Dunloy face tough tactical task

All-Ireland club hurling final: Croke Park is expecting around 30,000 at this afternoon's AIB All-Ireland club finals.

The figure is up on previously downbeat forecasts, based on the tiny catchment of all the competing parishes, which convinced the stadium authorities to open only the Hogan Stand (with the Canal End on standby for any surplus).

First up is the hurling final in which Dunloy appear for the fourth year in the past 10. Rattling around in their heads are the twin concerns that, firstly, the bulk of the current panel will never have a better chance of lifting the All-Ireland and, secondly, the nagging sense of déjà vu.

Negative experience hasn't always been a great asset for teams in the club championship. Fourteen years ago Clann na nGael turned up for a fourth successive final and left Croke Park still without the prize. "They're so used to losing they're good at it," was one cruel summary of the Roscommon club's crushing disappointment. Wexford's Rathnure have reached five finals without taking anything but a hollow feeling home.

But positive experience has been hard to come by over the past decade. There have been multiple winners - Birr with four, Athenry with three, Sarsfields of Galway with two - accounting for all but two All-Irelands in the past 11 years and the elite hasn't been easy to join.

Dunloy have had injuries to distract them in the run-up to this year's final. Gary O'Kane and Liam Richmond are named as starting but for both to play a full part will count as one of the great advances in medical science. There were already reservations about O'Kane's lack of mobility given Andy Comerford's fate at the hands of Ben O'Connor in the Thurles semi-final, particularly given that the new Croke Park, if not Semple Stadium, is a lot wider since reconstruction.

This afternoon's match promises a good clash of styles with the Cork side's proudly heretical running game against the more traditional strengths of the Ulster champions.

Dunloy could switch O'Kane and put someone quicker on O'Connor but the local view seems to be that the veteran, if he plays, will line out at centre back with a zonal defence assigning a tracking runner to pick up O'Connor when he drops deep for ball with which to launch his solos.

Former Antrim manager Jim Nelson, who guided the county to the 1989 All-Ireland final in which a 19-year-old O'Kane marked Nicky English as Tipperary ran rampant, says precautions will have to start earlier.

"Personally I think you have to stop the flow," he says. "Dunloy can't afford to sit around and wait for the break. The half forwards and centrefield will have to read everything right to prevent those moves getting started."

It's not all apprehension for the northerners. Even if Richmond isn't at his best - and that is a considerable loss, Gregory O'Kane and Alistair Elliott are very experienced and in great form up front - Elliott, according to Nelson is "playing the best hurling of his career".

With a decent supply to work off, they can get scores for the team, which has more natural goal scorers than the Cork champions possess.

If they can avoid the calamitous start that befell them last year, Dunloy will gain confidence quickly and no one doubts their appetite for a competitive match.

The big problem is that Newtownshandrum aren't a one-man team for all the fireworks that Ben O'Connor ignited in the semi-finals. He may be the cutting edge but the team's game is built around a general ability to inter-play and move. His twin Jerry at centrefield is similarly jet heeled and will exploit any over-commitment to defence by his opponents.

There will be windows of opportunity for Dunloy, as Newtownshandrum tend to go on the blink for periods, but the tactical difficulty at the heart of the challenge - the Munster side's pace and use of space - looks likely to eclipse the possibility of a result that few outside Cork would begrudge.

Entry will be on the Hogan Stand side on Jones's Road and cash will be taken at the turnstiles.