All-Ireland SFC final preview

All-Ireland SFC final, Sunday, 3.30pm, Croke Park.

Kerry v Tyrone

And so here we are. After a strangely subdued Championship we find ourselves left with the team everyone expected to be here and one we had nearly all written off early in the season, writes Séamus Leonard.

While Kerry are in prime position to land their third All-Ireland title in a row, their passage to the decider was nowhere near as smooth as it could have been.

Clare were taken care of but the sending-off of Paul Galvin and the resulting appeal process has cast a shadow over most of their summer. There were two more dismissals as the Kingdom somehow contrived to relinquish their Munster crown to a Cork side that - not for the last time in 2008 - looked dead and buried at half-time.

Monaghan provided a stern test in the last round of the qualifiers before Galway came along and brought the best of Kerry in a rain-soaked quarter-final. Cork produced another sterling comeback in the semis, but eventually succumbed in the replay.

It all results in Kerry finding themselves on the threshold of greatness, but with a few doubts surrounding their ability to see off a Tyrone side that has risen from the ashes.

The 'twin towers' of Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh have been one of the talking points of the summer. Other teams were starting to get the hang of nullifying the former's aerial threat, but the emergence of his young apprentice has added a new dimension to the Kingdom's attack.

But it also forced the relocation of Colm Cooper to centre-forward and the Dr Crokes man has not been the scoring threat he has been for the majority of this decade. However, he has been handed the number 13 jersey for Sunday's game and if the decision has been made to play the 'Gooch' closer to the posts then Kerry have one hand on the Sam Maguire Cup already.

Darragh Ó Sé is back from suspension but, with midfield likely to be littered with bodies, clean ball will be at a premium, which is why Galvin should make an appearance at some point to secure some of that 'dirty' stuff.

But if Kerry's full-forward line looks good (and it does), then Tyrone are able to boast one that looks almost as dangerous. Sean Cavanagh's qualities at full-forward are well known, Tommy McGuigan has emerged as a real force and Colm McCullagh has been instrumental in the Red Hands' recovery from their replay defeat to Down in the Ulster Championship.

Kerry manager Pat O'Shea has opted to bring Padraig Reidy in at corner-back, and it is a gamble as the Scartaglin man has failed to reproduce the excellent form of his debut season last year. Tom O'Sullivan moves back into full-back for the Munster men, with the versatile Tommy Griffin losing out.

Tyrone boss Mickey Harte is a master tactician and he will no doubt be hoping Kerry line out as selected in defence, because if an under-performing Cork can poke holes in that full-back line, then a Tyrone forward line firing on all cylinders can destroy it.

But the story of this All-Ireland could hinge on the contribution of two returning stars. Galvin's stupidity has seen him miss out on captaining Kerry through the summer, and he will chomping at the bit to make some impact. But he has missed three months of competitive action and it is asking a lot of any man to get up to Championship pace after that kind of absence.

Tyrone, of course, have brought Stephen O'Neill back into the fold. The Clann na nGael servant may not have played at inter-county for quite some time, but his club form is supposedly excellent and that should mean he is slightly sharper than Galvin.

Harte used an injured Peter Canavan to great effect in the 2003 final by taking him off and bringing him back on to lift both the team and the crowd at a crucial stage.

If Tyrone are a couple of points behind with a few minutes remaining, then expect O'Neill to come off the bench to a rapturous response from the crowd.

But if Kerry go about their business early and well, it will be Galvin's return that will be trumpeted come Monday morning.

Verdict: Kerry