Armagh v Donegal – Pivotal Players

Armagh – Ethan Rafferty

Rafferty had an eventful day against Antrim in the Quarter Final. The Grange man conceded a penalty and was black-carded before returning to the field to play the rest of the first half in attack. But back in nets for the second half, he excelled with his kickouts as Armagh took a grip of the game, also scoring three points including a two-point free.

In the semi-final versus Tyrone he gave an exhibition off the kicking tee, locating an Armagh shirt in all but one of his 24 restarts. He also landed a brilliant point in the first half and commanded his penalty box area when needed.

Blaine Hughes held the Armagh goalkeeping spot in last year’s All Ireland triumph, but Rafferty has returned to become the preferred choice for the no. 1 jersey and has been able to apply his outfield abilities to the new Gaelic football enhancement rules to great effect.

Donegal – Michael Langan

Langan made intermittent appearances throughout Donegal’s league campaign due to injury, and didn’t feature at all in the Championship first round against Derry, but he certainly made his mark when named to start the Quarter Final against Monaghan. The St Michael’s man kicked four points from play and constantly attacked the line from his midfield berth in that narrow win at Clones.

He was tasked with matching up against the influential Odhran Murdock against Down, and Langan shaded the contest with the Burren man. His perfectly weighted pass laid on Paddy McBrearty’s goal, and he curled over a two-point free in the second half to epitomise his class.

Donegal have several big men that can operate across the middle, with Michael Murphy, Jason McGee and Ciaran Thompson all well capable of establishing dominance at centrefield. The athletic Langan is key to that too.