Pádraig Pearses hold the aces in final battle

Pádraig Pearses will enter their Connacht final with Coolera/Strandhill on Sunday as the firmest of favourites with the Woodmount based side appearing to possess the better hand to choose from.

Pearses do appear to possess a full house as they have the ability to best opponents in multiple ways.

Take the Connacht campaign alone, Pearses didn’t fold when shipping the opening two scores to Corofin. Instead, Frank Canning’s men laid their aces on the table to outscore their foes 1-8 to 0-1 from the fourth minute until half time. Even when Corofin threatened a late comeback, they were unable to call Pearses’ bluff as Jack Nevin raced away for a late insurance goal.

Meanwhile, Mohill sought to turn the semi final into a dogfight as manager Eamon O’Hara admitted afterwards that he was hoping to ruffle Pearses’ collective feathers. However, the Woodmount based side, aided by an important Paul Whelan intervention, managed to edge in front 0-3 to 0-2 before they breezed to a 10 point victory as their ability to find solutions continues to be their greatest asset.

In a sign of Sligo football’s growth, this is the county’s second Connacht final appearance in three years with Tourlestrane progressing through to the 2022 decider. St. Mary’s are the only club from the Yeats county to claim provincial honours with the last of their three triumphs coming in 1983.

Markievicz Park will be buzzing in anticipation, but Pearses have shown they are not intimidated by home support. Their own followers will travel in numbers even on a weekend containing a general election, the unveiling of the Jimmy Murray memorial statue and Roscommon GAA’s fundraising event 'An Evening with Brian Cody' this Saturday.

In this their third Connacht campaign, Pearses have played just one provincial game at home and six on the road. Out of those half a dozen contests, they have claimed victory in five of those with the 2019 provincial final defeat to Corofin in Tuam Stadium the only blemish on their record.

Coolera/Strandhill carry a threat. The evergreen Niall Murphy is still a leading light with the intercounty forward kicking five points, including two late frees to send his side’s Connacht semi final with Ballina Stephenites to penalties. Niall Carty may be tasked with tracking the dangerous full forward while David Murray is another capable of shutting down the quality operator.

The Sligo side do possess provincial and All Ireland winning experience in centre back Ross O’Carroll. His brother Rory won three Celtic Crosses with Dublin and an All Ireland U-21 title in 2010. Ross will be the only player lining out on Sunday that has won an All Ireland club title helping Kilmacud Crokes to national glory when they defeated Crossmaglen Rangers in 2009.

Former Sligo U-20 footballer Mark McDaniel is another quality forward while Keelan Harte is a safe pair of hands in goal.

Last time out, Ronan Daly kicked four huge scores from play while against Corofin Paul Carey stood up to the mark in attack.

With Niall Daly so often kicking a trademark score from the right flank, Declan Kenny marauding upfield, Conor Ryan’s deadball striking and Eoin Colleran or Jack Tumulty able to punish any defence that focuses too heavily on Carey alone, Pearses can hurt teams in a multitude of ways.

Expect plenty of passion and intent from Coolera/Strandhill but Pearses hold the aces to ensure they can collect a second Connacht crown in four seasons.