TODAY’S FOOTBALL FINAL PREVIEWS

Ulster SFC Final

Armagh v Donegal, Clones, 4.0 Seven Ulster titles in 10 seasons from 1999 to 2008 left few hints of the long purgatory to follow for Armagh. They endured the hardest of defeats in last year’s final, losing on penalties to Derry, and the 16-year wait for the Anglo-Celt is only one less than that which preceded their breakthrough Ulster title win of 25 years ago.

It has been a hard and at times excruciating period spent in the waiting room. Kieran McGeeney is in his 10th season managing and they have come through the softer side of the draw to face a Donegal side already with Derry and Tyrone slain. Even allowing for the return of Ryan McHugh and Peadar Mogan, it has been some transformation year after losing to Down in the quarter-final.

Jim McGuinness has also been able to extract strong performances from players like Caolan McGonagle, moving him from midfield to centreback, and Daire Ó Baoill and the sharpness and clarity in the team’s focus is symptomatic of McGuinness’s work. Armagh ought to want it more and maybe the less taxing route, and a tightly-contested semi-final, won at the death when so many cliffhangers have been lost by the Orchard men, will stand to them and finally create the performance that sets them free. But Donegal will take some beating. Donegal: S Patton; M Curran, B McCole, C Moore; R McHugh, C McGonagle, P

Mogan; J McGee, M Langan; S O’Donnell, C Thompson, D Ó Baoill; P McBrearty, O Gallen, N O’Donnell.

Armagh: B Hughes; P Burns, A McKay, P McGrane; J McElroy, C Mackin, A Forker; R O’Neill, B Crealey; S Campbell, R Grugan, G McCabe; O Conaty, A Murnin, C Turbitt.

Verdict: Donegal

Leinster SFC Final Dublin v Louth,

Croke Park, 1.45

Leinster, the sick man of the provincial football championships, had its showpiece end in a 21-point differential when this pair met last year. Clare managed a fighting resistance against Kerry in Munster but that game was in Ennis, a home venue, whereas this is in Croke Park, Dublin’s back garden.

For that reason, expecting Louth to follow in Clare’s footsteps might be wishful thinking. Both counties conceded five goals in their respective provincial finals last year. Clare reduced that to zero this time, but can Louth keep Dublin without a green flag in Croke Park? It is a tall order.

Theirs is a county waiting 67 years for a Leinster title meeting a county chasing 14 in a row and fully expected to achieve it. Ger Brennan has overlooked a smooth transition after Mickey Harte’s sudden exit. Louth are now regarded as the most obvious challenger, even if the gap is still significant. The objective being a respectable performance to carry to the group stages. Kerry, Meath and Monaghan lay waiting unless they pull off the unthinkable.

Dublin: S Cluxton; S MacMahon, M Fitzsimons, E Murchan; T Lahiff, J Small, C Murphy; B Fenton, J McCarthy; C Costello, C Kilkenny, N Scully; P Mannion, C O’Callaghan, C Basquel.

Louth: N McDonnell; D McKenny, D Corcoran, P Lynch; C McKeever, A Williams, C Lennon; T Durnin, B Duffy; T Jackson, C Keenan, C Grimes; R Burns, S Mulroy, C Downey.

Verdict: Dublin