Refreshing semi-final line-up whets the appetite

The football championship has been a slow burner to say the least, but the All-Ireland football semi-final line-up provides a sense of freshness as we enter the business end of the competition.

The weekend’s quarter-final fare was, for the most part, a little dull, with Kerry’s turgid five point win over Derry in what felt like a lifeless Croke Park doing little to rouse much interest from the casual fan watching in on television or indeed those on Jones' Road.

The standout result of the weekend was Galway’s dethroning of Dublin in a dramatic finish on Saturday evening – a result that Padraic Joyce and co. treated like a final victory at the full-time whistle.

It’s refreshing to see Joyce and his management team celebrate in that manner, given so many people involved in the game now are almost afraid to express to much emotion and focus immediately again on the next game, the next task, the next hurdle.

Joyce’s celebrations, however, do reflect one very important point: beating the Dubs puts Galway right in the mix for outright honours. It’s a team with bundles of talent and the signs of life have been there for most of the year, even when things were going poorly.

The Tribesmen were unimpressive in the league and went about their business quietly, but the key point is that they did their business efficiently and retained their Division One status with minimal fuss. That, given the slew of injuries they had in their squad, was an achievement in itself.

It also appears as though they have timed their run to perfection. Think back only 10 weeks ago to a sunny Saturday in Markievicz Park – Galway were almost embarrassed walking out of there after nabbing an injury-time goal to edge past Sligo into a Connacht final. Yet, they collected the Nestor Cup in similar fashion a couple of weeks later with that late win over Mayo and it has snowballed since then for them. Might it be the case that their name is on the cup?

Getting out of tight spots is a hallmark all successful teams need to have and Galway have shown it in abundance this year.

There’s also a swagger about them. They went to Croke Park last weekend not hoping to win, but expecting it. You’d wonder how important tradition is sometimes – but in Padraic Joyce, they’ve someone who believes wholeheartedly that Galway’s rightful place is at the top of the footballing tree. He said as much himself when he took the reins that he felt the county should be up there competing for All-Irelands consistently. Now, here they are with a golden opportunity to land the big prize for the first time since 2001.

I feel several factors are stacked in Galway’s favour. They’ve got huge depth in their squad now, with several players capable of making a major impact from the bench depending on their team selection. Tomo Culhane came in to kick a point the last day, while Johnny Heaney has been one of their standout performers of the last number of years. Having his experience from the bench was a major boost down the closing straight.

Shane Walsh’s early departure with what appeared to be a minor injury will be a concern, but having him and Damien Comer on the pitch for as long as possible in the semi-final will be vital. If they can keep both players between the four white lines for 70 minutes, Galway will have a much better chance of advancing to the decider for the second time in three years.

Donegal represent a fascinating challenge in the semi-finals. There is just something about Jim McGuinness, a messianic quality that is hard to put your finger on. Whatever he touches in Donegal seems to turn to gold.

Their tally of 1-23 in the win over Louth shows that they too have an abundance of attacking talent, like Galway. But it’s going to be interesting to see how they plan to negate the influence of Messrs Comer and Walsh. Jim will have something up his sleeve, you’d imagine.

The winner of that game will bring massive momentum into the final. Both sides have had very good years up to now, winning their respective provincial titles, and Donegal nabbed the Division Two league crown as well. Another win would help keep the train moving forward.

On the other side of things, Armagh will have many neutrals on their side ahead of the meeting with Kerry. Kieran McGeeney’s side have had the misfortune of coming out the wrong side of several tight tussles over the last couple of years, including the four penalty shootout defeats in championship football. Even earlier this year, they lost the Division Two league final by a point to Donegal and the Ulster final on penalties to the same opposition.

Have Armagh been guilty of being too cautious in big games over recent years?

Many would make that argument, but it’s also about fine margins. Cutting loose and going for all-out attack on a regular basis obviously leaves you open at the other end too and potentially open to conceding big scores. It’s a difficult balance, but Armagh will hope they can strike the right one now as they try and make it to the decider.

Kerry remain a curious case. Where exactly are they? They’d have bitten your hand off for a five-point win over Derry last Sunday morning yet, how things unfolded, it’s hard to establish just how good Kerry were. It was a functional victory, and that’s all they needed to do, but you just feel they haven’t quite hit anywhere near top stride yet. Armagh will ask different questions.

It is hard to believe we are now at the semi-final stage of this championship. It hasn’t exactly flown by – the competition began back in early April – but it has just been ambling along as opposed to causing any major talking points or memorable moments week on week. This semi-final line-up, though, can deliver. All four sides possess real attacking talent and, crucially, all four are capable of playing a good brand of football.

The championship needs something to spark it into life, even at this late stage. These semi-final pairings have the potential to do just that.