Corofin have been making waves since streaking away with a Galway championship they dominated to an almost worrying degree. The hype has proved prescient, as they have blitzed the field to date, including a five-point win over reigning champions St Vincents.

Unfortunately for Ulster challengers Slaughtneil they arrive in their first final carrying the burden of a major injury loss. Christopher Bradley has been the team's most important forward, scoring three points in the semi-final victory over Kerry champions Austin Stacks and hitting the winner in the Ulster final.

There are some rumours that he can be patched up even for an appearance off the bench, but a broken collarbone isn’t the most accommodating of injuries.

They may have been outsiders in Derry but Slaughtneil players have plenty of experience playing in Croke Park between the county seniors, minors and manager Mickey Moran, one of the most practised coaches in the game whose familiarity with the stadium goes back more than 40 years.

They showed great durability in the semi-final when ambushed with as many goals – two – as they’d conceded in the entire Ulster campaign and county final.

They’re up against a team this afternoon, however, who have been shooting the lights out over the same period – 14 goals in four matches – and are regarded as the best Corofin team in a long time, combining work-rate, movement and pace in the back eight with a genuine cutting edge up front.

Monumental

Although primarily a collective, Corofin feature a number of footballers with county experience, most notably Michael Lundy,

Ian Burke

and

Gary Sice

.

Slaughtneil have a monumental centrefield where Patsy Bradley and Paudie McGuigan rule the air. The Derry club have an excellent defence with Ireland international Chrissy McKaigue and captain Francis McEldowney calmly authoritative at the back, but for all that the view here is that they will struggle to outscore the fast-moving Galway team.