Midfield should swing it for Young Irelands
Young Irelands, powered up front by Charlie Carter and the great DJ Carey, versus Dunnamaggin, powered from the back by the Hickey brothers current Kilkenny full-back Noel, former full-back Tom and the youngster Canice on the wing. So, a simple Young Irelands forwards versus Dunnamaggin backs contest then? Well, no, it's never that simple, is it?
Two of the five Hickey brothers face massive individual challenges. DJ and Charlie like to alternate between left wing and full-forward and if Noel and young Canice can stop that pair, or even retard their contribution, then Dunnamaggin will have gone a long way towards regaining the crown they won for the first time in 1997.
But as in all team games, the result could well hinge on other, less notable, shoulders. In their semi-final win over James Stephens, while DJ did contribute eight points from the eventual 17-point Gowran total, most of those were from placed balls, including the game-deciding injury-time crunch free from in front of the old stand.
The first two of those frees were won by corner-forward David Carter, who later contributed a second-half point from play. The other three forwards, Jack Carey, James Fitzgerald and Dick Carroll, also contributed with a point apiece along with impressive midfieldfer Ollie Carter. Good all-round balance then, though obviously when you have two multiple All-Stars up front, there is a reliance on DJ and Charlie.
What of Dunnamaggin? No doubt about it, with all those Hickeys about and given that Eamonn Kennedy, Kilkenny All-Ireland-winning centre-back and All-Star from just two years ago, is at centre-back, that defence is impressive (though they did concede 3-14 in last Saturday's semi-final replay against Fenians.
But what of the Dunnamaggin forwards? Have they got this far just on powerful defence? Well, not so fast. They don't have all the instantly recognisable names of their own defence, or of the Young Irelands attack, but they do have Ken O'Shea, a prolific goal-scorer at club and formerly at county level. And they have Paul Cahill, a talented centre-forward, Sean O'Neill, a rangy young point-scorer with no fear, and Colin Herity, scorer of 10 points last Saturday.
The Fenians replay apart, the Dunnamaggin defensive performances in the championship have been impressive, but if anything their forwards even more so: 3-13 in the first-round win over Erin's Own, 1-12 against high-flying Tullaroan next time out, 2-10 and 3-17 against Fenians.
Assuming DJ and Charlie do at least some damage it could well come down to defence, Young Irelands' defence. How well will Eoin Farrell cope with the goal threat of Ken O'Shea? Two goals in each of the Fenians encounters, the big man is on fire and won't be easily stopped. What about Tom Drennan on Paul Cahill? The Dunnamaggin centre-forward did a lot of damage against Fenians in the replay, finishing with 1-1, but Drennan is no pushover.
Tough one to call, but after all the foregoing analysis it could well be decided at midfield. Here, Young Irelands appear better equipped, Ollie Carter and James McDermott that bit more consistent than a variety of Dunnamaggin finishers.
Regardless, it should be a terrific contest. Be there.
