Athenry have the know-how

Club Championship/All-Ireland Finals: This is the sort of title fight old champions have to be wary of facing. Athenry are after a record fourth All-Ireland club title. They did take a beating two years ago against Birr in the semi-finals, but the team has regenerated since.

The trouble is that the veterans, such as Brian Feeney, Joe Rabbitte and Eugene Cloonan, have all been hugely influential in the progress made this year and most accept that this is the final call for the team, the last time a few of those names will be listed in a Croke Park programme.

In the other corner sit James Stephens. They too rely on experienced players like Philip Larkin, Brian McEvoy and Peter Barry, but otherwise they have more pace than Toomevara, which could be crucial on a big pitch, and in Eoin Larkin a young player who has done most of their scoring with lively support from Eoin and David McCormack.

Throw in the loss of Athenry full back Diarmuid Cloonan and it's easy to construct a theory of the new sweeping away the old. But . . . experience is a funny thing in these championships.

Only winning experience counts. In the football final, Ballina have to cope with memories of having thrown away a final six years ago. Teams don't generally recover from that.

The sort of experience however that leads to a club chasing a place in the record books is positive. Birr bounced back from their crisis, brought about coincidentally by Athenry in 2000, to win the All-Ireland two years later, before adding a fourth in 2003.

Before the 2002 final against Clarinbridge, there was talk that the Galway side were the new wave, but they crashed ignominiously in Thurles, their arriviste pretensions waved aside by Birr.

That's the other scenario. If James Stephens struggle to make an impact on experienced opponents, Athenry will know how to close out the final. The club has a fine record in finals, only beaten in pre-history - 1988, albeit a match in which Feeney, Rabbitte and Paul Hardiman played.

Which brings us to Hardiman. A hugely respected figure, he had been content to play a replacement's role up until now, but instead is expected to fill in for the suspended Diarmuid Cloonan. Despite Feeney's intercounty experience at full back, the feeling is that he has been playing so well at centre back in the team's most impressive line that a switch is too risky.

The reservation about this configuration is that Eoin Larkin's pace will be brought to bear on the line of least resistance. James Stephens rely on their centre forward for scores to the extent that he has to be got into the rhythm as quickly as possible and this involves switching into full forward.

If Feeney curbs his man's input, Larkin will go to work on Hardiman, who for all his reliability isn't that experienced on the edge of the square - allowing for a challenge or two in the lead-up to the final.

Another potential difficulty for Athenry is the role of Rabbitte. His prodigious ball-winning capacity is a foundation stone of the club's forward game. But this afternoon he faces a player who specialises in defusing such threats.

Peter Barry's intercounty future at centre back might be up for review at some stage soon, but his potential to dominate a club final at wing back is unarguable.

If that comes to pass, where will Michael Crimmins direct his puck-outs? And where will Eugene Cloonan get a supply of either ball or frees?

That's the malign scenario for Athenry, but the benign projection is marginally more appealing.

That entails the Athenry half backs playing up to form and establishing the platform for more varied attacks than simply picking out Rabbitte.

The Galway club does have pace on the wings and James Stephens have known rocky defensive moments in a couple of their matches to date.

Cloonan is the key figure on the team, routinely returning double-digit totals while David Donohue does enough to distract defensive attention from the captain.

Athenry's know-how and ability to press home advantage when it arises is vital and proven on big occasions. Expect it to be so for one more time.

JAMES STEPHENS: F Cantwell; D Cody, M Phelan, D Grogan; J Tyrrell, P Larkin, P Barry; P O'Brien, B McEvoy; J Murphy, E Larkin, G Whelan; E McCormack, R Hayes, D McCormack.

ATHENRY: To be announced.