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Ray Silke, our man from south of the border, caught up with a few former players who've been through this particular battle before, to get their thoughts on who will win on Sunday.

When Noel Connelly used to come face to face with Kevin Walsh in the white-heat of championship action in their playing days, Tuam Stadium was the battle ground. Next Sunday they'll renew their rivalry in Salthill. But Mayo's old torture chamber of Tuam Stadium is where Connelly has his fondest memory of getting one over on Galway. "I suppose the one that's more special for me is the Tuam one in 1997, when the hoodoo was there for so many years and there was so much talk of it. Back then going to Tuam and winning it was like nearly winning the championship outright. To get that winning feeling in Tuam after all the talk and stuff, that was special," Connelly said this week, when asked about his own playing memories against the Tribesmen.

Last weekend I went to a few matches in the Galway senior football championship. The only consistency in the games that I observed, was the absolute inconsistency in the referring between games, the softness of some of the frees being given, and the poor standard of club football in the county. Anyone who has been watching inter-county football over the past decade or more will surely be aware of how the Tribesmen have drastically slipped back down the football rankings. From top of the pile in 2001, to not having won a senior provincial title since 2008, or even more shockingly, a provincial minor title since 2007. Watching the dire standard of referring at club level in the county last weekend convinced me that poor quality referring is also a factor in Galway’s, or any other county's demise.

The secret to winning a county final is to have a few players who really step up to the mark and produce the goods on the big day. And if a few of them are scoring forwards, that is even better.

This Sunday there is a county senior football final to be savoured and anticipated.

There is a gush of expectation and excitement in Galway football circles this week in anticipation of a first county final between Tuam Stars and Corofin for 16 years.

The ultra competitive nature of the Galway SFC was emphasised once again last weekend as reigning county champions Killererin were dumped out of the title race by a highly impressive Cortoon Shamrocks outfit. It meant that for the third

Corofin who are many people’s favourites to lift the Frank Fox cup later this year will resume action this Saturday against Tuam Stars in Tuam Stadium at 7pm.

There is a strong Galway flavour in RTE’s Road to Croker programme tonight at 8pm. The show looks back at Galway’s All-Ireland winning season in 1998 and has some clips from the championship campaign of that season.

Of the four championship games that I saw last weekend the best game by far with the best standard of football and fitness from both teams was Tuam Stars against Micheal Beathnach’s.