Two tribes in battle to maintain momentum

CONNACHT SFC:RIGHT NOW it's fairly obvious the standard of football in Connacht is going through a rough patch. You would have to wonder if the standard has gone back, particularly on the basis of the games we've seen there so far this summer.

Tomorrow's final is the chance for these two teams to put that straight, and a good contest is what is needed. We can be sure Mayo and Galway will be very well prepared, play a no-frills brand of football, and bring great desire and enthusiasm, so I am at least expecting a good game.

The reality is both teams are undergoing something of a redesign - which they needed - under new managers.

When John O'Mahony arrived into Mayo last year, his first job was to start a new era of sorts after those crushing All-Ireland defeats to Kerry, particularly in 2006. There was no way that Mayo team could go on trying to recycle players, trying to find a winning formula when it just wasn't there.

O'Mahony has that rebuilding process well underway. He was always going to retain a number of the older, more experienced players such as David Heaney and James Nallen while bringing in as much youth as possible.

There's always an element of chance when you do that, but it was the only way forward.

Some of the omissions were more surprising than others, Ciarán McDonald being one of them. For years he was labelled as the superstar of the team, and more often than not I felt he never quite fulfilled that. Part of the problem for McDonald was that like any star forward he needed quality ball from midfield, and he didn't always get that. As a result he would often drift outfield and thereby lose some effectiveness.

O'Mahony's next task was to rebuild confidence, which had taken a battering in recent years.

Mayo had finally made the breakthrough at under-21, and that was the obvious starting point for new talent. It reminds me a little of Kerry's situation in 1975, when the likes of myself and Brendan Lynch were the so-called senior citizens of the team, and in came this rush of young talent off the under-21 team, the likes of Pat Spillane, Mike Sheehy, Páidí Ó Sé and Ger Power. They all had great pace and energy and enjoyed their football, and going in against a hotly tipped Cork team that year, they began to make history.

Mayo are at a similar stage, but only time will tell if their injection of youth will have a similar effect.

But it's easier to build confidence into a younger team than an older one, and O'Mahony also has a proven record in getting the best out of teams.

Galway too have seen a similar rush of youth from their under-21 teams of late, under their new manager Liam Sammon. The bottom line in modern football is that you're better off going with youth, and it doesn't surprise me at all to see both O'Mahony and Sammon adopt this approach.

Galway struggled a little to put away Leitrim in the semi-final, but just as with Cork in their Munster semi-final win over Limerick, I wouldn't read too much into that.

Galway certainly impressed me in the early stages of the league. I feel the Achilles heel of this team is their midfield, particularly with Joe Bergin still short of full fitness after injury.

As expected, Barry Cullinane has been called up in place of Mark Lydon, but there's no doubt Galway's main strength is their forward line. They probably have the best set of forwards in the country, led by Micheál Meehan, but their problem has been getting a good supply of ball.

Pádraic Joyce starts again at centre forward, but I would be a little worried he may not still have the legs for that position.

Joyce will do well only if the Galway midfield hold their own, because he can't afford to track back looking for possession.

I know Sammon quite well and he is an excellent coach, and the ball is constantly used in training.

Galway are capable of intelligent use of the ball, accurate passing with the foot and hand, and taking their scores, and they'll need to show all of that to win.

Mayo do have home advantage and will view this game as their chance to stand up and be counted. O'Mahony has unquestionable managerial skills, and it's only now that he's really putting his stamp on the team.

Alan Dillon returns to their attack and is a good addition, but Mayo will once again need to get the best out of Conor Mortimer. In many ways it marks a turning point for the team after the lows of the past year or two, and I expect to see a much improved performance overall from Mayo.

Overall though, I'm more impressed with the Galway forward line. Forwards win matches, and Galway have the better spread of those right now. They will ask big questions of Mayo, and may show up a couple of enduring weaknesses.

All that said, Mayo definitely won't want to go down the qualifier route, and a win here is so important for their confidence for the rest of the summer.

The truth is neither of these teams are being talked about as potential All-Ireland finalists, let alone winners, and I don't expect that to change tomorrow evening.