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GRAHAM GERAGHTY
Kieran McGeeney has Armagh primed to bring coasting Kerry to the edge – while Donegal should outlast Galway
Unorthodox scoring threats have emerged for The Kingdom though
GIVEN their absence from this stage of the Championship for nearly two decades, today’s All-Ireland semi-final is clearly a huge game for Armagh.
But manager Kieran McGeeney is sure to be drilling home the message to his players that, first and foremost, it is a huge opportunity.
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Having threatened to do so for quite some time, this Armagh team has really come of age as a serious force this year.
Did I expect that to happen a bit sooner? Probably, but injuries have been one factor that has made it difficult for them to achieve their full potential.
McGeeney has been getting a serious tune out of his players since their penalty shootout loss to Donegal in the Ulster final.
Banishing the All-Ireland quarter-final hoodoo will also stand to them from here.
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Despite coming in for plenty of criticism over their style of play, I think McGeeney has done a superb job with Armagh.
They are one game away from an All-Ireland final so accusations that he is not getting the best out of his team are hard to comprehend.
The Orchard County have been consistently reaching the latter rounds of the Championship in recent years.
Would that have happened if they deployed a more traditional man-on-man approach? I have my doubts.
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Indeed, let it not be forgotten that they have not lost a knockout Championship game over 70 minutes since 2021.
Their challenge now is to beat one of the top teams of the past 20 years.
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But Kerry might need to produce their best performance of the season to get through this one.
Although they have beaten what has been put in front of them, the Kingdom have not been playing particularly well.
Privately, Jack O’Connor would probably admit that his men have not come close to reaching the standards that they have set themselves previously.
Nevertheless, the harsh reality for Armagh is that the Kerry forward line is full of matchwinners who are capable of destroying them on their own.
If David or Paudie Clifford can get on enough ball, the Munster champions will cause serious damage.
And even though those marquee forwards have been curtailed lately, defenders Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Paul Murphy and Tom O’Sullivan have compensated.
There are scores coming from everywhere in this Kerry team.
Underpinned by one of the most effective defensive systems in the game, Armagh will back themselves to cut out those supply lines.
They will seek to crowd the defence, keep it as tight as they can and then hurt the opposition on the counter-attack.
But Kerry have shown on several occasions, most recently against Derry in the quarter-final, that they are well used to handling that approach.
The Kingdom will always find a way of breaking it down.
Most neutrals would probably prefer to see an Armagh win.
And while they certainly have a strong chance of doing so, Kerry will not be beaten as long as they click.
Still, they have to show us more than what we have seen from them so far in 2024.
GALWAY VS DONEGAL
On to the second semi-final and the biggest fear that I would have for Galway against Donegal tomorrow is that the demands of a taxing season might finally take too much of a toll.
The team unveiled by Pádraic Joyce would indicate that the Tribesmen are at full strength.
But they have been like the walking wounded since the year began.
You can see their standards slipping when Shane Walsh is absent, so they badly need him to be fit enough to fire on all cylinders.
Damien Comer, having looked sensational in the Connacht final win over Mayo, has not been able to hit the same heights since then.
That being said, so many other Galway players — none more so than Cillian McDaid and John Maher — stepped up to the plate against Dublin.
With outstanding wing-backs in Peadar Mogan and Ryan McHugh, parallels can be drawn between this Donegal outfit and Kerry.
As you would expect from any team associated with Jim McGuinness, they are also well set up, disciplined and extremely organised.
Pound for pound, Galway probably have more individual talent.
But the input of McGuinness has made Donegal greater than the sum of their parts.
For a side like Galway who have been beset by injuries, Donegal are probably the last team you want to face.
The Ulster champions are full of running and will want to drag them into deep waters.
The extra week’s break before the quarter- finals might stand to Donegal too.
Considering the challenges that he has faced on the personnel front, Joyce has done a phenomenal job with Galway this season.
Maintaining their Division 1 status with a depleted panel was a huge achievement.
And now they are just 70 minutes away from a second All-Ireland final in three years.
Galway did the other Sam Maguire contenders a big favour by disposing of a Dublin team who are admittedly in decline.
But I feel it will ultimately be someone else who takes advantage of their dethroning of the Dubs.
A year since they were in turmoil, a first All-Ireland final outing in a decade awaits Donegal.