Reserves may help to crown Kingdom

The irony of Sunday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football final is that Kerry, having geared themselves up for the northern challenge, face instead more mercurial opponents.

The slick routines of Connacht champions Mayo may have become clogged in the semi-final matches with Fermanagh, but their displays against Tyrone and Galway are the team's calling card.

Sunday will tell whether Mayo peaked in the quarter-finals, but the evidence is that their momentum was slowed against Fermanagh whereas, in the other semi-final, Kerry gave the summer's most convincing account of themselves.

This divergence, unless corrected, is a significant advantage to Kerry because, otherwise, it's hard to see major imbalances in the contest.

When Jack O'Connor took over he set about fire-proofing Kerry for future encounters with the Armaghs and Tyrones of the world.

In so doing, he borrowed freely from both. Teams facing Kerry in the league were aware of - in the words of selector Johnny Culloty - the "added steel".

That physical edge to the play was one facet of the change; the blending together of a strong, fast and largely interchangeable defence was another.

The stepped-up work-rate of the forwards in defending from the top down added to the impression that Kerry had learned the lessons of recent years.

Even the appointment of Pat Flanagan, a trainer with an athletics background, and the newly relaxed state of media relations were reminiscent of the cutting-edge Ulster counties.

But now, instead of Tyrone or Armagh, Mayo await O'Connor's side. John Maughan's campaign has been more reminiscent of 1996 than 1997.

The team have come from nowhere, surprised fancied opponents with the quality of their football and have that uninhibited quality of a side that hasn't yet been haunted by failure.

But there the comparisons fade. This year's team have better forwards and a less formidable defence and centrefield. There has been great store set by the team being mentally different too.

After beating Fermanagh Trevor Mortimer was bullish: " I think today proves that this team is different to other Mayo teams. It has got the bottle and will finish the tight games."

This slightly ungenerous, albeit presumably unintended, reference to his predecessors of the 1990s overlooked one point: Mayo back then got to two finals. In other words, until the Sam Maguire's on the bus heading west, nothing's been proved.

To be fair to Mortimer, the signs have been positive.

Galway streaked into an early lead but were overhauled, and Tyrone eyeballed them with an equalising goal but were subdued a second time.

Mortimer and his brother Conor have been prominent in the improved attack but the conductor of this tuneful orchestration has been Ciarán McDonald.

There was excitement in the county last May at the prospect of the Crossmolina prodigal's return and the feeling that with the benefits of the training camp in the Catskills, the team would be a serious threat.

That confidence has been borne out and McDonald has been central to the whole adventure. There were, however, indications in the semi-final matches that with a man marker in tow, his influence could be restricted, and this won't have been lost on Kerry.

Eamon Fitzmaurice is unlikely to man-mark the opposition playmaker for the full 70 minutes and Aidan O'Mahony is believed to be a likely candidate to take up the challenge when a change is made.

Even with McDonald going well, it's possible to limit the damage and, despite his fine replay performance against Fermanagh, the match went down to the wire.

Colm Cooper dominates consideration of Kerry's attack. His ability to make space, score and create have been crucial to the team. But Dara Ó Cinnéide's dead-ball kicking and Declan O'Sullivan's versatility have also been important.

Selecting John Crowley ahead of Mike Frank Russell makes sense in one respect. Crowley has made little impact in matches when introduced as a replacement and his most memorable match in recent years was the NFL final when he scored two goals after starting.

Russell played well after coming on in the Derry semi-final and the calculation must be that he will do similarly well when called upon, as he probably will be, at an early enough stage.

Mayo's defence will be stretched by the variety of the Munster champions' attack and will need to snap out of the suicidally ponderous build-ups that caused some heart-stopping moments in the semi-final.

Conversely, Kerry's defence has at times been slow to settle and the Derry match was the first time they hit the ground running and took an early grip. Failing to concentrate from the throw-in would be disastrous tomorrow because if Mayo hit the tracks early they'll be hard to derail.

Hunger for success has been touted as a motivation and Mayo's long absence from the podium ticked off to their credit. But the team itself has only just arrived at this level, with only three starters surviving from the 1997 final.

On the other hand, half of the Kerry team have no senior medals, but a skipload of regrets and what-might-have-beens from the past three years.

That rolling motivation proved ultimately effective for Dublin a decade ago when they capped a similar sequence by winning the 1995 All-Ireland.

Another testament to O'Connor's management has been the way Kerry have kept going in the absence of Séamus Moynihan, their outstanding player up until his injury.

But, depending on what you believe, Moynihan is likely to contribute at some stage and that will be a major lift for the team.

Tomorrow they go into the final without Moynihan or Darragh Ó Sé, but, between injury, suspension and club commitments, they have had to cope without both for most of the year.

Kerry's defence is sharper than Tyrone's and no less tight than Fermanagh's and their attack this year has been better than either.

No one's beaten them since the regulation stages of the league and they've won everything they've contested. Their team has a strong bench and is adaptable, mobile and hard as nuts to put away. They have to be favourites.