Paul Flynn's All-Ireland football final verdict

Sunday's novel pairing sees Galway in a second All-Ireland football final in three years, but it’s an entirely new experience for the Armagh players.

I remember my first in 2011 and it is an entirely different experience to any other final that may subsequently follow.

The hype surrounding your first time playing in the showpiece, and the nerves and excitement that go with that.

Inter-county teams are now well protected to keep away from external noise, but it’s next to impossible.

It’s the sheer emotion of it. It’s hard not to let it all seep in. In Dublin it was difficult to avoid, I can only imagine what it is like in Galway and Armagh.

It can be tiring too. You saw in the hurling final last weekend, some of the Cork and Clare players were gassed towards the end, and while some of that was definitely down to the intensity of the game, but some of that is the emotion, and that can wear you down a bit.

Looking to the respective sidelines on Sunday, Pádraic Joyce and Kieran McGeeney are iconic figures within their own counties.

They are legends within their counties, regardless of the outcome this weekend, though Sam Maguire success as a manager would really rubberstamp it.

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They have had some great battles with each other, too. In 2022, when Galway reached the final, they served up a classic, and there was a bit of needle too can bring further excitement.

It was a few long balls into the full-forward line that got Armagh back into that game when they were seven points down and got it