This is a rivalry which has gripped handball fans and refused to let go, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.
It's Cavan versus Meath, it's hell in the west, double the trouble or whatever you're having yourself. Give it whatever snazzy tag line you want but, break it down and today's battle will be Finnegan against Sheridan.
Mention doubles handball and they are the names which immediately spring to mind. Both men trade in a currency all of their own; never have we seen specialist doubles players like them.
Don't get us wrong – both Finnegan and Sheridan have carved out exceptional singles careers but it in the crowded confines of the doubles court where they have made their names as true greats.
Cast your mind back to May 1987, if you were born, and a grinning kid from Kingscourt smiles for the camera after winning the U12 All-Ireland handball final against a gallant but out-gunned opponent from Clare.
What was he thinking, Michael Finnegan, when he beat Pat Custy in Croke Park to win that title? Maybe he returned the following week to watch how the seniors did it.
The Senior Doubles final took place the next weekend, also at Croke Park, and Meath were the new kids in town. James McGovern was on the right but the man on the left, Tom Sheridan, was really just a boy himself, fresh from reaching the final of the US U19 Junior Nationals in Atlanta. Sheridan had the game of his life, though, in the Leinster final against Ducksy Walsh and Michael Reade and, in the All-Ireland, Limerick's big alley specialists Tom and John Quish had no answer to his arsenal of shots in the final.
That marked the Kells man's first All-Ireland 40x20 doubles crown - fast forward 28 years and this afternoon in Roscommon, he will vie for his 10th.
In the meantime, he has picked up 10 doubles titles in the 60x30 court, and one Senior Singles; his career is not notable for just its longetivity but its sustained excellence. Finnegan, though, has had an extraordinary innings of his own. The Kingscourt man is the greatest right-side doubles player the game has seen and today he will ride shotgun with Brady in a 14th senior final. They've done it every way, too; the Cavanmen have machine-gunned the field and have stolen it in heists. History tells us they will be ready for anything the big day may throw up.
What of the Royals? They, too, have been a stunning partnership, Carroll's legs and uncanny dead-weight kills complementing Sheridan's smooth underhand and alley smarts. The biggest occasions bring out the greatest drama and there are few bigger than a senior All-Ireland final. Back in '87, the headline in the Irish Independent told its own story. “Meathmen scale Everest,” it read.
What will it take for either side to ascend the peak again? So close to the summit, where the air is thin and the lungs cry out for mercy, Meath have been over-taken for the last two years. They were ready to plant the Royal flag on top of the mountain in Limerick two years ago, gameball-13 ahead, but Cavan found a way to pass them out.
And last year, at today's venue, with the drama at its highest, Carroll and Sheridan fell off the edge again. That one was 21-19 in the third and when the Cavanmen screamed at the sky, the neutrals thought that was the end of Sheridan as a senior superpower. They were wrong – he has picked himself up. He goes again, working his way back up from base camp, plodding forward.
Meath will be hurting, and desperate. But Cavan, too, will ache to win just one more. Having broken through and become the first men to win 10 last year, they'll want to leave Sheridan – the only current player anywhere close to the record - on nine, below the clouds. Form suggests they will. The Blues brushed aside Clare's Diarmaid Nash and Niall Malone in convincing fashion last weekend while Meath laboured against Mayo's Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann, coming through in three having lost the first.
Paul Brady is playing as well as ever – never has there been a player better, smarter or stronger. Finnegan, too, enters the final off the back off an exemplary few months' work. Sheridan surprised the crowd by attacking the left on his serve last year but Brady, having been dormant for months in the previous off-season, has been at his explosive best this time and will be expected to quash any such plot.
To win, Meath will have to make their kills because the advantage in power is in the blue corner. But Sheridan and Carroll are pure shooters who can find the bottom brick consistently and with ease. That will be their game plan, pure and simple.
This is a grudge match, a rivalry which has gripped the handball public for years and refused to let go.
Where Sheridan, with his gun-toting celebrations and asides to the crowd, is a rabble-rouser, Brady is stony silent with the assassin's eye.
Where Finnegan is powerful, goes low and goes there often, Carroll is unique, cat-like in front, deadly out back.
Learn the back story – familiarity breeds contempt - and and all the ingredients are in the mix. Whether it ignites, we will know this afternoon.
One thing is for sure – the latest instalment has the potential to be another classic of the genre between four stars made for the big stage.
Catch them while you can...
To book tickets, please send payment to GAA Handball National Office at Westward House, Russell St, Croke Park. Adults €20, OAP's & U16's €10. Payment must be received before tickets will be dispatched. Payment can be issued via cash, cheque, bank draft or online transfer.
For more info contact 0 1819 2385.