For Galway to win on Sunday and bring Sam Maguire home, there are a few key areas that need to be nailed.
No doubt Padraic Joyce and Cian O’Neill have addressed every possible scenario at different stages of the game with the players and among the management team. Here are two in particular which will be crucial to Galway toppling the kingdom.
What to do with David Clifford?
There’s no doubt David Clifford is the most talented footballer in the country. It can almost be considered a success if he is kept to just four or five points from play in a game, given the extent of the damage he is capable of causing. Not only is the man deadly accurate off either foot, he is also extremely strong and has a fantastic turn of pace. The speed at which he gets the ball from his hand to his foot to take a score makes him almost unmarkable.
Speculation is mounting over who will be tasked with the man-marking role, with Liam Silke being the most likely candidate. Silke has effectively shut down Ryan O’Donoghue, Donie Smith, Jason Duffy, and Shane McGuigan in the championship to date.
Whoever is assigned the unenviable role of marking Clifford will receive support from wing-backs Dylan McHugh and Kieran Molloy, who will tuck in to cut off supply, but also engage with the receivers of the ball should it make its way through.
Cutting off the supply to Clifford is the priority because when the ball is in his hands, it is already too late. If Galway can minimize Clifford’s impact on the game, it will go a good distance towards a favourable result.
How to maximise Shane Walsh’s impact
For Galway to win this game, they need three or four scoring forwards on song for the entirety.
Against Derry, Damien Comer single-handedly dragged Galway back into the game in the first half and was then the architect of putting Galway in a winning position.
Against Armagh, Robert Finnerty was the main forward on song with his shooting, while ably assisted by Cillian McDaid at midfield.
In the last two games, Shane Walsh has been on the periphery for the majority of the match. Albeit he has been extremely tightly marked given his exploits in the Connacht final, but his teammates need more impact from him in play.
He is going to be tightly marked again on Sunday so the Kilkerrin Clonberne clubman must find a way around this to get himself into the heart of the game.
Walsh has been nailing his frees all season which has been crucial, particularly against Mayo and Derry. For all his excellence on the ball, this would have been a criticism of him in the past. On Sunday Walsh needs to showcase all his talents on the biggest stage and spearhead Galway to victory.
