By Kieran Murphy

AVEC panache. A term used by French supporters to describe a winner of the Tour de France who takes victory in style by crushing rivals into submission.
On Sunday Palatine and Rathvilly come face to face in the county final. They are the two form teams of the championship.
Palatine volatility is not an issue anymore. They are a disciplined group laden with leaders. In the semi-final, Mount Leinster Rangers drew level late on and looked set to push for victory.
From Craig Kearney in goal, Palatine worked the ball back and veteran John Reid pointed and later drew a vital free. Conor Lawlor’s forays out of defence are hard to stop. Ciaran Moran at centre-forward pulls the strings and a lot of Palatine attacks go through him. What price the introduction of young guns Shane O’Neill and Conor O’Doherty?
Rathvilly are at a later stage in their development although they too have youth in Brian Smith and Colin Byrne.
While many teams are resorting to short kick-outs, Robbie Molloy in the Rathvilly goal knows kicking long and accurately will guarantee possession to Brendan Murphy while Brian Murphy and Ken Doyle feed off the big midfielder.
Rathvilly still can play the short-passing game and they looked impressive against Old Leighlin in the semi-final when scoring 15 points.
This will be tight. If Palatine are to win they have to cut out supply to Gary Dempsey in the full-forward line.
Turning over the champions has never been as difficult. Palatine are playing with a sense of entitlement. They have a 100% record in the group stages and fought off the fierce challenge of Mount Leinster Rangers.
Rathvilly need to sow doubt into the minds of their opponents early on and make their periods of dominance tell.
If the respective semi-finals were tough, this will be the battle of battles. Former champions against reigning champions. Panache and style might go out the window but this will be no less enthralling.
Verdict: Palatine