| Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Date: Sunday, 24 July Throw-in: 15:30 BST |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Foyle and the BBC Sport website from 15:02 BST; live text commentary and match report on BBC Sport website |
In sport, years-long quests for a return to the top often provide the most compelling storylines.
It was hard not to think about it last Sunday while watching Rory McIlroy’s agony at the Open as another major championship slipped through his grasp.
There was a time, of course, when McIlroy was sweeping up golf’s biggest titles in resounding fashion. Between 2011 and 2014, he won four of them, two of which he claimed by a whopping eight shots. .
After McIlroy won back-to-back majors at the 2014 Open and PGA Championships, he seemed primed to become the sport’s dominant force in majors.
Eight years later, he’s still waiting for his fifth.
It’s been a torturous eight-year wait for the Kerry senior footballers, too. Like McIlroy, Kerry were flying in 2014. They beat Donegal in the All-Ireland Football Final to claim their first Sam Maguire in five years. It was a happy Kingdom once again.
A sustained spell at the summit appeared likely after watching Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice outwit Jim McGuinness by mirroring the Donegal manager’s counter-attacking system. Football, it seemed, was braced for the newest Kerry dynasty as golf readied itself for McIlroy-mania.
False dawns in both arenas. While McIlroy watched the likes of Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, and more recently Cameron Smith, beat him to golf’s most coveted trophies, Dublin became football’s all-conquering juggernaut.
For Kerry footballers, the weight of expectation must be suffocating at times. Eight years is a long time in most sporting contexts. In a footballing heartland like Kerry, it’s tantamount to an eternity.
Yes, Galway have waited 21 years for another shot at Sam, but in the near-decade since co-captains Kieran O’Leary and Fionn Fitzgerald ascended the Hogan Stand steps to lift Kerry’s last Sam Maguire, theirs has been a tale of repeated heartache on the biggest stage.
In the 2015 All-Ireland final, they under-performed and relinquished their title to Dublin. A year later, the Kingdom threw everything at the same opponent only to be sunk by late Eoghan O’Gara and Diarmuid Connolly scores in a semi-final classic.
Then came 2019, and the ultimate dagger: a front-row seat to Dublin completing an unprecedented five-in-a-row.
Last year, Mayo’s shock semi-final defeat of the Dubs appeared to open the door, only for Tyrone to slam it shut with a stunning win after extra-time in the second last-four game. Having been overwhelming favourites, it was another humbling trip to headquarters for the championship’s most decorated county.
That Tyrone game proved to be the last of Peter Keane’s three-year reign as the Kerry county board turned to Jack O’Connor for the third time.
That decision has so far proved a masterstroke. O’Connor, who led the Kingdom to three All-Ireland titles (2004, 2006 and 2009) in his two previous spells, has presided expertly over the county’s latest bid for supremacy.
Driven to extinguish last year’s disappointment, they have surged back to the precipice of the ultimate prize. The National League was conquered – and sealed with a 15-point shellacking of Mayo before a stress-free saunter to an 83rd Munster title.
Then in the All-Ireland quarter-final, Kerry used the subdued atmosphere that followed the heart-stopping drama of Galway’s penalty shootout win over Armagh to their advantage to ease past Mayo once more with David Clifford’s 1-3 leading the way in an eight-point success.
As expected, Dublin – even without the dynamic Con O’Callaghan – provided the stiffest test of Kerry’s championship pedigree in the semi-final a fortnight ago, with Seanie O’Shea’s last-gasp free-taking heroics driving the green and gold over the line in a hair-raising finale.
O’Shea’s nerveless kick between the Hill 16 end posts delivered a first championship win over the mighty Dubs since 2009 (during O’Connor’s second stint in charge), prompting one to wonder if the stars were aligning.
Galway may have something to say about, though. While Kerry have been exiled from the promised land for eight years, Galway have had their noses pressed up against the glass since they won the last of their nine titles in 2001.
The Kingdom go into Sunday’s game as favourites, but in Padraic Joyce Galway have a man who knows how to deliver on All-Ireland Final day, his 10-point haul supercharging the Tribesmen’s 2001 triumph over Meath.
From the sideline to the field, it is widely accepted that Galway’s chances could hinge on their captain Sean Kelly’s ability to quell the otherworldly talent that is Kerry golden boy David Clifford.
The Fossa sharpshooter put 1-9 past Mayo and Dublin but Kelly held Clifford scoreless from play in February’s Sigerson Cup decider as NUIG beat UL on a horrible Carlow winter’s night.
At the other end of the field, Kerry full-back Jason Foley – outstanding in Kerry’s run to the final – will almost certainly be detailed to pick up Damien Comer, whose 2-2 from play shattered Derry’s All-Ireland dreams.
As with any showpiece, there are fascinating match-ups across the field, but Sam’s destiny will likely be shaped just as much by how the teams handle the enormity of the occasion.
It is, after all, a new experience for this Galway team. Kerry were in the final as recently as 2019 and have won five of the 11 deciders they have contested since Galway’s last final appearance.
But whether or not the Kingdom’s experiences of both ecstasy and agony in recent championship finales stands to them remains to be seen.
