Clones. Full house. Sun shining. Ulster Championship. This is literally what my childhood memories are made of.
To say these are extra-special occasions only scratches the surface. The memories of long walks along the car-lined rural roads around Clones as throngs of people make their way to Ulster's mecca are as vivid a part of my early years as the memories of Christmas or summer holidays.
Be there in the winter and it’s a glum looking place but, in the sun, on a championship day, Croke Park itself would struggle to hold a candle to it.
Future generations may hopefully enjoy a new Casement Park, but as they do, for all of us that have savoured the alternative, we’ll know they are missing out on something inexplicably special too.
I’ve been lucky enough to have played there many times, yet Clones, as a supporter, made the bigger and more lasting impact.
Against the romanticism of the crowd, drinking in the colour (as well as plenty else), the occasion and the ground itself, resplendent as it will be in the early summer sun, on the sideline, are two of the most pragmatic managers in the game.
Jimmy McGuinness and Kieran McGeeney are men apart. Their teams are so enthralling that you cannot separate team and manager – they feel one and the same. Driven winners, hard task-masters, meticulous planners. They are not out to entertain, to 'make statements’ or to make history. They just want to win. The colder the better.
It could be said that this final, in reality, shouldn’t carry massive value to either. Armagh are sitting with the All-Ireland title and look well placed to launch their bid to retain it. Donegal are sitting with multiple Ulster titles and are clearly on an All-Ireland push. A win or loss alters only slightly the difficulty of the group stage they would enter into, not, as the Connacht final showed us, that matters a jot anyway.
Yet, we all know, both managers are dying for this one. It's class to see. That human trait to allow a disagreement or competition over something relatively minor and yet it ends up with two parties going toe to toe and the issue blown out of all semblances of perspective. Such scenarios never show us in our best light yet, today, sum up just why this is so special. It shouldn’t matter, but it does – a lot!
The game itself couldn’t be more evenly balanced. I find it impossible to choose between the two teams. Multiple strengths are present across the two, with more than a passing similarity. Kickout games, strong midfields, deep-lying defence and attacks that are much more about the collective than individual brilliance of a few star men. Both teams have experienced household names throughout the pitch and even on the bench.
Donegal didn’t set the world alight against Down and there are some spaces which open up when their blitzkrieg defensive plays don’t come off. Armagh owned the ball against Tyrone but had poor shooting efficiency, giving the Red Hands a lifeline. For me, both are top four in the country, alongside Kerry and Galway.
So what will we see? Well, we are unlikely to see any further flag incidents anyway! I see a potential real slow-burn of a game. A game with way more in common with pre-FRC era game. Defences sitting deep, allowing the opposition to play around the outside. Prolonged, slow attacks. All the things we thought we’d gotten rid off and unlikely to have the heart racing!
But take your eyes off it at your peril. This will be a game of tiny margins and come the final stretch, it seems a sure bet that it will still be up for grabs. By that stage the rocket-fuelled madness that has marked the finale’s of the past two Ulster finals will likely return.
Armagh are desperate for this title. No matter how much McGuinness talks of it, I just can’t see Armagh coming out shy on that front. The nearly men have learnt how to close the deal. The Tyrone result was as a perfect example of it – two years ago they would have lost that game but they never put a foot wrong.
It's a 50:50 tie that won’t matter much in about a month’s time. Yet today, it’ll feel like the biggest sporting prize in the world!
We are a unique people. How we can get ourselves so wound up for a game like this is brilliant. Nuts but brilliant. And as for the ground, the Clones Cauldron will be out. It has woven some magical spells over the years but the ingredients for this one are so good it’ll have to do very little.
Like the rest of us, it can just sit back, let the heat build slowly and then enjoy the fireworks. As for me, well I can’t wait to take in the walk to the ground with my son.
Memories are made of this!
Watch the Ulster Football Championship final, Armagh v Donegal, on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Saturday Game from 9.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates from around the country on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
