Galway and Sligo do battle in the Connacht SFC Final on Sunday.
Sunday, May 7
Connacht SFC final
Sligo v Galway, Hastings MacHale Park, 1.45pm (RTE2)
Galway are hot favourites here to win a 48th Connacht title and go level with Mayo atop the provincial championship roll of honour.
The Tribesmen looked formidably good in their semi-final win over a talented Roscommon team, eventually winning out by four points after a very professional performance.
There are no obvious weak-links in this Galway team. They’re defensively solid, have huge athletes around the middle third, and a lethal inside-forward line of Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, and Ian Burke.
It looks like a huge challenge for a Sligo team that was operating in Division 4 of the Allianz League this year.
True, they won that competition and have impressed on the way to this Final with convincing wins over London and New York, but this game represents a massive step up in standard.
If they are to pull off a shock their first box to tick must be to compete with Galway physically in the middle third.
That would ensure a decent supply of ball into dangerous forwards like Niall Murphy, Pat Spillane, Patrick O’Connor and Sean Carrabine and give the Galway defence something to think about.
Expect Sligo to give their all and make a contest of this Connacht Final, but Galway’s greater experience, physical power, and cutting edge in attack should steer them home.
GALWAY: Connor Gleeson; John McGrath, Seán Kelly, Jack Glynn; Dylan McHugh, John Daly, Cillian McDaid; Paul Conroy, John Maher; Matthew Tierney, Johnny Heaney, Peter Cooke; Ian Burke, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh. Subs: Bernard Power, Seán Fitzgerald, Daniel O’Flaherty, Cian Hernon, Paul Kelly, Gerard Davoran, Owen Gallagher, Robert Finnerty, Cathal Sweeney, Dessie Conneely, Tomo Culhane.
SLIGO: Daniel Lyons; Evan Lyons, Eddie McGuinness, Nathan Mullen; Brian Cox, Paul McNamara, Luke Towey; Cian Lally, Paul Kilcoyne; Keelan Cawley, Sean Carrabine, Finnian Cawley; Pat Spillane, Patrick O’Connor, Niall Murphy. Subs: Aidan Devaney, Alan Reilly, Darragh Cummins, David Phillips, David Quinn, Gerard O'Kelly Lynch, Jack Lavin, Joe Keaney, Luke Nicholson, Mark Walsh, Mikey Gordon
Clare will hope to pull off a shock when they play reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry in the Munster SFC Final.
Munster SFC final
Clare v Kerry, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 4pm (RTE2)
Reigning All-Ireland Champions Kerry will go into this match as the hottest of hot favourites, but they won’t underestimate the challenge an experienced Clare will pose.
Colm Collins and this group of players have been around the block by now, and if everything clicks for them on the day they can at least be very competitive.
Forwards like Emmet McMahon, Eoin Cleary, and Keelan Sexton are seriously good finishers, and all three have been in fine form this year.
The Banner are defensively solid too, and the manner in which they came through battles against both Cork and Limerick on the way to this final testifies to the character in their ranks.
If Kerry aren’t fully tuned in this could be an uncomfortable afternoon, but there’s no reason to suspect there will be any complacency in their ranks.
They were ruthless in the semi-final against Tipperary and their strength in depth is underlined by the fact they can afford to leave players like Stephen O’Brien, Killian Spillane, Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, Adrian Spillane, and Micheál Burns on the bench.
If Clare do put it up to Kerry, you’d imagine the luxury of having so many impact players chomping at the bit to enter the fray would get the Kingdom out of trouble.
CLARE: Stephen Ryan; Manus Doherty, Cillian Brennan, Cillian Rouine; Ciaran Russell, Jamie Malone, Daniel Walsh; Cathal O'Connor, Darren O'Neill; Pearse Lillis, Emmet McMahon, Dermot Coughlan; Eoin Cleary, Keelan Sexton, Pádraic Collins. Subs: David Sexton, Gavin Cooney, Micheal Garry, Shane Griffin, Ronan Lanigan, Brian McNamara, Mark McInerney, Darren Nagle, Cian O'Dea, Alan Sweeney, Ikem Ugweru
KERRY: Shane Ryan; Dylan Casey, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan; Graham O'Sullivan, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White; Diarmuid O'Connor, Jack Barry; Dara Moynihan, Sean O'Shea, Paudie Clifford; Tony Brosnan, David Clifford, Paul Geaney. Subs: Shane Murphy, Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, Adrian Spillane, Barry Dan O'Sullivan, Ruairi Murphy, Killian Spillane, Micheál Burns, Mike Breen, Stephen O'Brien, Pa Warren, Dylan Geaney
