The dentation of the Atty Hearty Cup could rest on how Keady and St Peter’s deal with their match ups.
Glenn Flannagan v James O’Hara
O’Hara is the top scorer in the Keady team and the joint top scorer in the entire Intermediate Championship. It’s highly likely that once the final is played out this weekend, he will be at the top of the hot shots charts on his own.
He has been leading the way for Keady, not only this season but for the past few years. He is deadly accurate from the dead ball and a threat from outside the arc as well, so St Peter’s will need to nullify his threat.
Glenn Flannagan didn’t play for the Lurgan side last year but returned as is their main marker at the back. He has shadowed the likes of Oisin Conaty already in the championship and picked up Anto Duffy the last day out before he went off injured.
Aaron Findon v Oisin Keenan
Both teams have size and physicality around the middle of the park and like to go long on their kickouts. The battle of Findon against Keenan will be absolutely crucial come Saturday evening.
Findon has been a real leader for St Peter’s for a long time now and remains one of the main strengths in their team. When they are under pressure, Jack Mulgrew has the comfort of launching a kickout down on top of him.
Keenan plays a similar role for Keady and forms a strong wall across the middle beside Marty Hughes and Conor Renaghan. As he demonstrated the last day out as well, Keenan can pop up with scores too.
Conor Corvan v Ruairi McDonald
Conor Corvan is Keady’s choice of their main man-marker and he’ll go toe-to-toe with Ruairi McDonald. The fact that Niall McConville is likely to be out injured makes the choice for John Toal a lot easier.
Corvan picked up St Paul’s dangerman Eoin McConville the last day out and shadowed him throughout the game. He’ll likely be detailed to do the exact same job on McDonald come Saturday evening.
McDonald hasn’t been scoring heavily for St Peter’s, but remains one of their best players. He has been playing as one of the three up, but did move out against the Ogs to great effect when they were under pressure.