Galway or Armagh ready to land their moonshot

Rewind the clock a year, nine months, six months, three months, even six weeks – no one could have seen this coming.

Yet within the bubbles that county players and teams exist in, the Galway and Armagh players and managers would have believed. Believed that they had it in them. That on their day they could take anyone and that the dream they had inside them could still come through.

They dare not vocalise them though. Even their nearest and dearest would tilt their heads and look at them as if to say, 'ah son, that's sweet’, in the same manner we would respond to our child as they confidently declare their future as an astronaut.

Setting aside the very real prospect of a draw, one of these teams is going to land their moonshot.

In earning their ticket for the big day, both teams have demonstrated remarkable resilience. Years of setbacks, near misses and injuries, of doubts and criticism - both internal and external - have been endured.

For me it is that back story of resilience, of stoicism, that makes this final one of the most enticing in years.

The wave of excitement that is coming out of both counties is dam-busting. All those doubts, the pent-up dreams from years of hurt have been released by those remarkable quarter-final and semi-final wins.

The wave of excitement released will crash down Clonliffe and Jones Road and out into our Mecca - Croke Park on All-Ireland final day. Willy Wonka never printed more valuable tickets, but those tickets, be it box or premium, Hogan or Hill, even the Árd Comhairle itself, are two-a-penny compared to a seat in the dressing rooms underneath those famous Hogan Stand steps.

Galway, and particularly, Armagh have demonstrated unwavering 'stickability' to get their hands on those tickets.

Take