These Galway forwards will never be too far from a score and they are coming into form. Derek Savage was outstanding against Derry, despite dealing with Seβn Martin Lockhart, probably the tightest man-marker in the country. In the past, Savage had problems producing his best scoring performances in Croke Park. Against Derry, though, he did everything a corner forward could be expected to do and his confidence is now very high. Scoring regularly has sometimes been his weakness, especially with the amount of ball he gets. But on current form he is obviously a key target man for Meath, and they will probably end up putting Mark O'Reilly on him and Darren Fay on Pβdraig Joyce. That will allow Cormac Murphy to come out the field more, perhaps keeping an eye on Tommy Joyce, who is likely to get a roving commission. Both O'Reilly and Fay controlled the Kerry attack the last day, but the problem there was Kerry didn't have a plan B. Kerry seemed set on the long ball into Johnny Crowley and Mike Frank Russell. That failed them and as they were beaten at midfield, they were unable to run at Meath from outfield positions, which I believe Galway will be able to do. Overall, Galway have better variety in their attack and, more importantly, they have been forewarned about Meath, and will be more conscious of altering plans if necessary. But I think the Meath defence can cope with whatever Galway hit them with. In fact, I would say nothing against the Meath defence right now. At times against Westmeath they struggled with the likes of Dessie Dolan, but the last day they got everything right and their whole approach was so unbelievably determined Kerry just couldn't cope with them. Whether Meath can stir up that same motivation for Sunday we'll have to wait and see. They were told the last day they had beaten everybody but they hadn't beaten Kerry, and that helped raise their motivation to a new level.

It is a little surprising to see Alan Kerins lose his starting place. He was parachuted into the Galway team in May and his work-rate was always been impressive. The problem is there haven't been that many scores in him and there may also have been a question over his confidence after losing the hurling final. With Paul Clancy free from injury there was always the likelihood that he would get the selection. In terms of scores and use of the ball, Clancy would be better but he may not have the overall work-rate.