Saturday's Lidl National Football League Division 1 final between Kerry and Armagh brings together the most budding rivalry in the game.
"We definitely know each other well," Kerry defender Aishling O’Connell tells RTÉ Sport in a rather understated manner.
It can be traced back to a Division 2 final three years ago where a teenage Danielle O’Leary was sprung off the bench and plundered 1-02 as Kerry fought back to win by the bare minimum.
They didn’t meet again until a league fixture last year at the Gaelic Grounds as Aimee Mackin sparkled for the Orchard County, her haul of 2-06 laying the foundations for victory.
Armagh backed it up in the subsequent final to complete a league double over Kerry, but the Kingdom exacted revenge last July to see off their rivals in an absorbing All-Ireland semi-final, where the Ulster side were without ACL injury victim and marquee forward Mackin.
It was the penultimate step in Kerry’s journey to end an All-Ireland famine that stretched back to 1993.
Since then, joint-managers Declan Quill and Darragh Long stepped away, while decorated forward Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh has hung up her boots.
New manager Mark Bourke’s first match in charge was an opening round defeat to Armagh, with Blaithin Mackin, Rebecca Cunningham and Roisin Mulligan all finding the back of the net in the final quarter for the visitors in Tralee.
O’Connell is expecting another big battle in their latest battle for national silverware.
"They are always extremely hard to play against," the Killarney-based garda says. "Coming into the championship last year, I thought they probably would be our toughest opponents, with the way they were performing even without Aimee Mackin, they were exceptional.
"When she is back again down the line for championship they will be even harder to play against. We are looking forward to it, it will be a great test ahead of championship."
Síofra O'Shea has assumed the free-taking duties this year, while younger players such as Mary O’Connell and Aoife Dillane have stepped up. Rachel Dwyer is back in the fold after travelling while Róisín Rahilly has forced her way into the starting team.
The reigning All-Star wing-back would welcome adding to her medal collection at Croke Park, but it’s not the number one priority.
"We’d love to win it, but we just want a great performance," she says. "If it comes down to a point or two between the teams and we are on the losing side, we’ll take that as long as it was a good performance because the Munster championship is only two weeks after.
"The All-Ireland would be the main goal, but we are looking for a big performance."
