| Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Date: 9 July Throw-in: 17:30 BST |
| Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Foyle and the BBC Sport NI website; live text commentary and match report. |
Derry simply blew Clare away in the All-Ireland Football quarter-final two weeks ago but it’s safe to say that Rory Gallagher will be expecting a very different contest in Saturday’s intriguing last-four contest with Galway.
They were six points up as the match entered second-half injury and were full value for that and only poor goalkeeping from Conor Gleeson gave Armagh the most unlikely of lifelines which they ultimately couldn’t exploit in extra time and during the penalty shootout.
But goalkeepers have to be far more assured than Gleeson was under the high ball that day and Derry will surely test his mettle with a few long deliveries into the square early on, and indeed periodically during the contest, even if he does appear to have regained his composure during the initial stages on Saturday.
During the league game between the sides at Owenbeg in March when the rampant Tribesmen’s early goals blitz shocked the Oak Leafers, it was home keeper Odhran Lynch who was feeling the pressure as Galway targeted his kickout in ruthless fashion.
Whether Padraic Joyce feels that is an avenue his side should go down again remains to be seen.
In the Ulster Championship, and particularly during the decider against Donegal, Lynch was left largely unhindered in being able to go short to unmarked team-mates and that didn’t prove a particularly fruitful call by Declan Bonner and his management team.
As ever, the match-ups are going to prove fascinating.
Derry’s best man marker, indeed maybe the country’s best shackler, Chrissy McKaigue looks an obvious choice to go on Galway’s star attacker Shane Walsh but the all-action Brendan Rogers has the attributes to do that job as well.
It wasn’t long ago that if an opposition defence subdued Walsh that Galway were in trouble but Joyce has been able to get the best out of Rob Finnerty, who hit 0-4 against Armagh, and Matthew Tierney while Damien Comer appears to be playing as well as ever and could find himself being shadowed by McKaigue.
At the other end of the field, Galway skipper Sean Kelly is being tipped to pick up star Derry forward Shane McGuigan, who notched 1-7 against the totally outgunned Banner men.
If Joyce does opt to give that job to Kelly, he could prove one of the game’s central characters as his ability to bring the ball out of defence has also been a key element of Galway’s playing method this summer.
The midfield battle is no longer the match-deciding element that it was in days of yore but its importance cannot be simply brushed away.
It will be interesting to see whether Rory Gallagher opts to ask Conor Glass to attempt to disrupt Cillian McDaid’s attacking instincts, sends the Glen man into a more traditional battle against fellow man mountain Paul Conroy or indeed gives him licence to attack in the way he did against Clare.
In terms of Derry’s running game and transition this year, Gareth McKinless and Ethan Doherty have been pivotal figures and Joyce will surely have devised plans aimed at reducing the duo’s effectiveness.
Corofin man Kieran Molloy is probably as well equipped as anyone to take on Doherty in the running stakes although if he is given that task, it could potentially reduce Galway’s own ability to turn defence into attack.
Whatever about the tactics of the game, most pundits do appear in agreement that Saturday’s game will be a close contest.
Whether Gleeson has regained his composure after a quickly frankly nightmare afternoon under the high ball against Armagh could prove crucial and in what is likely to prove a tight encounter, a goalkeeping error could make the difference.
