Cormac Leonard Armagh Senior Football Championship final: Clann Eireann v Clan na Gael (Box-It Athletic Grounds, Sunday, 4.15pm)
TWO titles - Kings of Armagh and, perhaps just as important, Lords of Lurgan - are at stake as these neighbours meet at the pinnacle of the Orchard County season.
For a derby that hasn’t taken place at this level since 1968, the atmosphere will be electric and, although nerves and the weather may have an influence, the football – with seven All-Ireland winners on show – should be of high quality.
Whatever the result, the presence of these clubs in the final augurs well for Armagh.
The success of both is built on the hard graft of their underage coaches over may years.
It was Clann Eireann who got the ball rolling and Clan na Gael have followed suit.
Since 2018 ‘the Clans’ have won 25 league and championship titles at underage level - 14 boys 11 girls and the club now has 67 coaches working with over 300 children.
The picture across the town at Clann Eireann is something similar.
At senior level, the rivals met at the semi-final stage last year. Clann Eireann had been champions in 2021 and their pace and quality looked a level above the Clans for most of the first half.
Midway through the second they extended their lead to six points and it seemed all they had to do was keep their heads and they’d be back in another final.
They didn’t but perhaps that’s not giving enough credit to Ronan McMahon’s Clan na Gael.
After a needless red card the pendulum began to swing towards the men in blue who, inspired by Stefan Campbell, came roaring back into the game. The game went to extra-time and it was the Clans who came out on top. Campbell finished with 10 points on the night.
Since then of course Campbell has gone on to win the Sam Maguire with Armagh and his heir apparent Shane McPartlan will also be a marked man on Sunday along with, among others, up-and-coming talent Callum O’Neill who has the pace and skill to unsettle the Clann Eireann defence from the middle third.
On the other side, Clann Eireann will feel they have the defenders to cope with whatever the Clans can muster with the likes of Shea Heffron, Sean McCarthy and Player of the Year nominee Barry McCambridge. Tiernan Kelly was the driving force from midfield in the semi-final against defending champions Crossmaglen and up front Clann Eireann can count on the reliable feet of Conor Turbitt and Daniel Magee.
It’s a difficult game to call. There’s an ‘X-Factor’ about Clan na Gael. They won last year’s derby and, although they’re far from a one-man team, you suspect they’ll need another masterclass from talisman ‘Soupy’ to do it again.
Meanwhile, Clann Eireann have awesome strength-in-depth and the experience of winning the Gerry Fagan Cup in 2021 behind them.
That means they start as favourites, but can they have hold their nerve this time?
