Fans so frantic to roll back the years

TO understand how different this first-time final is going to be, rewind to September 2015 and the surreal scene that followed Joey Holden’s speech on the steps of the Hogan Stand. By the time the Kilkenny players reconvened on the pitch for the now traditional victory lap, the stadium was well on its way to emptying. Cue the sight of Holden being chaired by his teammates in front of Hill 16 and the small, select band of supporters who were actually still hanging around.

This, after all, was Kilkenny’s 36th All-Ireland title. The 11th on Brian Cody’s watch. Nothing they hadn’t seen before. So why not get out early, beat the traffic, and make it to Market Yard the next evening for the homecoming proper.

There was never a chance of ‘Plan B’ ringing out over the tannoy, Croke Park’s public response to supporters’ attempts to roll back the years and invade the pitch.

This afternoon has ‘Plan B’ written all over it. Will it be recalled in time as the Austin Gleeson final? The Joe Canning final? Same as previous affairs have been owned by glorious scoring exploits, Lar Corbett’s hat-trick in the 2010 decider one emphatic example.

Or could it be the day two of Waterford’s proud warriors Kevin Moran and Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh get the medal their careers so richly deserve? One way or another, the scenes at the final whistle will be emotional and highly charged.

It will be a thinking man’s final too. To understand the tactical shape-shifting of Waterford under Derek McGrath, just go back to the opening minute of the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork. Just to try and mess with the opposition’s heads and expected match-ups, chief defensive man-marker Conor Gleeson could be spotted scuttling up the field, one half of a two-man inside line alongside Jack Dillon. If Cork had banked on marking in their own plans, there was the chance that it immediately gave the Munster champions something unexpected to deal with.

That it was only a fleeting switch before Gleeson dashed back to take up a critical man-marking role on Conor Lehane – which he performed with aplomb until his late red card for a rash flick at Patrick Horgan – was almost immaterial: here was Waterford telling Cork they would be setting the terms of engagement. As they did throughout the game. Brick Walsh’s

deployment on rising Cork star Mark Coleman was so effective it might just have cost the Blarney wing-back the Young Hurler of the Year – Conor Whelan is one solid outing away from taking it.

Patrick Horgan’s sublime display in attack salvaged a Cork attack that was malfunctioning for the most part – or more accurately, not being allowed to function by Waterford’s ferocious pressure out the field and the expert reading and positioning of Darragh Fives, filling in for Tadhg de Búrca in the sweeper role.

If they can do the same to Galway then it’s easy to see Waterford building a bridge to 1959. Say Joe Canning is crowded out and frustrated in a congested middle third; Noel Connors ties up Galway’s Whelan in the inside line and Conor Cooney is limited to two or three points from play; the game’s in-form midfield pairing of Kevin Moran and Jamie Barron get the better of David Burke and Johnny Coen; and Austin Gleeson does what Austin Gleeson does, either scoring or providing.

The pressure too is on favourites Galway in such a scenario. Conor Gleeson’s absence due to suspension, though, robs Waterford of a key defender, even allowing for De Búrca’s return. What is also in Galway’s favour is how much they have been road-tested against a sweeper system. Aidan Harte and Daithí Burke vied for Man of the Match in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Clare while the Leinster final against Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford was a searching examination.

Last Sunday, Dublin provided a template for thinking a way around a tangled defensive web: patient and controlled in possession, switching the point of attack, using inside forwards as decoy runners to create space elsewhere.

Galway have to be just as smart. Jonathan Glynn’s inclusion represents the first shot fired in that respect, offering an aerial threat that will likely require sweeper De Búrca to cover deeper and limit the potential goal threat rather than dictate the pattern of the game. Marking the sweeper is surely another Galway option.

Either way, a unique final is set to produce unforgettable scenes.

VERDICT: Galway