Sunday’s novel pairing sees Galway in a second All-Ireland football final in three years, but it’s an entirely new experience for the Armagh players.
I remember my first in 2011 and it is an entirely different experience to any other final that may subsequently follow.
The hype surrounding your first time playing in the showpiece, and the nerves and excitement that go with that.
Inter-county teams are now well protected to try to keep away from external noise, but it’s next to impossible.
It’s the sheer emotion of it. It’s hard not to let it all seep in. In Dublin it was difficult to avoid, I can only imagine what it is like in Galway and Armagh.
It can be tiring too. You saw in the hurling final last weekend, some of the Cork and Clare players were gassed towards the end, and while some of that was definitely down to the intensity of the game, some of it is the emotion, and that can wear you down a bit.
Looking to the respective sidelines on Sunday, Pádraic Joyce and Kieran McGeeney are iconic figures within their own counties.
They are legends within their counties, regardless of the outcome this weekend, though Sam Maguire success as a manager would really rubberstamp it.
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They have had some great battles with each other, too. In 2022, when Galway went on to reach the final, they served up a classic, and there was a bit of needle too, which can bring further excitement.
It was a few long balls into the full-forward line that got Armagh back into that game when they were seven points down and got it level in injury-time to force extra time.
I imagine Sunday’s match will be similar, there isn’t much between the sides.
I’m really looking forward to the match-ups, with some of the best corner-backs up against the leading forwards.
Galway will look to kick the ball out long, and if I was Armagh, I’d be looking to hammer the hammer there to take away Galway’s strength on their own kickouts.
While I think it will be an exciting game, there will be phases of controlled play that can frustrate spectators, but if we can get through those, there will be plenty to get supporters off their seats.
From a Galway perspective, they can say they have had the upper hand and look to finish Armagh off, but the Orchard County will not go away.
They are a very resilient team and well conditioned. There is a lot of talk about the impact of the Armagh bench and that could have a significance in the last 20 minutes when the game opens up a little bit and it becomes more free-flowing.
We have seen the likes of Oisín O’Neill, Jarly Óg Burns, Ross McQuillan and Stefan Campbell coming off the bench and I think that could be the difference.
I think this will be a one score game – we could see another All-Ireland final going to extra-time.
Whether it’s coming down the stretch in normal or extra-time, I think Armagh will just about get over the line.
Verdict: Armagh
Paul Flynn was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland
Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final, Armagh v Galway, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
