Who will raise the white flag in Tullamore?
Two counties, one remarkable year. The year in question is 1997 and the counties who helped to make that summer memorable when it came to the championship were Kildare and Meath.
The 20 years have flown by since they played out an epic, three-game-saga in the Leinster SFC that produced a feast of end-to-end football. It was theatre at its best.
If the two counties produce the same level of entertainment on Saturday evening the spectators who show up at Tullamore will have no complaints.
Meath eventually won that three-game saga, but Kildare will go into this latest spat hoping they can exact revenge for that painful defeat all those years ago.
Long-suffering Kildare supporters can feel optimistic, partly because the current team contains group of richly talented young players who have gained experience in the realities of sport at a high level far beyond these shores.
Karl Brophy, for instance, had a spell with the West Coast Eagles, the Australian Rules outfit based in Perth.
Kevin Feely was signed as an apprentice with Charlton Athletic while Sean Hurley also had a stint Down Under.
Then there is Daniel Flynn, a name Meath supporters might be sick of on Saturday evening unless the Royal County defence is on full alert.
Flynn also had a stint with with the Port Adelaide Australian Rules outfit without making a breakthrough.
Flynn, underlined his Gaelic football credentials when he scored 1-3 in Kildare's 2-21 to 1-7 demolition of Laois in the opening round of Leinster SFC at Tullamore the other week.
Now he and his colleagues return to the same venue hoping to repeat the feat against Meath.
Flynn is from the Johnstownbridge club and if the Elizabethan clerk who formulated the county borders back in the 1500s had moved the border a little bit further south, Flynn and Hurley could easily be lining out in the green and gold on Sunday rather than all-white.
Located just a short distance from Mickey Burke's base in Longwood, Johnstownbridge has become a hotbed of Kildare football in recent years with Flynn one of those slick forwards who have emerged to make a name for themselves on the inter-county front. Brophy is another.
In recent weeks Flynn, who studies at Maynooth University, has spoken about how this latest batch of Kildare footballers have started to 'gel' under the guidance of Cian O'Neill.
The fact that Kildare will be playing NFL Div 1 football next year bears out that view. He also says this group of Kildare players simply enjoying their football - and as a result playing with certain freedom and joie de vivre.
'We're enjoying playing football and that has a lot to do it. We are just confident in ourselves. Even around the county you can feel it, lads can feel that, even around Newbridge. There is a pep in their step,' he said.
He spoke about how the Lilywhites have progressed from Div 3 to Div 1 - dishing out a 3-17 to 0-16 trouncing of Meath in the opening round of the league in Pairc Tailteann last February - on their way up the ladder. Flynn 'only' managed one point that day, but he did expose gaps in Meath's fragile defensive battlements as well.
At just 22 Flynn has time on his side, but the game against Laois was his first championship outing for his county in four years. He returned from Australia two years ago, but a series of injury setbacks kept him out of the Lilywhite set up - until this year.
The Johnstownbridge man has talked in recent times about the confidence to be found now in the Kildare team and how the collection of largely young players under the age of 24 is fast turning into just that - a team.
'We had a good run through the league and the whole team is gelling together this year with all the under-age teams that won silverware. It's very enjoyable and we're all bouncing off each other.'
Manager Cian O'Neill also referred to the 'greater strength-in-depth' in the squad this year; something that's in marked contrast to previous years.
'If you look at who was out there today, 10 of that weren't available last year and that to me is the biggest difference,' he remarked after the victory against Laois.
'The other thing is the players have a year under their belt with the system we're trying to play,' he added.
That system involves a considerable degree of physicality. It was Kildare's strength in the tackle that forced a number of turnovers against Laois and that's something Meath will have to be wary of conceding; those terrible, and hugely damaging, turnovers.
Another aspect of Kildare's performance that should make Meath sit up and take notice is the fact that along with Flynn, Kildare had 12 other players who caused the umpires to raise the white flag in that Laois game. The spread of scorers was impressive.
Who will be waving the white flag at the end of Saturday's clash in Tullamore remains to be seen.
If we get the kind of drama that was served up 20 years ago, supporters will be well pleased - as long, of course, once their team wins.
Daniel Flynn will be doing all he can to ensure that team is the Lilywhites.
THE TEAMS
Meath - Paddy O’Rourke; Mickey Burke, Conor McGill, Donnacha Tobin; Padraic Harnan, Donal Keogan,Shane McEntee; Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones; James Toher, Cillian O’Sullivan, Eamon Wallace; Graham Reilly, Bryan McMahon, Donal Lenihan.
Kildare - Mark Donnellan; Mick O'Grady, David Hyland, Ollie Lyons; Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle, Keith Cribbin; Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick; Fergal Conway, Niall Kelly, Paul Cribbin; David Slattery, Daniel Flynn, Cathal McNally.
LAST FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES
2014: Meath 2-16 Kildare 0-17 (Leinster semi-final)
2012: Meath 1-17 Kildare 1-11 (Leinster semi-final)
2011: Kildare 0-16 Meath 0-10 (Leinster quarter-final)
2010: Kildare 2-17 Meath 1-12 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
2007: Meath 2-11 Kildare 1-8 (Leinster first round)