Ready and waiting

SFC final preview SO many questions and so few answers is where Wicklow GAA fans find themselves at this moment in time in the run up to the biggest day in our club championship calendar within the county.

Robert Hollingsworth’s St Pat’s team are back for yet another bite at the cherry having been beaten by Rathnew in 2014 and 2015 while Paul Garrigan’s rapidly improving Baltinglass team are coming like a train down the tracks in what will be their first final since that fateful day in 2012 when Donie Fitzgerald’s match-winning point broke the hearts of the Baltinglass folk in Aughrim.

Both sides came through reasonably difficult semi-finals with Baltinglass emerging victorious from an encounter with Bray in a damp and dreary Aughrim while St Pat’s put Blessington to the sword with a decent performance on a day when they marched on despite the loss of Tommy Kelly and Ruairi Marron to injury.

Talk of Kelly’s demise appears to be greatly exaggerated with Robert Hollingsworth laughing off reports of his potential absence from the big day on Sunday.

The Pat’s boss says that the talented full-forward may well be available and that the injury wasn’t as bad as originally feared by all those in Aughrim who witnessed the agony Kelly endured after hurting his elbow.

Kelly’s availability, while obviously a massive boost for any team, may be a mute point if Eamon Wolfe can hit the same form in the final as he did against Barry O’Donnovan’s Blessington. Wolfe pounced for both Pat’s goals and looked really threatening throughout despite the best efforts of Jack Gilligan.

Throw in the splendidly talented Brian Coen and that’s a two-man inside line that can still cause no end of problems for Garrigan’s full-back line.

One of the very obvious elements of the Baltinglass victory in the semi-final was the emergence of the young players on the team and the overall work ethic among the panel.

Mark Jackson is becoming a huge figure for the Baltinglass men and not just from the traditional goalkeeping angle of things but also thanks to his placed ball kicking and his kick outs and you would expect him to have a massive day again in Aughrim on Sunday.

Other young men to shine against Bray were the Burke halfbacks, Pat and Tom who were immense on the heavy ground and their tussle with John Crowe and Conor Ffrench should be thrilling to say the least.

This is a game that may well be low scoring despite the abundance of scoring forwards and that may well be because of the feverish pressure that is likely to be applied on the ball from the very start. Expect high pressing and a savage intent to force turnovers in the middle third with the likes of Paudge McWalter and Niall Donnelly for Pat’s and Billy Cullen, John McGrath and Ian Sheerin looking to storm forward or send in missiles of passes to the inside lines.

The match ups in this game will be extremely important. Should Tommy Kelly be unavailable then the collision of Mark Staines and Eamon Wolfe would be pretty much unavoidable and that for this writer could be the battle of the day.

Staines will have to keep the Pat’s man under control and no better man for the job but it will be a very difficult task if Wolfe can prowl in the manner he did against Blessington.

Stephen Duffy will likely start if Kelly is out so expect Tommy Murphy to follow the Pat’s playmaker out the field when he goes on his usual scavenging adventure out the field. Murphy was very good in the semi-final and is an improving player all the time. Brian Coen is likely to complete the two-man inside line with Wolfe and John Murray, who had a really positive semi-final, will relish the chance of picking up the former Tipp Minor star and again this is a dual worth witnessing.

The battle of the Pat’s half-forward line and the Baltinglass half-back line will go along way to deciding the outcome of this encounter.

If Pat and Tom Burke can curtail the exploits of Crowe and Ffrench and if Billy Cullen can dampen the enthusiasm of Brian Doyle then you could see Miley getting his things ready for the journey through Rathdangan on Sunday evening.

However, such a mission is not for the faint hearted and Brian Doyle’s abrasiveness and ability will not be easily managed. Likewise, the two most promising half-forwards in the county will be hard settled by two young and capable half-backs but, again, the prospect is enough to make you pack the buttered popcorn and your can of fizzy drink.

Midfield will obviously be key. It’s probable that Dean Healy will be faced by his county buddy Kevin Murphy while the Jason Kennedy v. Johnny Delahunt battle promises great things for the eager spectator.

And now is the point when things get really interesting.

Does John McGrath take up a position alongside Paudge McWalter and does the responsibility of minding the threat of McGrath curtail the vital influence on this game of the wickedly talented McWalter.

Such a move would push either Henry Sinnott or Chris Heaslip out to the wing to be picked up by either Niall Donnelly or Wayne Doyle and that battle, which ever one emerges is interesting in itself, but it’s at the other side of the field where the really impressive Ian Sheerin plies his trade that may be really important to this game.

Sheerin is a massive figure for Baltinglass. He sweeps, he attacks, he does the dirtiest of dirty work, he links, he supports, be battles and for me he is a tremendously important figure in this game. A meeting of him and