Inside Track with John McIntyre

JUST a few weeks ago the widespread anticipation was that Limerick and Kilkenny would end up contesting the All-Ireland hurling final for a third year running, while there were similar expectations that arch-rivals Dublin and Kerry were in pole position to face each other in the football championship showdown.

But the knock-out stages of both title races have proven a breath of fresh air in terms of changing the pecking order. Cork – probably the fastest team to ever grace a hurling field – ended Limerick’s ‘drive for five’, with Clare producing a defiant second-half display to halt a bad run of championship results against Kilkenny in the other semi-final.

The chase for Sam has been even more unpredictable. Who would have thought that when Galway and Armagh fought out a draw in the group qualifiers at Markievicz Park in mid-June that the two counties would go on to set up a first ever All-Ireland final between them. And there is no fluke about either team getting to Gaelic football’s biggest occasion.

Armagh were big outsiders Kerry at Croke Park last Saturday and when they fell five points behind after Paul Murphy’s goal everything appeared to be going to script. Kieran McGeeney’s team, however, have graduated from the school of hard knocks and through sheer force of will and an opportunist Barry McCambridge green flag, they turned the game around to force extra-time.

Again, substitute Stefan Campbell was a key influence – just like he was in their comeback against Galway – while the likes of Conor Turbitt and the strong finishing Ryan O’Neill also came up with big scores. Armagh were the more positive team in extra-time and fully deserved to record a first ever championship victory over the Kingdom.

All along, we had a sense that Kerry were being over-rated. True, they making poor opposition look worse on their road to the semi-final, but they hadn’t been really tested while David Clifford’s struggles to come anywhere near his top form continued against Armagh.

Champions Dublin didn’t even make the last four. They too were five points up against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final, but the Connacht champions never blinked with substitutes Johnny Heaney and Tomo Culhane landing late points to achieve a momentous win.

Pictured: Galway’s Robert Finnerty is challenged by Caolan McColgan of Donegal during Sunday’s All-Ireland senior football semi-final at Croke Park.  Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile.