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All-Ireland SFC final: All you need to know

Updated / Friday, 22 Jul 2022 22:39
The Sam Maguire cup with the Kerry and Galway jerseys at Croke Park ahead of the final
The Sam Maguire cup with the Kerry and Galway jerseys at Croke Park ahead of the final

SUNDAY 24 JULY

All-Ireland SFC final
Galway v Kerry, Croke Park, 3.30pm

ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News Now app.

TV
Live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 2pm and on Sunday Game Beo on the RTÉ News Channel. Also live coverage on Sky Sports Arena from 2.30pm. Highlights on The Sunday Game on RTÉ2 at 9.30pm.

RADIO
Live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1; Spórt an Lae on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta; Galway Bay FM, and Radio Kerry.

A first on All-Ireland final day

WEATHER
A breezy day with sunny spells and scattered showers. The showers will be heavy or thundery at times, especially in the west and north. Southwesterly winds will be fresh and gusty, increasing strong at times. Highest temperatures will range from 17 or 18 degrees along Atlantic coasts to 22 degrees in the east. For more go to met.ie.

Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Gavin White starts - same XV for both

The Dr Crokes player will start despite coming off with a knee injury late on against Dublin. White made way after 66 minutes and was replaced by Joe O'Connor.

Stefan Okunbar, who has been out injured since January with a dislocated shoulder, is named in the squad in place of Dara Moynihan.

Moynihan reportedly suffered an injury in training this week.

Kerry: Shane Ryan; Graham O'Sullivan, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan; Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White; David Moran, Diarmuid O'Connor; Jack Barry, Seán O'Shea, Stephen O'Brien Paudie Clifford, David Clifford, Paul Geaney.

Galway: Connor Gleeson; Liam Silke, Seán Kelly, Jack Glynn; Dylan McHugh, John Daly, Kieran Molloy; Paul Conroy, Cillian McDaid; Patrick Kelly, Matthew Tierney, Johnny Heaney; Robert Finnerty, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh.

Traditionalists have their ideal final

For the first time since 2000, Galway and Kerry will battle it out for Sam. At the start of the campaign the expectation was that the Kingdom would end up in the decider. An impressive league, where their defence tightened up considerably, gave a lot of fuel to the view that the green and gold would be heading for the final again.

And so it has to come to pass. They haven't shot out the lights, however, in their last two assignments. A Mayo side, running on dirty petrol you would have to say, spurned a number of scoring chances in that eerie quarter-final. And then the last day, Dublin, gaining momentum ahead of the expected extra-time, but Seánie O'Shea had that last say with a score that will surely illuminate the highlight show-reel for 2022.

Kerry players rejoice after beating Dublin a fortnight ago

Galway's march to the final has hit the odd speed bump along the way. No denying their place in it, though. We'd be talking more glowingly of their chances if they had put the foot to the neck of Mayo and Armagh when they had the chance.

Big changes in Galway...not so much in Kerry! Only five of Galway's 26-strong panel for the All-Ireland semi-final against Derry featured in their last championship clash with Kerry in the 2018 'Super 8s’. They are: Johnny Heaney, Paul Conroy, Sean Kelly, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh. Kerry had 12 of the 2018 squad on their 26 for the semi-final win over Dublin last Sunday week.

A little to close for comfort at the end in Castlebar, and the concession of quick-fire goals late on in regulation time against Armagh, points of concern. And while a few of their star names, Damian Comer aside, did not reach high levels in the win over Derry, it was to Galway's credit that they avoided being dragged into an unedifying contest.

Damien Comer was the standout performer in the win over Derry

The Ulster champions' heavily manned defence presented a tricky, though expected puzzle. It took Galway 21 minutes before they registered their first score, but a shift in the momentum was starting to emerge. By half-time, the westerners were level, despite Hawk-Eye's effort to deny them a legitimate point. Comer was instrumental in enabling his side to get a foothold. He found the net late on to put the tin hat on it; the Derry keeper being far from home.

With the firepower up front that both have, the 2022 finale could well be high-scoring. Kerry, conscious that Galway having started well in recent games, may look to go direct early on; hit a few boomers in on top of Conor Gleeson. In the second half against the Dubs, Jack O'Connor's side, and let's be honest, really lost their shape.

They only kicked three points from the 43rd to the 75th minute, their much-heralded attack really failed to fire. Liam Silke, Sean Kelly and Jack Glynn in the Galway full-back line will be presented with their toughest test so far, aware that the likes of the Cliffords, and Seanie O'Shea may not be as quiet again when the game hits that crucial period.

In the last 50 finals, 33 were won by the half-time leaders, nine were won by team who trailed at the interval, while eight were either level at half-time or finished level.

You can flip and say that Galway's Cillian McDaid, Matthew Tierney, Robert Finnerty and Shane Walsh weren't as effective from general play against Derry. Each game brings a different narrative. Will Comer be as dominant again? Will Jason Foley have his number? Who exactly will pick up David Clifford. Who will win the battles in midfield if Conor Gleeson opts to go long with his kick-outs? What impact will the sweepers John Daly and Tadhg Morley have on the contest?

Both teams like to kick the ball; both because of their enhanced defensive structure will also play 'keep ball' when it suits.

All told, there is no shortage of intrigue. Galway, in the view of some, may have the 'easier' path to the final, but they are not here to make up the numbers. It's nonsense to suggest that this is a free shot for them. Kerry are favourites, yes their attack carries a little more threat, but it would be a surprise if they were to run away with it.

Galway are attempting to win the All-Ireland senior and minor titles for the first time. They beat Mayo in this year's minor final.

Galway boss Pádraig Joyce is certainly bullish about his side's chances. Ahead of the final, he told RTÉ Sport: "Our lads will hold no fear of Kerry, they respect them, don't get me wrong, but they definitely hold no fear.

"They (Kerry) are the aristocrats of Gaelic football so it is going to be a tough final, we know that. A lot of our lads have played against them underage in the last few years, some would have beaten them in '18 (Super 8s) and met them again in Sigerson this year."

Colm O'Rourke's All-Ireland final verdict

A similar line was uttered to the media following the semi-final: "I'd said from day one since I got the job, it's about winning an All-Ireland. Ye lads know from writing about us, there'd be a soft belly that people see in Galway.

"It's taken us three years to get here but lookit, we're here now so we're definitely going to make the most of it. Ye lads know from writing about us, there'd be a soft belly that people see in Galway. And until we actually go and win these big games in Croke Park, that tag is going to follow you around."

Jack O'Connor was brought back with the intention of winning an All-Ireland with a number of players he has nurtured at underage level. Upon his appointment for the third time, he told RTÉ: "I'm well aware of the expectations, I've been there before. There's always pressure in Kerry. I'm prepared to live with that.

"There are no certainties in life, no guarantees that Kerry will win an All-Ireland but if you don't take chances in life you'll never get anywhere."

By his own admission, O'Connor was a 'truculent bollocks' when he first took over Kerry. There were sceptics out there, yet silverware was delivered, three All-Irelands in total. Those wins came twice against Mayo and Cork, games that the Kingdom won with a bit to spare. Losses in the decider to Tyrone and Dublin did hurt.

Kerry are attempting to win the All-Ireland and Allianz League double for the first time since 2009.

A somewhat mellower O'Connor recently spoke about the importance of players being able to enjoy All-Ireland final day. That said, Jack is still the boss. You could see his satisfaction after the win over Dublin, the sense of achievement will be even greater if he lowers the maroon colours in style on Sunday evening.

Ref watch

Tyrone's Sean Hurson will be the man in the middle, the first man from the county to get the job since since Patsy Devlin took charge of the 1974 Galway-Dublin final.

It's a first senior final for Hurson, who was the man in the middle for the 2018 All-Ireland minor final and last year's All-Ireland Under-20 decider.

Earlier this year he refereed the All-Ireland senior club decider involving Kilcoo and Kilmacud Crokes. In this season's football championship, the Galbally Pearses clubman has been in charge of the Ulster final between Donegal and Derry, the Dublin-Cork All-Ireland quarter-final, Kildare and Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final, and the Connacht quarter-final clash of New York and Sligo.

Roscommon's Paddy Neilan will be the standby referee. The other linesman is Barry Cassidy from Derry and Antrim's Sean Laverty will be the sideline official.

No penalty drama

If the final finishes level after 70 minutes, then extra-time, consisting of two periods of extra-time will follow. If that can't sort things out, it will be case of we'll meet again at Croker on Saturday, 6 August.

More stats

  • Kerry are seeking their 38th All-Ireland title and their first since 2014; Galway are bidding for their tenth crown and their first since 2001.
  • The counties have met 22 times in the championship, with the Kingdom leading 12-7, with three draws. They have met in nine All-Ireland finals with the Kingdom winning four to Galway's three while two were drawn.
  • Galway’s win in their most recent championship meeting (2018) with Kerry was their first success over the Kingdom since the 1965 All-Ireland final. Kerry won six and drew one of the seven clashes in between.
  • *Jack O'Connor leads Kerry into the All-Ireland final for the sixth time in what is his third term, having presided over wins in 2004 (Mayo), 2006 (Mayo), 2009 (Cork) and defeats in 2005 (Tyrone) and 2011 (Dublin). *
  • Pádraic Joyce in his third season as Galway manager, having previously won two All-Ireland titles as a player in 1998 and 2001. *
  • A Connacht county hasn’t beaten Munster opposition in the AllI Ireland final since 1965 when Galway beat Kerry (0-12 to 0-9).
  • This is the first year since 2014 that neither of the previous year’s finalists were in the decider.

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