Brendan Cummins goes for the Lilywhites to gain revenge for 98 Rarely can an All-Ireland Football semi-final have had such an interesting background as Sunday's Galway/Kildare showdown. Memories of their 1998 Final clash are still quite vivid and the Lilywhites will go into the game with ample motivation. Most of the 1998 players will be renewing acquaintances although some of the biggest names from that game, Ja Fallon, Kevin Walsh and Tomas Mannion of Galway, Declan Kerrigan and Niall Buckley of Kildare, will be notable absentees. We will analyse the respective effects of their absences further down the line...suffice to say that Fallon was the key figure in Galway's win two years ago. I was among those who thought that Kildare would take home the Sam Maguire Cup in 1998...and there was not much evidence at half-time to suggest otherwise. Kildare were leading by a goal and appeared to be in control. And then it all came right for John O Mahony's men. They played some delightful football after the break and scored 1-4 without reply in the first nine minutes before going on to a comfortable four point win. The victory was hailed by the traditionalists as Galway relied more on long accurate kicking in contrast to Kildare's short passing. However, both teams made early exits from the 1999 championship thus underlining how difficult it is to maintain appetites at the highest level...the subsequent performances of their 1999 conquerors, Mayo and Offaly, did little to enhance the reputations of either Galway or Kildare but they have emerged from their respective provinces again and both teams appear to have the potential to go on to All-Ireland glory. Only one can fulfil that potential. GALWAY v KILDARE There are a lot of nuetrals who believe that Kildare deserve to win this year's All-Ireland title...it's an understandable viewpoint but it's simply not true. The team that puts away the scores on the big day is the only team that deserves to win the Sam Maguire Cup and it will not necessarily be the team that has had the most difficult campaign. Remember Meath in 1991? The final was their tenth game of the campaign but it was Down's day. Kildare have had a difficult path to Sunday's semi-final showdown...two games against both Dublin and Offaly and a tricky assignment in the opener against Louth. None of their five games were easy...they had to come from behind twice against Dublin and once against Offaly and although they enjoyed abundant possession against Louth, they lived dangerously until a late goal from a penalty eventually killed off the Wee County's challenge. In stark contrast, Galway strolled through their provincial campaign with facile wins over New York, Sligo and Leitrim. Will Galway's comparative freshness give them an advantage or will the tougher games stand to Kildare? Will it be like the hurling quarter-final when Galway's lack of a test turned out to be of no disadvantage against a Tipperary team that had played three intense games? And what of Kildare's experience against a Dublin team that had enjoyed the easiest passage ever to a Leinster final? No definite conclusions can be drawn from the respective degrees of ease or difficulties which the teams have experienced thus far...suffice to say that Kildare have had to expend a far greater amount of both physical and mental energy in reaching this stage. In this regard, there are similarities with the 1998 meeting of the teams. Kildare, who eventually bowed out of the 1997 championship after three pulsating games against Meath, came back twelve months later to beat Dublin in a replay and to beat Meath in the Leinster final. They then went on to beat Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first time that a team had ever beaten Dublin, Meath and Kerry in the same championship. And adding to the achievement was the fact that the three teams had won the Sam Maguire Cup in the three previous years. By beating Meath, they became Leinster champions for the first time since 1956! This helps to put into perspective the hype that surrounded their appearance in the All-Ireland final...it was inevitable and no team coming from a similar background could have avoided it. Many observers believe that the hype proved their undoing...it certainly contributed but it was not the main reason...nor was it among the top three causes of their eventual disappointment. The first was the reshuffle in defence necessitated by Ronan Quinn's absence through injury. John Finn had to be deployed at full back with Sos Dowling going to wing back where he was in direct opposition to Galway's fastest man...Michael Donnellan. A selection mistake. Glen Ryan was struggling to recover from injury and although he did well in the opening half, he was left behind by Ja Fallon in the second half. The injuries to Quinn and Ryan were crucial. And then there was the lack of impact by Niall Buckley at centre field where Kevin Walsh and Sean O Domhnaill held the edge. More importantly, Galway had the players to grab the initiative at the start of the second half and Padraig Joyce benefited enormously from Kildare's patched-up defence. With Fallon, Tomas Mannion and Kevin Walsh the most notable absentees from the Galway team, it remains to be seen how John O Mahony will cope with their absence in what is bound to be a high pressure situation. They were not missed during the Connacht campaign and, significantly, their replacements have not been adequately tested. In truth, Galway have emerged from one of the poorest Connacht Championships of recent times. It wasn't their fault that the standard of opposition was so disappointing. They had some difficulty in motivating themselves for the game against New York and, at times, it showed. The main talking points were the sending off of Sean Og de Paor and the injury sustained by captain Padraig Joyce. A ten point win over the Exiles was mildly satisfying although the manner in which the New York goal was conceded caused some furrows on John O Mahony's brow. New York had adopted an over-physical approach but they were probably happy to have kept their margin of defeat down to ten points. The trip to Markievicz Park for the provincial semi-final showdown with Sligo was fraught with danger. In recent years, Sligo had given Galway several tough examinations and there were many who believed that they would avenge the previous year's replay defeat. Galway had lost Ja Fallon since the New York game while Sligo's win over Mayo signalled their arrival as serious contenders. Seldom can pre-match perceptions have been so wide of the mark. It was 0-14 to 0-0 at half-time...it was 0-22 to 0-4 at full-time and Galway were worth every one of their eighteen points winning margin. Michael Donnellan was back to his 1998 form...Jason Killeen had a fine game at centre half back while others to shine in an awesome overall display were Gary Fahy, Sean Og de Paor and Declan Meehan. Leitrim had caused a major shock by beating Roscommon and their record against Galway in the 1990's hadn't been all bad. But their pre-match target was probably to put up a better show than Sligo had done in the semi-final. This they achieved, but they were still no match for the favourites who never had to move out of first gear. Paul Clancy showed up well while Jason Killeen continued to impress. And the understanding between Padraig Joyce and Derek Savage was far too much for the Leitrim defence. Like Killeen, Joe Bergin is a significant discovery since '98 but the overall view of the campaign to date is that the team has not been tested. Kildare's first championship outing was against Louth, a team that had inflicted two of their most embarrassing defeats...in 1991 and 1994 and for a time it looked as if 2000 would also leave the Lilywhites with extremely red faces. It was all square with only seven minutes remaining and the self-inflicted pressure was beginning to tell on the red-hot favourites. John Finn, who had excelled throughout, went on a run through the heart of the Louth defence only to be brought down for a penalty which Pauric Graven calmly tucked away. Was it a penalty? Just about. The goal separated the teams when Brian Crowe blew the full-time whistle but Kildare supporters, ever the optimists, could not have been too happy about the team's long-term prospects. A total of 18 wides had been registered by the winners compared with only two for Louth. It was worrying that when Kildare went three points clear after half-time, six of the next seven points were scored by Louth who led by two points with only ten minutes remaining. The wiser elements among Kildare supporters suggested that it was just as well to get all the wild shooting out of their system in the first round! There was a lot at stake in the semi-final against Offaly. Apart from the intense traditional rivalry, there was the near-humiliating defeat by the Faithfuls twelve months previous when the Lilys were the reigning Leinster champions. And Offaly had eliminated Meath at the first hurdle in this year's championship. It was a game that Kildare should have won but they left themselves vulnerable by again squandering several match-winning chances and Offaly earned a second chance with a last minute goal from substitute Donie Ryan. Micko's men scored only one point, a Graven free, in the closing twenty-three minutes and, in the process, lost a commanding five point lead. Goalie Christy Byrne made the mistake that brought Offaly back into contention when he had a rush of blood to the head in the 49th minute and misdirected a short pass to a colleague who had Offaly players in close attendance. Vinny Claffey pointed the subsequent free to leave only four points between the teams. It was not a good day for Kildare, who had Dale Hynan struggling to make an impression at full forward...he wasn't the only forward to struggle but the feeling was that it would require only a little extra sharpness to overcome Offaly in the replay. There was little evidence of increased sharpness in the defence which was breached for two Offaly goals in the first twenty minutes of the second game as the Faithfuls pounced into a six point lead. But that was as good as it got for them as Kildare took control and three unanswered points in the five-minute spell before the break proved crucial. The pattern continued after half-time as the Lilys added another nine points without reply to establish a six point lead. It was impressive stuff and although the margin of victory was 'only' three points, it was a convincing win. The re-shuffled attack in which Padraig Brennan and Ronan Sweeney replaced Graven and Hynan worked to great effect and David Hughes looked the part when his introduction for the injured John Finn helped in no small way to inspire his team's successful comeback. And a total of 0-17 was an appropriate response from a heavily criticised attack. Kildare's record against Dublin was far from impressive but they had broken something of a hoodoo with their 1998 replay victory over their neighbours. Dublin had not been tested in their games against Wexford and Westmeath. It was all-square at half-time after Dublin had recovered from a slow start and the general belief was that they had taken control of the game and would go on to win it. The view was re-inforced early in the second half when they went three points ahead but Kildare stuck to their task and eventually went ahead with only two minutes remaining. Colin Moran grabbed a late equaliser for Dublin as Kildare's marathon Leinster campaign took another twist. In the build-up to the replay, much of the analysis focused on the absence of a reliable free-taker on the Dublin team and about the Dubs now having the psychological advantage. And at half-time it looked as if all the attention on Dublin was justified. They had played superbly in the twenty minute period before the break and were well worth their six-point interval lead. Kildare had been playing as badly as they have ever done and some of their players were committing the worst crime of all...they weren't going for the ball! What happened in the first two minutes of the second-half will go down in Leinster Championship folklore...Dublin, who had spent much longer in the dressing rooms than their opponents, were caught cold as Dermot Earley and Tadgh Fennin scored the goals that levelled the match. Dublin still had every chance but such was the turnaround in terms of momentum that Tommy Carr's team could only manage one point for the entire second half while Kildare added 2-6! It was a fine second half performance by the Lilywhites for whom Ken Doyle, Willie McCreery, Dermot Earley, and the mentors, starred. Kildare are entitled to a high rating on account of their tension-laden Leinster campaign. They have added character since their '98 clash with Galway, whose prospects have to be reduced by the absence of Ja Fallon. I thought Kildare would struggle this year without Declan Kerrigan but they have overcome his absence with increased graft and they really are a formidable force. They have scored 0-14, 0-17 and 2-11 in their last three games and the collective self-belief of their forwards will have grown as a result. Important! The key could lie in the battle between the Galway forwards and the Kildare backs who appear to be better equipped than they were in September '98. In a game which promises to be close and exciting, a seemingly insignificant factor could swing it one way or the other...Galway have not played in Croke Park since their memorable All-Ireland victory...Kildare have played there on five occasions this Summer where the absence of the Hogan Stand makes a considerable difference. It is a different place these days! The Lilywhites are a big, strong, fit team who will almost certainly be better able to cope with the hype than they were two years ago. KILDARE Tweet

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