamitous concession of 2-1 in injury-time two years ago eradicated a healthy Galway lead and forced the match to extra time from which they were lucky to escape and only did so through the priceless interventions of Cillian McDaid, whose closing 1-1 set a penalty shoot-out.
Last year, Armagh prevailed by a point – a margin copper-fastened by Shane Walsh’s last-moments missed free – to push Galway into a preliminary quarter-final for which they were ill-equipped because of fatigue and injury.
In Sligo last month, once again Galway compiled advantageous circumstances – a five-point lead on the hour – and promptly burned it. Connor Gleeson – “the most criticised goalkeeper in Europe,” according to one Galway man – got caught for 1-1 on his restarts and dropped the match back into the hazard again.
His manager Pádraic Joyce at the time glumly reflected on what had happened: “The first short kick-out goal that we’ve conceded in my five years as manager. It was a killer blow.”
Downstream effects of these unfortunate events were that Gleeson has largely kept out of the short kickout business and Galway have thrived. Against Dublin they went long with the preponderance of the restarts and won two-thirds of them.
It helps to have the most physically imposing middle third in the game, as Kieran McGeeney noted after the draw in Sligo when asked why his team hadn’t been pressing more when the fault-line had been uncovered.
“When it works it’s great but Galway didn’t press any in the first half and still beat us hands down by doing it. A lot of the time it’s up to the players. You might just have got a score. Pressing hard can work in your favour if there’s a wee bit of jitteriness there.
“Galway are a big team ... their whole half-forward line is 6ft 4ins, they’re big boys, like. It was a hard-hitting game, there was not too many whistles blown.”
His remedy for Sunday has been to bring back Connaire Mackin to add some heft and experience to the sector rather than persist with the younger, faster Peter McGrane.
There’s no reason why Armagh can’t take nearly as much encouragement from previous meetings as Galway. The ability to outperform your game on the scoreboard is not a trivial asset and they have been really hard to beat. Their opponents are officially the only unbeaten side left but the Ulster side’s only blemish is a lost penalty shoot-out.
In a reversal of provincial stereotyping, Armagh are the ones who appear to thrive in chaos with the talent of Rian O’Neill always threatening decisive interventions but often lying latent in matches.
They ran Kerry ragged in extra time when the semi-final loosened. Galway are all patience and process, as typified in the Sligo encounter. Against the wind they held the ball in exemplary fashion, striking when the opportunity presented to lead at the break.
Two other statistics from that day give Galway encouragement. Paradoxically, the goal that was coughed up only served to emphasise how tight the defence has been; it’s the only one they have conceded all season.
For economy of attacking effort, five wides was top class. It was only two greater in the semi-final.
They will also be able to deploy Damien Comer, missing in the group match and whose physical threat up front – depending on the state of seemingly constant injury updates – adds immeasurably to the attack, particularly Robert Finnerty’s fortunes.
Shane Walsh has been closer to his 2022 form than last year’s and although Barry McCambridge will be confident after his display on David Clifford, he has a point to prove after their last meeting.
Compared to the last two years, they are in a better position. The current defence is an impressive piece of work and won’t get randomly opened up. The corner backs, especially Johnny McGrath have been exceptionally good, which is reassuring against Conor Turbitt’s All-Star season to date and the wiles of Rory Grugan.
Wing back Dylan McHugh, whose pace and ability to find gaps has been as useful as his defence, leads the betting for Footballer of the Year.
They also have the priceless experience of the final two years ago – a well-contested final.
It may be that Armagh, whose progress has been thoroughly admirable, will be further liberated by finally getting to the All-Ireland but the view here is that Galway are a more seasoned unit, enjoying better form from key players, and can achieve the landmark of moving into double figures on the roll of honour.
ARMAGH: B Hughes; P Burns, A McKay, B McCambridge; C Mackin, T Kelly, A Forker (capt); N Grimley, B Crealey; J McElroy, R O’Neill, O Conaty; R Grugan, A Murnin, C Turbitt. Subs: E Rafferty, G McCabe, P, McGrane, C Higgins, R McQuillan, S McPartlan, J Duffy, O O’Neill, S Campbell, A Nugent, J Burns.
GALWAY: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn; D McHugh, L Silke, S Mulkerrin; P Conroy, S Kelly (capt); M Tierney, J Maher, C McDaid; R Finnerty, D Comer, S Walsh. Subs: C Flaherty, J Daly, E Kelly, D O’Flaherty, K Molloy, C Sweeney, C Darcy, J Heaney, L Ó Conghaile, T Culhane, N Daly.
