All-Ireland SFC Final:
Galway v Armagh on Sunday in Croke Park at 3.30 pm
This Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Football final will be the first since 2010 with no involvement of one of Dublin, Kerry or Mayo, meaning there is a real novelty element to this weekend’s battle for the Sam Maguire Cup.
Make no mistake, both sides will go into this game believing they can win. Armagh have been an improving team over the past few years but they seem to run out of luck in the big games, losing on penalties to Galway a couple of years ago, and to Donegal (also on penalties) in the Ulster final this year.
In actual fact, that penalty shootout loss in the Ulster final aside, Armagh and Galway are both unbeaten in this year’s championship. The teams drew when they met in the round robin phase in Sligo (Armagh 1-12 Galway 0-15), so it shows that there is nothing much between them on current form.
Armagh would have been known for a conservative style of football under Kieran McGeeney, however in the last 25 minutes against Kerry in the recent semi-final they threw off the shackles and showed what they can do when being more positive.
They have a number of experienced and very classy footballers. Blaine Hughes is an outstanding goalkeeper. He never ventures too far from the goal-line and his kick-outs are very accurate. Aaron McKay will probably have the task of marking Damien Comer, and should that be the case then it will be one of the highlights of the day.
Barry McCambridge is one of the stars of the 2024 championship. He scored 1-2 against Roscommon, and he fisted home an opportunist goal in the semi-final against Kerry too. Watch out for Aidan Forker on the other wing too. He loves to counter-attack.
In the middle of the park the clash of Niall Grimley and partner Ben Crealy with Paul Conroy and whoever he plays with on Sunday (likely to be one of Cein Darcy, Matthew Tierney or Cillian McDaid) will be another crucial clash.
Up front, Armagh like to play Rian O’Neill at number 11 but he can play anywhere from the half-back line up. He is one of the best footballers in the country and his performance will be crucial to Armagh’s chances.
Conor Turbitt and Rory Grugan are excellent forwards and they too will be hoping to keep the scoreboard ticking over on Sunday. We must not forget that Armagh have some outstanding subs also. Stefan ‘Soupy’ Campbell is an excellent score-getter while Jarlath Og Burns and Oisin O’Neill are excellent options on the bench.
From a Galway point of view they will be hoping for a good display from Conor Gleeson in goal. He is an excellent net-minder but is prone to the odd lapse or two so Galway will be hoping that won’t happen on Sunday.
I like the way that Sean Fitzgerald has slotted in to the full-back position and he looks really assured now. Johnny Glynn and Johnny McGrath are excellent man-markers and they will hope to tie down the Armagh dangermen on Sunday.
In the half-back line Dylan McHugh is having a brilliant season and is in line for footballer of the year. A good performance on Sunday could copperfasten that accolade for him. Liam Silke is now back to his best while Sean Mulkerrin has fully recovered from the serious injury that ruled him out in 2023 and is playing great football.
Paul Conroy is another one of the key men on the Galway team. The veteran is playing as well as ever and is a real leader.
Up front, the Tribesmen will be depending on the ‘big three’ of Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Rob Finnerty. Put simply, if these three are playing close to their best then Galway will win this All-Ireland.
Probably the most important player for Galway this year has been John Maher. He is the linkman between defence and attack and has been outstanding.
Matthew Tierney and Cillian McDaid are also in that Galway half-forward line. Both are excellent players who can also play at midfield.
Galway’s bench is very strong too. John Daly, Kieran Molloy, Johnny Heaney and Tomo Culhane will certainly see action and they have been very effective all year.
If Armagh show the kind of positivity that we saw against Kerry in the second half of their recent semi-final then we are in for a cracking game. It’s a very tough game to call but I keep coming back to the quality of the players on both sides, and for me Galway have the edge. The only doubt I have about them is that some of their injuries might not have fully cleared up.
Padraic Joyce’s side are a super championship team and very difficult to beat. If Walsh, Comer, Conroy and Maher play anywhere near their best I can see the Sam Maguire coming back to the west for the winter.
Prediction: Galway.
