Anthony Daly: Gunners may have peaked but Sars will need something special 

They are good enough to win it but are they as good as they were? Whether Ballygunner want to hear this or not, this team is past their prime. They have to be with their age profile. They have been outstanding but the years are creeping up on some of their main men, especially Philip Mahony, Stephen O’Keeffe and Barry Coughlan.

They found a way to beat Doon but if that goal chance from Jack Ryan had gone in early in the second half, I don’t think they would have won.

Still it has been hard to get a full read on their two games to date. Everyone expected Ballygunner to beat Doon handy after Doon had celebrated so hard when winning a first Limerick title seven days earlier, but I knew Doon would be ready for the Gunners. And they nearly took them down.

Ballygunner were very convincing – when they needed to be – the last day but Loughmore-Castleiney were poor. In mitigation, they were a reduced force when Noel and Brian McGrath were sick. The word afterwards was that Noel was throwing up on the way into the ground. What impact did that have on the rest of the group? You saw too how well Loughmore bounced back in the football semi-final against Eire Óg last week.

Ballygunner still did what they had to do, and got back to where they expect to be. They have the sytem off to perfection now too, in that they can win Waterford in third gear and then start building it up to fourth and fifth for Munster and the All-Ireland.

I expect them to win again but I think this Sars team is better than many people expect. I’m not sure what shape the pitch in Thurles will be in but if the sod is as good as we hope, that will suit Sars, especially their top-of-the-ground players like Aaron Myers, Cian Darcy and Jack O’Connor, who all have savage pace.

Losing the county final is long gone out of Sars’ system. That win against Feakle seems to have infused the group with the belief that they can push on. Can they win? It will take something special, and for Ballygunner to be off the pace, but Sars will feel they have a chance.

Last year’s display against the Gunners was an abomination, losing by 17, and only scoring 0-9. I don’t see that reoccuring but can Sars stay in Ballygunner’s slipstream for long enough to give themselves a chance to maybe nick it? The longer they stay in this match, the more their belief and confidence will grow. We saw how they took off late on against Feakle when they hit the last eight scores.

Sars went very traditional against Feakle but they’ll need more of a plan here. They can’t leave Pauric Mahony unattended and let him shoot from the middle of the park. He has to be man-marked, maybe by Brian Murphy. If Sars do that, then I’d expect them to bring their half-forward line deep, especially their two wing-forwards and then let Cillian Roche sit back in the pocket at centre-back to try and cut off the space inside for Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald.

Sars will have to try and take them on too around the middle because Paddy Leavy and Conor Sheahan have been extremely important to this team, with both outstanding in their last two matches.

The Gunners do a lot of their damage in scoring bursts, which Sars will be mindful of. Do Sars have enough pace in their defence for Dessie and Patrick Fitz? I don’t think so. Sars will get a lot closer than they managed last year but I don’t see them bridging the gap by enough.

There is an intriguing Leinster final in Croke Park this evening, which I’m really looking forward to. A year ago, Na Fianna were unlucky not to beat O’Loughlin Gaels in the final, losing by one point. I expect them to make up for that disappointment but it’s going to be a right battle against a young and vibrant Kilcormac-Killoughey side.

Guys like Adam Screeney and Charlie Mitchel should be in their element in Croke Park. But those wide spaces are also tailor made for Seán and Colin Currie, AJ Murphy, Ciarán Stacey and Donal Burke.

The Dublin side look really solid at the back. Conor McHugh has been steady at number 3. KK’s two late goals against Castletown-Geoghegan bailed them out and while Screeney and James Gorman were brilliant for both strikes, it was the kind of defending I don’t expect to see from McHugh and Liam Rushe. This is a hard game to call but last year’s experience should stand to Na Fianna.

There is another enticing match in Ulster tomorrow when Slaughteil take on Portaferry. Slaughtneil will be favourites after such an epic win against Cushendall but it’s easy to forget that Neil McManus also needed a late goal to take their Ulster semi-final against Portaferry last year to extra-time.

Portaferry ran out of gas in extra-time but I’m sure they have addressed that issue. The only drawback for Portaferry is that it’s six weeks since they beat Ballygalget in the Down final. No matter how many challenge games they’ve played, there’s no way they can replicate what Slaugthneil went through to beat Cushendall. Slaughtneil to win.

Finally, there are two more exciting provincial intermediate finals over the weekend, with Cashel meeting Watergrasshill in Munster, and Lisdowney facing off against Rathnure in Leinster. Five huge games. The three senior matches are on live TV, but I’ll stream the other two.

It will be a challenge to watch all five, but I’ll certainly give it a go.