It’s a huge day for Granemore and Crossmaglen as they both want to get their hands on the Gerry Fegan Cup.
Cross haven’t got over the line since 2019 and have lost the two county finals to Maghery and Clann Eireann.
Granemore on the other hand will compete in their first ever decider and hope to create another bit of history.
Granemore Defence
Granemore’s match ups and defensive structure will be huge today if they are to have a chance of winning the championship.
After what Cross showed against Maghery, Niall McAleenan’s men will be keeping things tight during the opening exchanges.
It could be a cagey, low scoring opening to the game but that’s exactly what Granemore have to do.
They also have to get their match ups spot on and try to derail the threat of Cross’ deadly inside trio.
Michael King is likely to fall back into the full back line to pick up Cian McConville with Ross Finn on Jamie Clarke.
It’s hard to know where Rian O’Neill will spend most of this afternoon. But no matter where he is, he’ll be tracked.
Kieran Doyle and Karl McQuaid are two great options, but it could be Doyle that gets handed the task.
Centerfield clashes
If and when O’Neill moves further out the field, Doyle will go with him and try to offer a counter-attacking option for Granemore.
Brendan Boylan and Stephen Morris will slug it out in the middle of the field. Both players are hugely important for their sides.
Who picks up Ronan Fitzpatrick is another question for Granemore to answer and another important one.
Pete Carr may play around the middle and pick up Fitzpatrick, but could pass him on once he heads into a more attacking area.
Crossmaglen Match Ups
Depending on how Granemore line out, there may not be that many one-on-one battles for Cross to be concerned with.
Jason O’Neill is the main attacking threat in the Granemore forward line and will have to be shut down.
O’Neill has hit 0-14 across three championship games so Cross will likely put their best man-marker, James Morgan, on him.
If Granemore line out with their usually two-man full forward line, then Caolan Dillon will go on Louis Hughes with Thomas Duffy on Ryan Rafferty.
They’re half forward line may drop back into their defensive shape, leaving Cross with a couple of spare bodies in their defence.
With Paudie Hollywood dropping deep, it offers Cross the chance to once again give Aaron Kernan a free role.
