Ask anybody about the key one-on-one battles that are likely to have a huge say in Sunday’s All-Ireland senior club football final, and you’re likely to get one of three answers.
The obvious first option is whether or not Michael Warnock will be able to contain Ben O’Carroll, perhaps closely followed by whether or not Danny Tallon can get any change out of Brian Stack, the St Brigid’s talisman who was imperious throughout 2023 for club and county, though Brian Hurley caused him plenty of headaches in the semi-final against Castlehaven a fortnight ago.
Then there would be the issue of midfield, where St Brigid’s would be delighted to see Eddie Nolan and Shane Cunnane come anywhere close to breaking even against Conor Glass and Emmet Bradley.
Yet for many of the purists, the contest between Ciarán McFaul at six and St Brigid’s unheralded and underrated joint captain Paul McGrath will be watched closely.
There is quite a lot of symmetry here. McFaul, who plays at centre-forward for Derry, drops back into the half-back line for his club.
McGrath was a half-back for St Brigid’s, and on the fringes of the Roscommon county panel, for his entire adult career, before being remade as a centre forward for the 2023 campaign.
Both men handle more ball than casual supporters might realise, and both men are crucial in their team’s link play.
Where they differ, is in their style. McGrath is slight, elusive, and understated. If he puts McFaul on the back foot in Croke Park, it won’t be through meeting fire with fire.
“One of Glen’s trump cards will be their physicality, and after that, their fitness” he said.
“Hopefully we can try and match them in that regard, and beat them with the football ability that we have. That’s the plan, we’ll have to see how it goes.”
Man of the match in what was their toughest game so far this year – their 0-12 to 0-11 win over an Enda and Donie Smith-powered Boyle team in the county final, McGrath acknowledges that for the two clubs, expectations were very different coming into this season.
“Glen have been there or thereabouts for the last number of seasons, their goal at the start of the year would have been to win the All-Ireland, or to get to the final at the very least,” he said.
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“For us, we didn’t get to the Roscommon final in either 2021 or 2022, and as a championship, it’s really tough.
“That was our goal, though we could see that whoever came out would be a force.
“Strokestown lost to a good Moycullen team after extra-time in Galway, and this year they got relegated in Roscommon. It’s incredibly competitive.”
Softly spoken, and happy to deflect the media spotlight onto players like Ben O’Carroll – who McGrath describes as “a magician” – McGrath hasn’t always been front and centre when it comes to attention.
Last weekend, Roscommon County Board chairman Brian Carroll tweeted the Go Games teams from the 2013 All-Ireland final, where St Brigid’s edged out Ballymun Kickham’s by a point.
O’Carroll, Shane Cunnane, Robbie Dolan and Brian Derwin are all likely starters tomorrow who featured, but while McGrath was part of that generation, he says, “I wasn’t one of the lucky ones drawn out of the hat, unfortunately. All I can do is try to make amends now!”
If he can counteract Ciarán McFaul tomorrow and give St Brigid’s an attacking fulcrum at 11, he’ll have done more than that.