Comer can tilt pendulum Galway's way

It is a great All-Ireland football final to be looking forward to.

You have to go back to 2010 for the last time the decider didn’t feature Dublin, Kerry or Mayo. Predictability is not a good thing in spectator sports. The thrill of the “not knowing” is a big part of what makes top-level sport so intriguing.

From that point of view, this is a great pairing for the Association. It will generate a huge buzz of anticipation, particularly in the counties involved but also across the country. 

It makes the possibility of success seem all that more realistic for many teams — Roscommon among them. It’s not like the All-Ireland is going to be won by a team believed to be well ahead of the rest (Dublin) or with the greatest tradition of winning titles (Kerry).

The likes of Derry, Donegal, Roscommon and Cork can easily picture themselves beating either Armagh or Galway in 2025, and so all of a sudden next year’s championship has become more wide open than it has been for years, psychologically anyway.

This year first though. Who’s going to win it? Galway, by a few, I reckon. A sound argument can be made in favour of either team but our western neighbours get my vote.

I can see it being a cagey enough first half, with Galway just edging it by a few points due to their greater ability to get scores in tight areas. Then when Armagh try to force it at some stage in the second half, Galway will find more space on a few counter-attacks and win with a wee bit to spare.

Hopefully, it doesn’t go like that and it opens up into a free-flowing game from early on. That’s unlikely but could happen, particularly if shooters at both ends catch fire.

My expectation for a Galway win is down to a few factors. At a quick glance, both outfits are fairly evenly matched. Their recent championship clashes have ended in draws (Galway won on penalties in 2022).

This Galway team, most of them anyway, have been here before. They’ve played on the biggest day in the GAA calendar in Croke Park. They’ve dealt with the hype in the run-up to the game, the demand from friends and family for tickets, the media attention, the logistics of things like getting the suits for the post-match banquet, the booking of days off work etc.

It won’t be new to them. And no matter how much the Armagh management try to shield their lads from it, it’ll be a new experience for Kieran McGeeney’s men, and it’s bound to be draining, to some extent.

Galway have the greater number of attacking threats. I could see any of their inside three of Shane Walsh, Damien Comer or Rob Finnerty having a massive game.

I have a feeling it’ll be Comer who’ll be the match-winner. If Galway can improve the style of ball they play into him (maybe with Walsh being the one playing it in), he’s due a big performance. Leaving Walsh out around the ‘45 would free him up to get on more ball and play more of a playmaker role which I think would suit this Galway team better.

He’d have no shortage of runners to lay it off to (McDaid, Maher, McHugh), or he has the ability to draw in extra defenders to free up some of their other good shooters for shots from distance (Conroy, Tierney), or he could be the one to play the diagonal ball to the far post that Comer would love to attack on the edge of the square.

There’s just more ways I can see Galway winning this than Armagh.

For “L’Orange” to win it, I expect they’ll want to keep it relatively low-scoring. Their intensity is their single biggest asset. They’ll gain oxygen by turning Galway over in defence and they have great speed in transition to create easy scoring opportunites at the other end. They also have an aerial ability, and when they open up their kicking game it can be very effective. Rian O’Neill can be brilliant pulling the strings in the middle third but I think they could do with him impacting the game higher up the pitch.

They’ll want to keep it as tight as possible for as long as possible. If Galway don’t manage to find the scores to squeeze ahead, then we can expect to see Armagh grow in confidence as the game goes on. They’ll have an impact to come off the bench and will aim to overpower the Tribesmen with strong support runners — Stefan Campbell and Jarly Óg Burns could have massive parts to play in this scenario.

So, as I say, I’m plucking for a Galway win, but I’m excited to see what the game throws up. I make predictions here and they could be all out the window after the first few minutes. As I mentioned at the outset, unpredictability is key in making sport exciting.

Whatever way this falls, there’ll be great scenes at the end. A first title in 23 years for Galway, or in 22 years for Armagh. There’ll be agony and ecstasy. 

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait until the last few minutes for the emotions to run high and for thrilling battles on the pitch.

Senior ladies' football championship up and running

The senior ladies' football championship is up and running after last weekend’s action.

The top division has seven teams and most, if not all, of them will be very competitive. The top four will qualify for the semi-finals, so it’s essentially shadow-boxing up until the middle of September when the best teams will go toe-to-toe in knockout games.

It’s hard to call yet, but defending champions Boyle definitely made an impressive start to their campaign in beating Kilbride well, while Dominics will be happy they’re on the right track after a very credible draw with Clann na nGael. St. Brigid’s are also one of the favourites and they had a tight win over Shannon Gaels.

This has the makings of a really good competition and it’s difficult to predict a winner at this stage, so I’ll sit on the fence until they reach the business end of things in September.

The junior championship gets underway next weekend while the start of the intermediate championship is a fortnight away. All these competitions are quite open with no clear favourites at this stage.

St. Ciaran’s have been knocking on the door at intermediate level for a few years now and I think they are best placed to make the step up to senior, although they could face a very stern test from St. Barry’s.

One would think it would be good for football in the county if one of two previous senior powerhouses, Strokestown or Pádraig Pearses, could rise from the junior ranks.

St. Mary’s are going well though and will fancy their chances of success this year.

Top 5…

This week, I’m looking at the main contenders for the men’s intermediate football championship.

A team that was fit to win the senior title just two years ago, Strokestown, must surely be expected to bounce straight back up. They’re also the highest placed intermediate team in the league and will rightly start as favourites.

It’s fairly even between the next three teams, Fuerty, Elphin and Éire Óg — I could see any of them making it to a final. Of the rest them, Kilmore are showing steady signs of improvement over the past couple of seasons and just sneak into the Top 5.

*Strokestown

*Fuerty

*Elphin

*Éire Óg

*Kilmore

Please continue to send your thoughts and ideas for this column to me at mfinneran.mf@gmail.com.