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28th July 2024
07:23am BST
Armagh broke early from the parade just as they turned to face Hill Sixteen.
They ran around the Galway players and the band and formed a huddle by the sideline before the parade came to a close. They were booed by the Galway fans but the Armagh fans seemed to love it.
Anthony Finnerty played in two All-Ireland finals for Mayo, in 1989 and 1996, scoring a goal in the '89 final. He moved to Salthill in latter years where he runs a pub and his son Robert will start at corner forward for Galway in the final.
Speaking on RTÉ's Up for the Match, he gave a brilliant take on the 'conflict' of being a Mayo man living in Galway.
"As a Mayo man, living in Galway and having a son on the team, there can be little bits of conflicts but I suppose, I convinced the kids when they were young that we were a displaced Mayo family living in Galway and they did support and got great mileage out of the Mayo bandwagon.
"But once your son starts playing for Galway, he starts living his dream, and the least I can do is support him in his dream no more than him supporting me in my dream for many years."
The Crossmaglen Rangers player famously missed a penalty in the first half of Armagh's only ever All-Ireland win in 2002 before making up for it with a stunning second half goal as they beat Kerry.
He recalled his memories of that day on BBC recently, telling a story about an interview his club and county team-mate Francie Bellew did after the game, about what the win meant.
"He asked Francie Bellew about five questions. And Francie just said 'listen, it's hard to whack.' And that was it, conversation over. But Francie was right. It was hard to whack."
The All-Ireland senior football final takes place between Galway and Armagh on Sunday afternoon in Croke Park. Galway come into the game on the back of a win over Donegal with Armagh having turned the tables on Kerry.
The pair have played on numerous occasions in recent years leading to tight games and the beginnings of a rivalry.
Both teams show two changes from the teams that started their respective semi-final victories with Sean Kelly coming in for Cein Darcy for Galway while Connaire Mackin comes in for Peter McGrane for the Orchard.
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn; D McHugh, L Silke, S Mulkerrin; P Conroy, S Kelly; M Tierney, J Maher, C McDaid; R Finnerty, D Comer, S Walsh.
Armagh: B Hughes; P Burns, A McKay, B McCambridge; C Mackin, T Kelly, A Forker; N Grimley, B Crealey; J McElroy, R O’Neill, O Conaty; R Gurgan, A Murnin, C Turbitt.
