Like most Gaelic football goalkeepers John O'Leary is amused when the last line of defence is excluded from team equations and never afforded the same recognition as outfield players in pre-match assessments.

O'Leary insists that the performances of Kildare's Christy Byrne and Galway's Martin McNamara could be highly influential in Sunday week's All-Ireland final. "Most people don't look at goalkeepers as potential match winners. These are two very good 'keepers," said O'Leary.

A winner of three All-Star awards, two All-Ireland medals and seven Leinster titles, as well as being the first goalkeeper to captain Dublin to All-Ireland senior honours (1995), O'Leary, now a Dublin selector, cites a number of instances in this year's campaign where goalkeepers have been the difference between victory and defeat. "The real difference between Kildare and Meath in the Leinster final was the goalkeepers," he says. "Kildare got a late goal in the game whereas, in the opening minute, Christy Byrne made a terrific save from Brendan Reilly." O'Leary considers the Kildare strategy of playing three midfielders across the pitch, with Dermot Earley linking up, as one of their trump cards, especially now that Niall Buckley is back. "People are underestimating Earley's contribution. We were beaten by Kildare because they were able to exploit our weaknesses in the midfield diamond. We could not counteract them in that area and they put us away". He reckons that Earley and Eddie McCormack will be the real dangermen to the Galway defence. "Given their track record this year, Kildare should start a little more than slight favourites," O'Leary says. "They may well be feeling that they have their name on the Cup already. They could feel also that they were unlucky not to put us away on the first day and they have been getting better since, beating Laois and Meath and then Kerry in the semi-final. "Galway came up against a very poor Derry side after doing well against Mayo but only just getting by Roscommon. Kildare have a good defence that plays well as a unit. They also play well as a team, they are very fit and they use their fitness to good effect.

"Unless Galway compete consistently against Buckley, Willie McCreery and Earley in the middle, they won't beat them." he adds. "Backs and forwards may open up again by running at each other from either end but the quality of midfield possession is always a huge factor."

What about all the sentiment for a Kildare win and neutrals saying how marvellous it would be for them to win it for the first time since 1928? "It would be just as marvellous for Galway to win," he says. "They haven't won since 1966 and have had their failures since then at this stage. Remember they lost four finals in 1971, '73, '74 and '83. Kildare just about have the talent and the know-how to make it a fifth disappointment for Galway." The current Dublin selector was busy last night as part of the Dublin management observing their new look panel back in training. Dublin followers will not be too familiar with most of the panel when the National League gets under way next month. "There's 15 new fellas in the squad," says O'Leary. "You wouldn't even know the names. They are fellas who have never been on the Dublin panel before."

Kevin Nolan of St Brigid's, Dermot Cahill also of St Brigid's, Stephen Cowap of St Mark's Tallaght, Shane Ryan of Portmarnock, Brendan O'Brien and Declan Hanlon from Trinity Gaels are some of the new faces who are keen to break out of their anonymity, according to O'Leary. Among the old guard "not training currently" are Paul Bealin, Eamonn Heery, Mick Deegan, Robbie Boyle, Ciaran O'Hare and Brian Barnes. Paddy Moran is being left out for business reasons at the moment. "He will be back and we are happy with that," says O'Leary. "It's the way we have got to go," he says. "We have got to have the guts to keep faith with these people. It's just like starting off from scratch. We played Meath, Derry, Galway and Louth over the past couple of months. We lost the first three of those games because the opposition was still in the championship and obviously fitter than us."