This final between Kerry and Armagh could well be a classic

LIDL LADIES NFL DIVISION 1 FINAL

Kerry v Armagh

Sunday, April 7

Croke Park, 3pm (live TG4)

THIS could be a classic because we’ll witness is a rarity in modern Gaelic football in that two teams will go out with more interest in attacking than defending.

Not that either team will go out on the rich sward of Croke Park without a defensive plan. Don’t get us wrong-they’re not that naïve. The foundations will be solid at the back, but it’s in the attack that we’ll see the fireworks.

And that’s where Kerry will have the one major advantage. Two of the greatest forwards of the modern game will line up for their respective sides. If Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh is the Lionel Messi of Gaelic football then Aimee Mackin is the Cristiano Ronaldo. There’s no separating them and it’s honours even there.

But then you look at what Kerry has in the rest of their forward division. Hannah O’Donoghue, Niamh Carmody, Danielle O’Leary, Emma Dineen, Niamh Ní Chonchúir and Katie Brosnan have had brilliant leagues.

The Armagh forwards aren’t at the level that these Kerry girls are. They have seriously good players in the form of Kelly Mallon, Aoife McCoy and Niamh Henderson, but there is no way that they have the cohesiveness and guile that Kerry’s gunner division has as a unit.

The statistics tell us otherwise, of course, and counteract my argument. Kerry have scored 8-78 over their seven games played but Armagh have a whopping 11-63.

That’s even after the 7-10 to 1-4 defeat to Dublin in their final league game when an already qualified Armagh made nine changes to their starting line up and the Dubs really went to town on the reserves.

Those scoring stats don’t tell us about the amount of goal chances that Kerry have created and left after them in the league thus far, including four spurned opportunities in that defeat in Armagh. Kerry will create goal chances in the final and if they take them there will be no doubt about the result.

The good news from a Kerry point of view is that there is nobody ruled out of the final through injury as Darragh Long confirmed at Friday night’s press briefing and also after their workout on Sunday morning.

“We have a few niggles,” admitted the

Kerry joint manager.

“Every panel at this level is going to be carrying niggles at this time so it’s just about managing girls loads. We’re not ruling anyone out for Sunday week which is a great position to be in.

“We go back to the point of our squad depth in that we’re able to replace girls with girls that have really stood up to the mark for us this year, and if that needs be on Sunday we’ll do it and I’m sure that they’ll give a huge account of themselves. At the moment everyone is available.”

The decision as to who gets the nod in goal will be interesting and it will be one of the management’s toughest calls to make. Mary Ellen Bolger had had four starts so far and Ciara Butler three, and with neither of them putting a foot wrong they will be confident of who they hand the number one jersey to.

The decision on who will pick up Aimee Mackin will also have a huge bearing on the result. Eilis Lynch picked up the Armagh star in the Round 5 fixture and found herself in one on one situations with her on too many occasions and any forward worth her salt is going to punish you if the heat isn’t coming from further out the field.

Kerry will undoubtedly go with Lynch again to mark the Armagh star and there is no one better equipped for the do the job than the 2023 All Star. As I said, she will need help though, and the management will certainly have a plan to keep the Orchard counties top scorer from getting ball put on a platter as she did in the Armagh Athletic Grounds.

Midfield will be intriguing as well. Mary O’Connell and Anna Galvin have struck up a nice steady partnership and are likely to be named to start in the engine room, especially with Amy Harrington one of those carrying a hamstring niggle into the game.

That would see Lorraine Scanlon, who missed the Round Five fixture, deployed at wing forward where she has been seen to good effect in some of the games this year.

Armagh are likely to have Niamh Coleman and the very experienced Caroline O’Hanlon around the middle third and putting these two on the back foot will go a long way towards Kerry claiming the title for the second year on-the-trot.

So, who will emerge as the hero in this one? Danielle O’Leary came off the bench in the 2022 Division 2 final and completely turned the game in Kerry’s favour when she struck for 1-2 in a devastating final quarter of the game.

It could take a similar divine intervention to tip the scales on Sunday but for me Kerry hold too many aces to be beaten.

Verdict: Kerry