Martin Carney's analysis

The beauty of Galway's midfield partnership is the contrast of styles between Kevin Walsh and Michael Donnellan. With Walsh they get a tremendous holding operation and he is also a dream for a forward line in that he delivers quickly and simply and wastes very little ball. Walsh may lack a little bit of pace but he certainly compensates for that with his experience and his quality distribution. He is also lasting 70 minutes now for the first time in a long while; a great boost to Galway because in the past he was always an injury worry.

Donnellan is a player with everything. He has pace and work-rate and brings great exuberance and energy to Galway's game. I don't know if there is any finer striker of the ball in football. He is also the perfect foil for Walsh in that he roams and goes everywhere. Sometimes he does too much work in the back third of the field when he should be starting attacks a little further forward.

Meath also have two contrasting players in Nigel Crawford and John McDermott but they both have tremendous aggression in going for the ball, and I mean that in the positive sense. McDermott is a great fielder of the ball but he is also one of the most competitive players around, and would put his body where other players might stand back. Much of the Meath success this summer has been founded on his comeback, and he has been improving with every game. In the early games he was slow to get into his stride but as the summer progressed we have found him getting closer and closer to the top of his game.

Crawford has been a lot more prominent this year than in the past. He was outstanding against Westmeath in the quarter-final and so much of Kerry's downfall had to do with the battle at midfield, which they clearly lost due to Crawford's work-rate combined with that of McDermott. He is also managing to get forward more this year for scores.

It's hard to know who is going to win this battle. Donnellan, though, looks far happier now at midfield and by placing him there I feel he is better able to use the full range of talents that he has. He kept probing against Derry although things weren't going so well, and the controversy that came to a head earlier in the year is now forgotten. The qualifier system has also allowed Galway to regroup and refocus which in previous years they wouldn't have been able to do. But part of this battle will depend on who wins between the Galway half-back line and the Meath half-forward line, because that will also have a key influence on midfield.