Newspaper articles on Kerry GAA

[Mickmack]

‘I always had the football, I just had to develop my body and that’s probably what changed’ – Kerry’s Paudie Clifford
Belief and gym work have helped All-Star forward join his brother in Kerry’s attack




Donnchadh Boyle

February 23 2022 02:30 AM

When Paudie Clifford stuck his head on a loose ball and nodded to the net in the Sigerson Cup, the reaction was both predictable and understandable.

It was reported afterwards that ‘David Clifford’s brother’ had scored a header in UCC’s romp past Athlone IT in early 2019. These days, however, Paudie is very much his own man.

It’s taken a little bit of time. He needed patience, some luck as well as hard work. His route to the sharp end of county football wasn’t as smooth as that of his brother, who was once considered for selection for the Kerry seniors while still a minor.

Paudie, though, had to serve his time. The day before David kept Kerry’s championship hopes alive with a last-gasp equalising goal against Monaghan in Clones in the Super 8s, Paudie helped the Kerry juniors to an All-Ireland title. Far from dissuading him, watching his little brother star in the championship actually lit a fire in him.


“It probably gave me belief that I could, (thinking) ‘If he’s able to do that, I can play at a similar level’.”

He only made his first start for Kerry last year but these days, the elder Clifford’s significance is undeniable. The 25-year-old started all four of Kerry’s championship games in 2021 and while there’s been a change of management in the Kingdom, Clifford remains front and centre.

Under Jack O’Connor, he’s played every minute of league football so far this season, save for injury-time in the win over Dublin.

So, what has changed?


“It would have been my body developed, I did a lot of gym work, did a lot of speed work as well,” he said at the launch of Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé 2022 which takes place this weekend (February 25-27).

“That was probably the big thing, my body developed. I kind of always had the football, I just had to develop my body and that’s probably what changed, yeah.”



So the gym work helped but other things have combined to help him on his way. An ankle break cleared up and he’s remained largely injury-free. éamonn Fitzmaurice has since agreed that perhaps Clifford should have been closer to his thoughts during his spell in charge. Clifford himself points to Billy Morgan as one of his major influences. And that run to Sigerson glory, in a team that included the likes of Seán O’Shea, helped him believe he could compete at the highest level.


“The team we had was full of inter-county players. Cork players, Clare, a few Limerick, Tipp and Kerry. I learned a lot off them. I realised maybe I can play at this level. That was probably what changed.”

Then he nodded one into the net and briefly became an internet sensation when a clip of his goal went viral.

“(Billy Morgan) actually didn’t say anything! I scored a header before in a club game, and the manager lost the plot. Billy didn’t actually say anything.”

More importantly, that campaign gave him belief

“Deep down I always kind of thought I had a chance (of playing with Kerry) but yeah, there would have been days all right when I thought probably that I’d stop kind of pursuing trying to play for Kerry. But deep down I always thought I had a small chance.

“I felt that if I could get in there, that I could let my football do the talking. I had that in the back of my mind.”



* * * * *



From as early as Paudie can recall, the Clifford boys loved their football. A little over two years between them, they grew up playing games on the lawn. And when they weren’t doing that, they bounced around the county with their father who was a referee.

“My Mam and Dad are massive football fans, go to every game. Every club game, anything that’s on. We were always just playing out the side of our house. We have a decent enough size of a lawn, and a wall, and a goal so just playing against each other for years. That’s how it all started. It being so competitive helped.

“You’re at an advantage there having a brother who is similar enough in age and you can be challenging each other. Making up different kind of games to play against each other.”

Paudie knew his brother was good. David was playing with the sixth-class team while he was just in second. Then there was his exploits with the club which quickly translated into a stellar underage career with Kerry.

“When he was playing under-12 or 14, he would have been putting up massive scores, that was probably when people started to take notice and we started to realise that he was going to be fairly good.”

The romantic version of the story goes that the Clifford boys share a telepathy honed on the lawn at home and on the pitch with Fossa and East Kerry.

It’s at least as likely that their link-up is a product of Paudie preferring to operate around the middle, with David sticking closer to goals.

“We’ve always been different players. We have different skills, different things that we’re good at. That would have never been a problem because we’ve always been different players. I’ve always played a bit more out the field than him.”

These days they are central to the cause of Fossa, East Kerry and Kerry. Both the Clifford brothers picked up All-Stars for their performances in 2021 but last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat haunted him through the winter: “Basically tough the whole time until we came back, really. There is no other way of putting it.”

But they are back on the road now, unbeaten and yet to concede a goal in the league.

Kerry are making all the right noises as they head for Inniskeen and a date with Monaghan on Sunday.

Clifford will likely be one of the first names on the team sheet again.

Having had to bide his time, he’s keen to chase down every opportunity that comes Kerry’s way.

“I wouldn’t say confident; we’re hopeful. We know how competitive it is. I have never seen Division 1 as competitive.

“There are going to be no easy games and there are going to be no easy games come the end of the championship either.”



www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/i-always-had-the-football-i-just-had-to-develop-my-body-and-thats-probably-what-changed-kerrys-paudie-clifford-41373920.html

[Mickmack]

Eamon Sweeney



Jack is back and the backs are Jack’s. Kerry have switched from the Keane way to the mean way.

These might be early days but the difference made by the Kingdom’s returned monarch is already obvious. After three games Kerry have the best defensive record in Division 1. More importantly, they’re the only top-flight team yet to concede a goal.

That matters because the concession of goals has been Kerry’s Achilles heel in recent years. The three they conceded against Tyrone lost them an All-Ireland semi-final. The four Dublin scored at this stage of last year’s league was a warning of trouble ahead.

And the last-gasp Cork goal which dumped them out of the 2020 championship showed how teams always had a puncher’s chance against Kerry. No longer perhaps. Kerry’s defence looks considerably more parsimonious now.

At this stage last year, they’d conceded 5-32. Two years ago, it was 3-44. The current total is a stingy 0-31.

They’re scoring less than they did in previous seasons but given the forward firepower at Kerry’s disposal that’s hardly a worry. This team won’t miss out on an All-Ireland title by coming up short on the attacking end.

Kerry might be less fun to watch this season. But they’ll willingly sacrifice the champagne football of the last two years if a new approach allows them to crack open the bubbly come July.

O’Connor has always admired the defensive virtues. For all the attacking flair at his disposal, the three All-Ireland titles won on his watch were founded on a powerful rearguard.

Five of the seven players to win multiple All-Stars during his previous reigns – Diarmuid Murphy, Marc Ó Sé, Tom O’Sullivan, Mike McCarthy and Tomás Ó Sé, operated at the back.

In 2004, Kerry conceded an average of less than 12 points a game during the championship. In 2009, the average was less than 11 from the quarter-final on with Cork’s 1-9 in the decider the third lowest score in the final during the last 20 years. This is how Jack rolls.



The change has more to do with attitude and tactics than personnel. Four of yesterday’s back-line started the All-Ireland semi-final. But it may be significant that the two who didn’t were Kerry’s best defensive performers against Donegal.

Much bigger tests await Dan O’Donoghue but so far the Spa player looks the kind of defender Kerry have largely lacked since the retirement of the Ó Sé brothers, O’Sullivan and Mike McCarthy.

The emergence of Tom O’Sullivan Mark Two has been a godsend but it says a lot about Kerry’s backline deficiencies that he’s their only All-Star winning defender in the last six years.

O’Donoghue is an old-school Kingdom corner-back, quick, combative and tight-marking. He’s had to wait a long time for elevation since winning an All-Ireland minor medal in 2014 under O’Connor but is currently grabbing his chance with both hands.

Tadhg Morley has known ups and downs too. Largely out of favour last year, he’s started all three games at centre half-back this term.

Morley might lack the athleticism of Gavin White or the pure footballing ability of Paul Murphy but he is strong, brave and extremely solid. He’s the type of player O’Connor, who deployed Eamonn Fitzmaurice at number six in 2004 and Tommy Griffin at full-back five years later, tends to like.

O’Connor’s tactical nous was apparent yesterday as he directed Tom O’Sullivan to shadow Ryan McHugh, a decision which effectively neutralised the Donegal wing-back. Lacking such a central contributor, Donegal’s short passing game looked even more pointless than usual.

But just when one big problem appears on the way to being solved by Kerry, another has reared its head.

At 33, David Moran may be a somewhat diminished force but his current absence through injury leaves the Kingdom a bit threadbare at midfield.

Jack Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor came off second best to Donegal and their failure to win clean possession will surely worry the manager.

Good foils to a dominant partner, both players seem like accompanists rather than lead singers.

Kerry badly need one of them to emulate Conn Kilpatrick’s great leap forward for Tyrone last year. Championship success may depend on it.

Two other players have started at midfield in the league so far. One is the hard-working Adrian Spillane whose performance combined impressive dispossessions with wayward distribution.

For the moment he too seems like a supporting actor rather than the star Kerry need in this area.

The other is Seán O’Shea who’ll surely be leading the attack in the summer. O’Shea may not be at quite the same level as David Clifford but there is no more aesthetically appealing player.

O’Shea, like Maurice Fitzgerald back in the day, sometimes seems on a mission to show that Gaelic football is the real beautiful game.

Yesterday he went through the whole gamut of point-scoring techniques. The sideline curled over the bar, the long free from the hands, a towering long-range point under heavy pressure, one on the run, one with the fist.

In the direst of conditions O’Shea seemed to hover above the spiteful weather, as though cocooned inside some championship summer micro-climate of his own.

Watching him play like this it’s easy to fall into the assumption that all you need is lovely football.

But the last couple of years have shown Kerry that you need other things too and Jack O’Connor has been brought back to provide them.

If Kerry do win this year’s All-Ireland, O’Shea and the Cliffords will play a huge part.

But O’Donoghue, Morley and the mystery midfielder who hasn’t yet put his hand up could be just as important.

[Mickmack]

www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40814211.html


WED, 23 FEB, 2022 - 00:00
JOHN FOGARTY


It was two months shy of his 25th birthday that Paudie Clifford finally made his starting senior championship debut for Kerry last season.

Not that it was for a shortage of cheerleaders. Tomás Ó Sé, who saw first-hand his potential in UCC, had long been supporting his promotion to the panel. Billy Morgan was as big a fan and younger brother David made a public declaration in his favour after he starred for East Kerry in the 2019 county final. "It's hard to know what Peter Keane is thinking but you can't do much more besides getting man of the match in the county final.”

The elder Clifford believed he would eventually get his shot but admits to having some doubts. “Deep down, I always kind of thought I had a chance but yeah there would have been days alright when I thought probably that I’d stop kind of pursuing trying to play for Kerry.”

A broken leg put paid to any chances of a call-up in 2018 although he began to gain attention with his performances in a string of finals - the All-Ireland junior in July 2018, the Sigerson Cup in February ‘19 and the aforementioned Kerry SFC decider win over Dr Crokes.

As David added in that interview after that game, his sibling’s major issue had been his conditioning. He needed to bulk up. Says the man himself: “I did a lot of gym work, did a lot of speed work as well. That was probably the big thing, my body developed. I kind of always had the football, I just had to develop my body and that’s probably what changed. If it wasn't inter-county football I was playing, there's other things I could be doing so it wouldn't have been the end of the world either.”

Killarney Celtic had filled plenty of his time before the breakthrough while he also had spent a couple of summers abroad. Éamonn Fitzmaurice admitted Clifford should have been higher on his call sheet but the player understands why he wasn’t. “It probably would have been a year or two after that then that I probably might have felt that way (that he should have been called up) but at that stage I wasn’t on the radar enough, I hadn’t done enough, to be fair, at that stage.”


Learn more

Clifford is one of the select if significant group of Kerry footballers who owe Morgan thanks for tutelage during his time in UCC. “Billy threw me in, gave me a chance with UCC. I had been in CIT for four years and went from there. He was great. Gave me a lot of advice but let me do my own thing at the same time. He was a great mentor, a great manager.

“The team we had was full of inter-county players. Cork players, Clare, a few Limerick, Tipp and Kerry. I got from playing with them, I learned a lot off them and realised that maybe I can play at this level. That was probably what changed.”

Paul Galvin, a player Clifford has regularly been likened to, also passed through UCC before he also made his starting SFC debut at the age of 24.

“There would have been some similarities alright, between me and Paul. He's obviously a player I've always looked up to. If I do a few of the things that he can do on the pitch, I'll be doing okay.

“I'm not a centre forward the whole time. I can do that, but I'm probably at my best when I'm given more of a free role; I can come in and out. I like to go back the field as well at times, if needed.”

It wasn’t until the McGrath Cup in January that Clifford started to move on from the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tyrone. “Tough,” he says of the aftermath from it. “Basically, tough the whole time until we came back, really. There is no other way of putting it.”

The group, he says, have identified where they went wrong in the game whereas he admits he wishes for another duel with Conor Meyler. “I’m looking forward to more challenges like that and maybe marking Meyler again at some stage.”

To Inniskeen, where Clifford in October 2020 made his first ever league appearance, unbeaten Kerry go on Sunday and the recruitment development manager is hoping for better conditions than those that plagued Sunday’s win over Donegal in Killarney.

“You wouldn’t mind the rain but the wind was crazy. It was tough to solo and with the wind it helped when you were kicking points but when the ball was kicked in it flew in like a rocket so it was very tough to play in. I suppose those sort of battles makes the team stronger.”



www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40814211.html

[Mickmack]

Paudie Clifford was speaking at the launch of this weekend's Lidl Comortas Peile Páidí Ó Sé, which takes place in West Kerry this weekend.

[keane]

I'd say you should probably include the link at least Mick so people can give the newspapers a click. This stuff isn't free to produce.

[Mickmack]

Feb 23, 2022 10:26:06 GMT keane said:

I'd say you should probably include the link at least Mick so people can give the newspapers a click. This stuff isn't free to produce.

Done..

[mike70]

Thanks for posting Mickmack

[Mickmack]

www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/jack-oconnor-and-banty-mcenaney-two-veterans-still-battling-to-stay-ahead-of-the-curve-41377996.html

Conor McKeon

February 23 2022 08:03 PM

It tells you how far back Jack O’Connor and Séamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney first crossed competitive paths that the subsequent disciplinary case arising from the game was conducted by the now long defunct Central Disciplinary Committee (CDC).

March, 2006 in Scotstown and a spiky Sunday afternoon. Colm Cooper kicks the winning score from a free won by Declan O’Sullivan.

That was the start of the row.

For most, O’Sullivan’s reaction to the foul on him was probably sufficiently petulant to warrant Kerry losing their free.


But the call stood and referee Cormac Reilly was heckled, booed and generally scorned from a height as he left the pitch, at which point he took a detour and entered the Monaghan dressing-room.

One of his umpires had been knocked to the ground and required medical attention.

A Monaghan selector was subsequently recommended for, and accepted, a 24-week ban by the CDC.

But ‘Banty’ was incensed.

“I felt there should have been a hop ball, but I have enough things to be worrying about myself to be worrying about the problems the referee has,” he said. “That’s football. That’s life.”

Sixteen years later, they’ll meet again in Monaghan on Sunday, albeit 30 miles South in Inniskeen.


Back in charge of their home counties – O’Connor for a third spin in the Kerry bib, McEnaney in the third season of his second.


Still among the smarter managerial whips in the land. Still cutting it at the sharp edge of Division 1.

O’Connor is 61 now. McEnaney is 53.

They are old neither by age nor inter-county managerial terms – Mickey Harte is a full decade older than O’Connor.

But 16 years on from that meeting in Scotstown, they’ve nonetheless maintained a brisk pace on the shoulder of a game whose evolution has accelerated at warp speed.

They are in a bracket of managers who seemingly never go off.

Mickey Moran is 70. John Maughan is 60 this year. Colm Collins is 61 in June. Yet none seem to have a sell-by date.

Whether it’s an inherent football wisdom that prevails over all trends, or simply a capacity to manage a large co-op of people efficiently, is open to interpretation.

But to this end, O’Connor and
McEnaney share a trait: neither is shy about immersing themselves in the necessary expertise to stay with the tactical and coaching curves.

When O’Connor revealed he had met an unnamed Ulster coaching guru in late 2005 to unlock the secrets of how Tyrone and Armagh seemed to be redefining the tackle in Gaelic football, he admitted it was “almost a betrayal of my Kerry blood, to be asking how they do things up north,” but he did it anyway.

That was more than a decade-and-a-half before he was forced, at his latest Kerry unveiling last year, to promise to maintain their treasured values after it was revealed that Paddy Tally was part of his backroom team.

The former Down manager had been part of Kevin Walsh’s Galway management ticket during a period when their style of play won few marks for artistic merit.


“I was involved in the Kerry Techs in 1992 and ’93. So look, what kind of football do you think those teams played, starting then and all the way up?” O’Connor stressed.

“So, I’m hardly going to change at this hour of my life and go all defensive. Listen, sure, of course, that narrative will be out there. I’m managing the team.

“My old friend Johnny Culloty said to me one time, he said, ‘Jack, it’s not enough just to win in Kerry, you’ve to win with a bit of style’. That’ll be our intention.”

Similarly, McEnaney, has stayed ahead of the setting sun by surrounding himself with smart, high-spec coaching types.

If anything, to an even greater degree.

In 2019, when his second term was announced, McEnaney’s backroom team was revealed as containing the much-travelled and much-sought after, Donie Buckley, plus Peter Donnelly, Conor Laverty and David McCague.

Ray Boyne, the performance analyst involved with several Dublin All-Ireland wins and Tipperary hurlers’ in 2019, was also listed as part of the ensemble on a county board statement, although nothing ultimately came of that link.

Then, not content with Rory Beggan having won an All-Star in his first year, McEnaney brought in retired Dundalk keeper Gary Rogers as goalkeeping coach for his second.

“When I retired, Banty was on to me within the 24 hours, just asking me would I come up,” Rogers explained.

“I’d been up with Banty before, when he was with Meath for a short period, so I would have known him from then, and he was keen to get me back involved with Monaghan. Banty’s a persuasive man.”

For year three, with Laverty back in Down as their under-21 manager, Banty managed to persuade Liam Sheedy to come all the way from Portroe to act as Monaghan’s performance coach.

Vice-chairman of Teneo Ireland and head of their performance business unit, Sheedy is also the chairman of Sport Ireland’s high-performance committee and had just put down three tough Covid-hit years with Tipp.

All told, he could probably have done with the bit of spare time.

But McEnaney, as he has all through his managerial career, managed to get his man.

In fact, McEnaney once had Jack O’Connor in to speak to the Monaghan squad.

That was in 2007, just after Monaghan had lost the Ulster final to Tyrone, and O’Connor’s advice to the management team was to insulate the players as quickly as possible from public negativity.

As it happened, they played Kerry, then managed by Pat O’Shea, in the All-Ireland quarter-final and came within a point of recording a famous championship victory that day.

Sixteen years on and the game may have changed in ways none of them could have anticipated then, but both men remain just as relevant.

[southward]

www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40815096.html

Club championship draws

[Mickmack]

Shane Enright:

You can see Paddy Tally’s influence in how Kerry have been defending
Our new Gaelic football columnist Shane Enright has been impressed with how the new-look Kingdom have gone about their business so far this year


February 23 2022 06:00 AM

Walking into Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday you knew that it was going to be a massive battle against Donegal.

Storm Franklin howling en route meant that it wasn’t going to be for the faint-hearted and so it proved.

The strong wind blowing into the dressing-room goal led me to believe that we were in for a huge dogfight and that the game may well boil down to who could deal with the atrocious conditions better and post the most scores with the aid of the conditions at their back. It didn’t quite turn out to be the case.

T
Seánie O’Shea won the toss and decided to play with the strong wind in the first half, a tactic that worked well in very similar conditions in Austin Stack Park two weeks earlier against the Dubs.

It was a tight and tough opening 15 minutes and Donegal would have been happy to be just trailing by the minimum (0-3 to 0-2) at this point.

I was impressed with how well Donegal retained possession during this period and frustrated Kerry in doing so.

Shaun Patton played as a sweeper for long periods of the first half to good effect, providing the spare man for Donegal coming out of defence and making it hard for Kerry to turn them over.

Kerry gradually began to take over with a period of dominance in which they increased their lead to five points with four unanswered scores in the next few minutes and it began to look ominous for Donegal.

To be fair to them they defended quite well in the last ten minutes of the half with their marquee forward Patrick McBrearty dropping back into their half-back line for large periods and acting as a quarterback dictating the pace of the game and playing keep ball, ably assisted by Patton and co, and curtailing Kerry to two further points before the break.

Donegal would have been happy enough heading in at the break seven points in arrears having played into the elements and the question on everyone’s lips inside Fitzgerald stadium would have been was it going to be enough to curtail the Donegal onslaught that would surely ensue in the second half.

However, unfortunately for Donegal, the comeback never materialised. They were lucky to see a great goal-bound effort from the impressive O’Shea cannon back off the post in the 36th minute.

This was followed by a scoreless ten minute period, which meant that Donegal hadn’t added to the scoreboard for the bones of 35 minutes.

Kerry actually outscored Donegal in the second half (1-4 to 0-5), which they will be particularly pleased with.

O’Shea was the scorer in chief who finished with a final tally of seven points, four from play, which included a delightful sideline kick and a couple of fine fisted points in a man-of-the-match display.

Seánie was tried out at centrefield when Kerry were low on options in this sector throughout the McGrath Cup and Kerry’s first league game against Kildare but, for me, this was never really an option.

Putting one of your best ball winners and scoring threats in the half-forward line further out the field, expending a lot of his energy going in the opposite direction, felt like a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

With the return of the Na Gaeil duo of Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Barry, ably assisted by Adrian Spillane dropping into that sector at times from wing-forward, gives Kerry sufficient options around the middle.

David Moran will offer extra bulk and experience when he returns to the fold and that will only add more welcome alternatives.

Donegal will be very disappointed with their second half display. Despite winning six of Kerry’s kick-outs, which Shane Ryan couldn’t really be faulted for, bar one, due to the high press Donegal had in place and the necessity for the Rathmore man to go long, they failed to find much end product to capitalise on this possession.

They seemed pretty toothless in attack to be honest. The absence of their talisman Michael Murphy won’t have helped their case, but at 33 he won’t be around forever and Donegal are probably too reliant on him at the moment.

They would have been hoping that other forwards might have stepped up which in turn may take the burden off him later in the year but this didn’t happen.

For long periods Patrick McBrearty was starved of possession in the full-forward line and spent a lot of the game much further out the field than Donegal would have wished, particularly in the second half aided by the breeze.

Jason Foley was given the job of picking him up in the second half and will be happy with his day’s work, but I can tell you from my own experience of playing in the full-back line that he will have been delighted to see McBrearty picking up ball out the field where he wasn’t a threat to the Kerry goals.

Overall, I feel Kerry will be pretty pleased with how the league has gone thus far. From a poor performance against Kildare, things improved drastically against an out of sorts Dublin and the weekend was even more pleasing for different reasons.

My one worry heading back to Killarney in such conditions was whether Kerry may struggle to match Donegal in the physical stakes on a heavy pitch, but match them they did.

I have seen first-hand the strength and conditioning work that goes in behind the scenes and the work that Jason McGahan is doing with the group is starting to show.

When he first came in, he always said that it would take a bit of time, but I think that we can see that things are beginning to take shape.

At various stages of the game, Kerry doubled up, outnumbered and overturned Donegal which was very pleasing to see.

Kerry didn’t cough up many goal chances throughout the game, with the only one of note for Donegal coming in the 65th minute where Kerry coughed up a line ball in their own half and Ryan McHugh bore down on goal, albeit coming in from the wing and at a tight angle, but uncharacteristically for a player with his experience, took a poor option in trying a hand pass across the box to McBrearty that drew him too far wide and the opportunity was gone rather than taking on the shot himself.

At this point in the game there was only six points between the teams and it would have made for an interesting last eight or nine minutes had Donegal goaled. Instead Kerry finished the game the stronger to run out comfortable winners.

One can see the work that coach Paddy Tally is also doing behind the scenes. Tadhg Morley has looked very assured so far back in probably his best position at number six, dropping in to help out as a sweeper at times in front of the Kerry full-back line when he gets the chance to do so. Kerry are getting numbers back and leaving no man too isolated at the back.

I have also been impressed so far with Dan O’Donoghue. He has fitted in seamlessly to the Kerry full-back line, looks assured on the ball and has fulfilled his defensive capabilities very well.

His physicality is something Kerry will welcome and he even got forward to kick a great score on Sunday, showing the confidence he has in himself as a young Kerry player in his debut season which is great to see.

Paul Murphy is another man who deserves a mention, he looks back to his best so far this season and won a couple of vital breaks in the first half that helped the Kerry cause.

Kerry certainly are nowhere near the finished article, but the signs are positive. In the past couple of seasons we have won the league and blown teams aside at times, but it hasn’t led to the ultimate goal.

I would rather see Kerry starting at a certain level and try and keep working on an upward trajectory.

We saw what happened in Killarney last year in the league against Tyrone and how things eventually played out against the same opposition in the summer.

Jack has been there and done it and knows that it’s about getting game time into players this time of year and having them primed to be at their best come the business end of things in the Championship. He will know that there is plenty to work on.

I counted 14 turnovers against Donegal on Sunday, which is almost half the amount Kerry had first day out against Kildare. Bring that down to single figures come the summer and Kerry will be hard to beat.

Another big question on Sunday was how would Kerry fare without their star forward David Clifford. He came off the bench in the 43rd minute to kick 1-1, a very fortuitous goal to be fair that killed off the game for the most part.

Killian Spillane did well in the first half, kicking two points from play, and will have found himself unlucky to be replaced by David.

Paudie Clifford and Paul Geaney also clipped in with scores from play, but if either David or Seanie pick up an injury come the summer, the question probably still remains whether Kerry can win an All-Ireland without them.

Hopefully we won’t have to find out.

Kerry will be confident heading up to Monaghan next week. Never an easy place to go to, but a win will have Kerry sitting at the summit of Division 1 with a place in the league final looking very likely facing into their last three games.

The job may have been made a little easier with the sending-off of Conor McManus at the weekend who received a straight red card.

I know from past experiences that he is one of the best forwards in the country over the past decade and. if that red card isn’t overturned, it certainly weakens the Farney men.

Another win would also give Jack the chance to experiment a little going into the last few games.

It would be great to get game time into some of the newcomers to the panel, Dylan Casey, who had a great year with the Stacks, Greg Horan likewise, and the likes of Darragh Roche. It is the only way of finding out whether they can cut it at this higher level.

If they don’t see this game time they may not be in Jack’s plans for later in the summer.

www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/sport/gaa/shane-enright-you-can-see-paddy-tallys-influence-in-how-kerry-have-been-defending-41369479.html?

[Mickmack]

Could someone please post up this article. Thanks

www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40812660.html

[taggert]

WHEN Arsène Wenger was the Arsenal manager, his team were the perfect exemplars of a beautiful team wanting, and mostly playing, the beautiful game. Seeking to score the perfect goal, invariably always looking to make that extra pass largely defined the Wenger era but it still always carried an exclamation mark, especially towards the end of it.

Arsenal were class to watch, especially as an attacking unit, but I remember it being said by a guest analyst on Sky Sports once: ‘Let’s see what they’re like in Stoke on a Tuesday night.’ That question mark corroborated the exclamation mark on too many occasions and it ultimately became Arsenal, and Wenger’s, undoing.

Kerry certainly don’t have the soft underbelly that became encrypted into Arsenal’s DNA in the latter years of Wenger’s reign, but there has too often been a question mark hitched to Kerry’s carriage in recent years when their backs have been to the wall.

Next weekend in Iniskeen will be more akin to Stoke on a Tuesday night than a home game on a Killarney afternoon. But I still thought that Kerry’s reaction to a sticky challenge against Donegal in such difficult conditions was exemplary.

So many aspects of their play was exactly what you’d want to see in that scenario; Kerry stalled Donegal’s charge at the start of the second half when the Ulster side were craving early momentum with the strong breeze; they minded the ball when they had to; Kerry killed the game when they needed to.

When Donegal flooded a mass of bodies behind the ball against the breeze, Kerry had the required patience to prod and probe and not get too hung up on being out of sight before Donegal had the assistance of what looked like a near hurricane.

Donegal didn’t match up as well physically as I thought they would. They are down some key men, Michael Murphy being the obvious one, but I thought Michael Langan was a huge loss, not just for his scoring power but because of the physical presence he would have brought in that middle third.

It was a mature performance from Kerry but I’m not sure if they’ll have learned a whole lot from it. They were up for the fight but Kerry didn’t exactly have to claw and scrape like crazed beasts when they were met with much less fight than they probably expected from Donegal.

In returning to the Wenger analogy, when Arsenal lost Tony Adams and Martin Keown and a host of other hard chaws, they were much less defensively resilient and reliant in the latter years of the Wenger era.

Kerry’s defence has been their biggest area of concern in the last few seasons. They only conceded 0-7 yesterday. Their average concession rate so far in this league is a paltry 0-10. They still haven’t conceded a goal. Bad weather obviously dilutes numbers but they’re still impressive stats, especially considering where Kerry have been coming from, and are looking to go.

As the season develops, the better teams will expect Kerry to get itchy feet and look to make things happen by forcing it too much. I think yesterday was a recognition of that acceptance from Kerry, and that some days it’s just better to slug it out than to look for the haymaker the crowd are roaring for.

I said at the outset of the season that Kerry would win the league but not the All-Ireland. My reasoning hasn’t changed. I feel that the challenges Kerry will face in the summer will be similar to what they faced last year.

From what I’ve seen so far in the opening three games, I don’t think they’re prepared for that heat yet. Yeah, they’ve been up the fight but what would you expect from a team hurting under a new manager? There’s still a lot to prove.

I was in Armagh on Saturday evening, but I watched the Dublin-Mayo game back on Sunday morning for one particular purpose – I wanted to see what – or if - Dublin had learned from their opening two defeats.

I placed that search under three headings; defensive shape, speed of transition, decision making up front.

When we talk about defensive shape now, a plus one is a dominant theme, which can be mostly distilled into offering more protection to the full-back line.

It was obvious to me after 25 seconds that Dublin had done very little around problem solving their issues in defence. In the first Mayo attack from the throw in, the Dubs' defence was as wide open as Dublin Bay.

You’ll make an excuse for that early in the game, especially when it looked like a choreographed play from Mayo in getting the ball in straight off the throw-in. But nothing Dublin showed after that early scare for the next 75 minutes convinced me that they’d learned from what crippled them against Armagh and Kerry in the opening two rounds.

Dublin certainly didn’t have the structure in place required against Mayo’s penetrative game, especially in cohesively getting enough bodies back when they needed to.

Dublin’s transition from defence to attack was better. Their variation in using the long ball definitely worked at stages. But in that third heading around decision-making up front – Dublin were absolutely shocking. And I mean shocking.

That’s probably more startling when Dublin prided themselves on that area of their play when they were whipping teams for fun. You might expect that from some of the younger lads but some of their most experienced players were the biggest culprits, especially Brian Howard.

Surely to God all this stuff has been discussed and analysed over the last few weeks? Or has it? I’m not sure because there looks to have been an absence of problem solving on and off the pitch.

That also nullifies this defence argument around Dublin’s transition. Everybody knows that Dublin hasn’t been able to replace the quality of the personnel they’ve lost in recent years. But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that they're not far better organised than they are, or need to be.

Dublin always thrived on collective responsibility so I don’t think the players are devoid of the blame here either. They are not set up to win a match and, at this stage, that’s all they need to do. When Dessie Farrell first took over, there would never have been pressure on him to get league results. But they’re in the trenches now and when you’re down that low, you need to just win a game.

Points aren’t coming easy now which is a real test of character for this Dublin squad and management. The next week will make for good viewing because Dublin just need to get down and dirty and make sure they get two points. It’s that simple.

Are there deeper underlying issues at the heart of all this? I think a lot of their current struggles come down to trust, or the lack of it on show. When you see some of the older lads on the ball, they don’t seem to trust enough of their team-mates.

Unless that trust develops between those players, the situation isn’t really going to improve. These lads know what’s expected of them but it’s hard work trying to get into these positions, to make that extra run, to cover back, to force that turnover.

When things are going well for you, it’s so much easier to work hard. All of that has a collective ripple which feeds into the rest of the team. But when you see the ball going to the top of the pitch and an attack breaking down from poor decision making and execution, it just saps energy and confidence.

Dublin are absolutely devoid of confidence now. What amazes me is how quickly those players which had the ultimate trust in each other and such a collective cohesion and faith in the process has suddenly been eroded.

It is pretty alarming, but I don’t actually think this is a huge fix for Dublin. It’s still manageable if they go about it in the right way. Now is the time for them to just do whatever has to be done to just win a match and get two points on the board.

For a lot of these players, this is the first time that they have been faced with such adversity in their Dublin senior careers. You can tell a lot about players in such a scenario. If you’re not used to it, you never have to address it. But when it comes at you in the manner it has with Dublin, it’s a real test of who you are.

Nobody doubts the quality of so many of these players, especially those with multiple All-Ireland medals. Yet the next couple of weeks will tell a lot about who they really are. And of where Dublin are headed this season.

[ruralgaa]

Not an article on Kerry as such but two former Templenoe players have joined other county setups this year, Tipperary and Sligo. They'll be playing against each other tonight:
www.thesun.ie/sport/gaa-football/8425613/templenoe-coach-crowley-pat-spillane-teddy-doyle-sligo-tipperary/

[Moderator]

The article posted by taggert was written by Oisin McConville...hardly fair to complain about other sites not giving credit to authors when we do it here.

Any posts without proper credit should be deleted...assuming I can figure out that they are indeed from another source.

[Mickmack]

Feb 27, 2022 2:55:11 GMT Moderator said:

The article posted by taggert was written by Oisin McConville...hardly fair to complain about other sites not giving credit to authors when we do it here.

Any posts without proper credit should be deleted...assuming I can figure out that they are indeed from another source.

The link to it was in the post just above it

[horsebox77]

Flicking through the irish Times online, Jimmy McGuinnes still pens his seasonal Tuesday article.

In the past Darragh O'Sè had a Wednesday article published. Is this no longer the case?

[horsebox77]

If anyone has access to Darragh's weekly article in the Times, can they post here please

[thehermit]

Not missing too much Horse with this weeks musings but here you go:

Darragh Ó Sé: Dublin should have to play by the rules like anyone else

With so many games left at least now we know who is playing against who

A month into the championship and we’re beginning to see where some teams are at and where others are going. I’m still trying to get my head around the number of games left between the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup. At least now we know who is playing against who..

In fairness we’ve had a good share of quality football so far. It’s easy to be critical about some of the games at this time of the year. Or give out about not being too excited about the provincial championship any more.

It always happens that the quality of hurling is better at this time of year, ahead of the football, the Munster and Leinster championship producing excellent games, with an excellent level of skill. Everyone is taking about Limerick against Clare, and by the time you digest that you’re into another round again.

But even at a quick whistle-stop tour over the games at the weekend, I was impressed again by some of the football on show. Good quality, played in a great spirit, some great scores kicked
READ MORE
Darragh Ó Sé: Dublin should have to play by the rules like anyone else
Darragh Ó Sé: Dublin should have to play by the rules like anyone else
GAA fixtures, TV details and team news ahead of the weekend
GAA fixtures, TV details and team news ahead of the weekend
Tailteann Cup draw: Games like Meath v Down and Cavan v Offaly make for far superior competition to last year
Tailteann Cup draw: Games like Meath v Down and Cavan v Offaly make for far superior competition to last year
All-Ireland draw: Potential opening round meeting between Kerry and Mayo on the cards
All-Ireland draw: Potential opening round meeting between Kerry and Mayo on the cards

I do still think Dublin have plenty more in the tank. Still I was delighted to see Kildare put it up to them, and they’re certainly too good a team to have been playing in the Tailteann Cup.

[ Kildare provide Dublin with their sternest stress test in Leinster for over a decade ]

Glenn Ryan was also making the old point again of the Dublin advantage of playing in Croke Park, starting off with their familiarity, always getting preference for the dressingroom, all of that. You can’t really blame Dublin for it, but it is something that needs to be looked at.

It might be an advantage in the Leinster Championship, maybe less so after that, but they should have to play by the rules like anyone else. It never bothered me playing in Croke Park, most players aspire to playing in Croke Park, and the more days there the better.

But if a Leinster championship is fixed for a smaller venue – and I know Newbridge is out of commission just now – it should be played at that venue, an exception shouldn’t be made for Dublin because of their size. It Man Utd or Liverpool are playing one of the smaller clubs in the FA Cup, and get a home draw, there is no exception.

Offaly miss out, but again they played some great football as well, and it’s certainly worth recognising the level of skill and scores in their game against Louth on Sunday, an outstanding game, two teams playing all out. That and the Monaghan-Tyrone game were probably the best championship games we’ve had so far, players from both teams completely emptying the tank.

The first of the two provincial finals this Sunday, in Munster and Connacht, will probably be both one-sided, with two of the main All-Ireland contenders involved. We won’t really know where they are at until after the round-robin games are done with. I’ve said before I’m impressed by Galway, although Sligo are playing on a crest of a wave at the moment, between the under-20s, winning back-to-back, and their Division Four league success.

Kerry did all they had to do against Tipperary, and I expect that’s all they’ll be looking to do again with Clare, because for them the real boxing doesn’t start until down the road.

Louth manager Mickey Harte deserves great credit for the job he's doing. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

But I’ve always been a big fan of Colm Collins throughout his 10 years with Clare. He gives a huge amount to Clare football, always under the huge shadow of Clare hurling, and he’s consistently getting the best out of his players, which is amazing given his longevity, preaching the same gospel for a long time. Firstly, he’s a very good coach, secondly he’s very unassuming, but the real plus is the buy-in he’s got from the players, the confidence he brings to them too.

There was some talk of putting the Munster final down in Ennis, and I’d have no issue with that, even if the counties down there have an arrangement. But I do think the provincial final deserves a provincial ground.

Of course all the sound money is on Kerry, and you’d expect them to win by north of eight points, something like that. That’s not saying any of the Clare players don’t believe they can win, because Collins will have that instilled in them. They gave Dublin a bellyful in Croke Park already this year, and his longevity is remarkable.

The same with what Mickey Harte is doing in Louth. Getting that team into a Leinster final, with his pick of players, deserves great credit. He’s got the same buy-in from his players.

Management is becoming an increasingly difficult job, and you can talk about Jim Gavin say, and he was a great manager, but if you were handing out management jobs in football these days, anyone would put their hand up for the Dublin job, Kerry, Mayo and Galway and maybe Tyrone too. The top teams, in other words, where you’ll always have real quality players and be in with a great chance.

It’s easy to play good poker when you’re producing decent cards. The top teams will always have the game-changing players, and some of those don’t need any coaching at all. I was lucky to play with or against some of those generational players, Maurice Fitzgerald and Séamus Moynihan, Pádraig Joyce in Galway, Peter Canavan in Tyrone.

When Dublin were winning everything, Gavin had five or six of those generational players on his team. One of the hardest parts of his game was handing out the jerseys. So, if you look at Collins in Clare, Harte in Louth, and Davy Burke in Roscommon too, they really are punching above their weight.

There are two All-Ireland Under-20 semi-finals down for decision on Saturday evening as well, Kerry against Sligo in Galway, and Down against Kildare in Parnell Park. To me that’s a competition that has been marginalised a bit, although I do prefer to be seeing it played at this time of year. It’s just a bit much to be asking supporters to travel to both games, two days on the bounce.

The bigger thing for me is that it should still be under-21. To me it’s still amazing to think David Clifford or Seánie O’Shea never played under-20 football with Kerry.

Same with the minor football. Anyone with any kind of common sense is saying the minor should come back up from under-17, like to me why under-20 should be back to under-21. In some ways both those competitions are also a victim of the condensed intercounty season. I don’t think that age group is working, and any former players I’ve spoken too agree, the minor is too young, they’re finishing too soon, and that should be changed back immediately. In the long run you’d keep more players in the game.

Still the championship is beginning to take some shape now, once we get over the number of games left between the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup.

[horsebox77]

Thanks Hermit

[thehermit]

Darragh's piece in today's IT:

At some point there I was in two minds about going up to the Munster football final in Limerick on Sunday. My daughter, who would normally go to these games with me, couldn’t go, so I was kind of in limbo for a while.

I’d also been up to see Kerry play in the under-20 game in Galway the previous night. Then I very quickly thought if the Clifford brothers, David and Paudie, are up for playing for Kerry the day after their mother died, it’s no task for me to jump in the car and go to support them. And I’m glad I did.

Personally I wouldn’t be close to the Clifford family, but would know from the outside that they are a very close-knit family, and their mother Ellen was very involved with their football, and would have been at every game, club and county, since David and Paudie were knee-high.

So the decision to play on Sunday was never in doubt. The family are so invested in Fossa, in Kerry, and in the fabric of the GAA, the last thing they were going to do was not tog out for a Munster final.

That’s only giving my impression, having gone through a similar experience.

In 2002 we drew with Cork in the Munster semi-final in Killarney on the Sunday, and then our father Micheál passed on the Tuesday morning. My brothers Marc and Tomás were on the team as well at the time. And Páidí, who was our manager, had lost his brother. But there was never a question of us not playing in the replay, because that’s the way we all felt.

Like the Cliffords, Gaelic football was a part of our life. It was simple question to answer – we’d be back out there.

The Cliffords would have known that if that question was asked of their mother, there would only be one answer too. They were going to play. Same as ourselves.

So after we drew with Cork on the Sunday, buried our father on the Thursday, we went down to Páirc Uí Chaoimh on the Sunday, for the replay. And we lost.

Every family is different, and everyone has their own way of dealing with grief. In my experience, and I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but you are so immersed in the training, you also see that as a release.

So I remember after we buried our dad on the Thursday, we went back training that night in Killarney. He was waked at home, so we’d been round the house the Tuesday, the Wednesday and the Thursday, and that takes some toll as well. It is wearing.

We knew we were playing again on the Sunday, so to get the opportunity to train, with the team, with Páidí, was a bit of a release. Just to escape the morbidity of the whole thing and get out on the football field.

When we went to the replay, there was actually a poor enough Kerry crowd in Cork that day. Some of them felt they shouldn’t go down, that the game shouldn’t have been played. But we never saw it like that, and in fact it was the one time you’d want a good Kerry crowd there.

Everywhere you go people are acting differently around you. Even your opposition. It’s certainly unusual where the Cork players are being nice to you down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. That took some adjusting to.

We can’t presume at all what the Clifford brothers were thinking, but getting back in with their team-mates, there would be some comfort in that too.

Because I know as well over the years everyone wants a piece of you, and the team situation allows you to be yourself, to get into the team bus would also have been a very comfortable environment, a release for them.

Looks, there’s no doubt it’s a very tough and difficult few days, and again, not that I think it was ever in doubt, but I think it would have been a great release for them to get out on the football field, and express themselves.

And the two lads did their job. They are Kerry to the core, and conducted themselves impeccably.

For the lads they probably also feel they’re grieving very publicly, because they are so popular, two of the best players in the country, their mother died and that’s a big story. They should be given some space now, and it is draining, mentally and physically, over those couple of days. They’ll take their bit of a break now.

There is a grieving process, but the football also takes on a life of its own. After losing the replay to Cork, we’d a game nearly every weekend after that, because we were in the back door.

We went on a bit of a run then, and played some great football, and maybe sometimes in the past these things have galvanised teams. The fact the lads played on Sunday, I think can only bring the group even closer, they’ll definitely bond that bit more.

Everyone would appreciate that they did their job manfully and respectfully, then went home to be with their people. For a tight-knit GAA family, that’s the way they rock.

We lost the All-Ireland later in 2002. Then the evenings start to close in, and the wheels start to turn. You lost your dad, and you lost the All-Ireland . . . and that’s when it starts to hit you.

On the game itself I think Clare are better than they showed, and maybe the whole occasion discombobulated them a small bit too, because they looked off, spilled a lot of ball around the place, and their execution and basic skills were way off, even if Kerry were sharp, precise, and got the job done.

I felt on the day that was in it too the Kerry crowd might have been better, a day to support and respect the Clifford family as much as the Kerry team.

Because like I said, there was no doubt whatsoever they were going to play. And I know if I was faced with that same decision tomorrow morning, I’d do the same again.

[horsebox77]

is Darragh's article worth posting this week?

[thehermit]

Mayo have managed to get themselves into a sticky old mess, somehow. Even by their own standards of making life hard for themselves, this takes the biscuit. How do you go from being six points up in the 57th minute against Cork and cruising to an All-Ireland quarter-final to needing to beat Galway in Salthill to stay in the championship? That’s just not a serious way to manage your affairs.

I wouldn’t mind but they had done the hard bit. I was in Killarney when they beat Kerry a month ago and like everybody else, I was impressed with them that day. There was a marked improvement on what they had been like over the past few years. They were full of running and physicality, which you would expect of any Mayo team. But it was the small technical improvements that really stood out to me.

For example, their shooting had come on leaps and bounds. A big part of that was their shot selection. I often think that when you see a report that says a team kicked 16 wides, your first question has to be: how many of them shouldn’t have been shots in the first place? That doesn’t just mean shots from bad positions or angles – it means shots taken by players who haven’t set themselves properly.

Go back to the All-Ireland final they lost against Tyrone in 2021. Think of all the wides they kicked in the second half. None of them were potshots from distance or hero efforts from out on the wings. They were all shots from the places you’re supposed to shoot from. But how many times were they shooting a bit off-balance? How many times were they hurrying their shot to get it away before a block came in? Too many.

The Mayo team I saw in Killarney did very little of that. They missed a good share of goal chances, fair enough. But they scored 1-19 and only had seven wides. Better again, they had 11 different scorers. The likes of Ryan O’Donoghue, James Carr and Jordan Flynn were steadying themselves before shooting. They weren’t snapping at chances. If a shot wasn’t on, they moved it around until it was.

So I came away from that game thinking they were serious contenders. I know it was early yet – you don’t win the Grand National in February – but they hit all the marks you’d be looking for. They bullied Kerry and could have won by seven or eight in the end. They finished with their best team on the pitch, on top of it all. Paddy Durcan, Eoghan McLaughlin and Enda Hession all came off the bench. That’s some firepower to throw in to see out any game.

Mayo needed to put manners on the Cork comeback last week. They didn’t and now look where it’s got them

Now, in my defence, I presume I wasn’t the only one who got fooled. The big thing about this format of the championship is that it’s very hard for any team to stand out from the others. You can’t really get definitive formlines because you’re talking about teams from Division One and Two, who all fancy a crack off the next crowd they come into contact with.

So Mayo beat Kerry and Kerry beat Cork and Cork beat Mayo. Galway beat Tyrone and Tyrone beat Armagh and Armagh beat Galway. Kildare could only draw with Sligo the day Roscommon drew with Dublin but when they eventually met, Kildare were the better team. Donegal got well beaten by Derry who drew with Monaghan, who lost to Donegal.

This is maybe an aspect to the new championship that has sort of snuck up on everybody. Nothing is set in stone. There are landmines waiting around the corner for all the teams. Mayo were 15 minutes away from doing a clean sweep of their group games and now they’re fighting for their lives.



What has changed? That’s the problem they need to work out. They haven’t had any big injuries. The weather conditions are the same now as they were then. Their marquee players haven’t suddenly lost their form – the likes of Aidan O’Shea, Mattie Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor and O’Donoghue have all played reasonably well in the last two games. So what is it that has gone wrong?

A couple of things jump out at me. The first is that even when they were playing well and winning games, they still had a habit of giving the opposition a chance coming down the stretch. Even go back to the league final, they were pretty well on top for most of that game but Galway got it back to a point late on before Mayo saw it out.

There was a bit of that against Louth a couple of weeks ago too – that late goal was total carelessness. So you could say the signs were there and Cork would have had it in their heads that if they were able to get within touching distance in the closing stages, they’d be in with a shout. You can be guaranteed John Cleary and the rest of the Cork management were drilling that into them.

The second thing feeds into the first thing. There seems to be a lack of leadership in the Mayo ranks. When games are in the melting pot, they haven’t had enough players standing up and going, “Wait a minute here, fellas. This thing is slipping. Give me the ball and let’s take a hold of the situation.” They needed to put manners on the Cork comeback last week. They didn’t and now look where it’s got them.

They have a huge task on their hands going to Salthill. A lot will depend on Galway’s injury situation. If Seán Kelly can’t play, that’s a major blow for Pádraic Joyce. He’s been their best player in this championship and their biggest leader. If Damien Comer is out too, that’s a lot for Galway to do without.

Ultimately though, Galway have fewer doubts in their head than Mayo do. They’re at home, they’re settled and they’ll be delighted to have a local derby. When I heard the draw, I thought of being on the Kerry bus coming out of Tullamore after a poor performance against Antrim in 2009. We were cranky with ourselves, our season was limping along. Then we heard we’d been drawn against Dublin and let a big cheer out of us. Now it’s on, lads. Now it’s championship. I can see Galway getting over their Armagh defeat the same way.

The only thing for sure is that the happiest men in Ireland are Jack O’Connor and Dessie Farrell. Not only do their two closest rivals in the All-Ireland betting have to play an extra game, they have to play it against each other. And only one of them will be still going after Sunday.

Whoever wins, the big winners are Kerry and Dublin.

[horsebox77]

Can someone with access, post Darraghs C'ship team article up please.

[highballinlowhy]

Aug 8, 2023 18:48:46 GMT horsebox77 said:

Can someone with access, post Darraghs C'ship team article up please.

Darragh Ó Sé – Football team of 2023

1 Stephen Cluxton (Dublin)
At the time I thought it was a mistake to bring him back, instead Sunday was another crowning moment, and without him on the field Dublin would not have won.


2. Conor McCluskey (Derry)

Had a super season, was especially good against Kerry, excellent in his defending but also with his pace when moving up the field.


3. Michael Fitzsimons (Dublin)

Did well throughout the season, even though he got a fair bit of help with David Clifford on Sunday.

4. Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry)

Did very well on Cormac Costello on Sunday, and was consistent throughout the season.


5. James McCarthy (Dublin)

Another standout season when he led from the front throughout, was especially good late on against Monaghan.


6. Gareth McKinless (Derry)
Brought a new dimension to the Derry defence and their attack from centre back, we saw rampaging every time he got the ball.

7. Conor McCarthy (Monaghan)

An outstanding season for Monaghan, in defence and coming forward, and especially against Dublin in the semi-final.


8. Brian Fenton (Dublin)

An absolute automatic here, back to his very best this summer and showed real leadership and overall ability again in the final.


9. Brendan Rogers (Derry)

Showed frightening fitness levels in every game, a real engine in his Derry team and always good for a score.

10. Paudie Clifford (Kerry)

Was very good in the second half on Sunday, but consistent all summer alongside his brother in difficult circumstances .


11. Enda Smith (Roscommon)
I feel he deserves inclusion here because he was excellent in every game this summer for Roscommon, even if their team aspirations fell a little short.


12. Brian Howard (Dublin)

To me Howard deserves his place based on his overall input, while Paul Mannion was quiet enough outside of the final.


13. Shane McGuigan (Derry)

Another of the Derry players to have a big summer, consistent and accurate and very good in the semi-final against Kerry.


14. David Clifford (Kerry)

The standout forward of the summer and for me the footballer of the year, and nothing more to be said about that.


15. Colm Basquel (Dublin)

Was quiet in the first half, but in fairness came out and played exceptional in the second half on Sunday, a big player for Dublin all year.

[blacksheep21]

I think David and Tom are the Kerry certainties for all stars with one of Paudie or Seanie getting another and an outside chance of both getting one. I thought Foley had a very good year and even though he did not do too much wrong, his men did some damage in the semi and final. Somebody said to me after the final that Tom was quiet but so was his man and most of the people he marked all year.

[orangerhyme]

Aug 9, 2023 15:28:37 GMT blacksheep21 said:

I think David and Tom are the Kerry certainties for all stars with one of Paudie or Seanie getting another and an outside chance of both getting one. I thought Foley had a very good year and even though he did not do too much wrong, his men did some damage in the semi and final. Somebody said to me after the final that Tom was quiet but so was his man and most of the people he marked all year.

I think Paudies a certainty. One of the best footballers in Ireland.
It's funny he never played minor or U21

[southward]

Aug 9, 2023 19:52:20 GMT orangerhyme said:

Aug 9, 2023 15:28:37 GMT blacksheep21 said:

I think David and Tom are the Kerry certainties for all stars with one of Paudie or Seanie getting another and an outside chance of both getting one. I thought Foley had a very good year and even though he did not do too much wrong, his men did some damage in the semi and final. Somebody said to me after the final that Tom was quiet but so was his man and most of the people he marked all year.

I think Paudies a certainty. One of the best footballers in Ireland.
It's funny he never played minor or U21

Neither did Paul Murphy afaik.

[orangerhyme]

Aug 9, 2023 21:08:38 GMT southward said:

Aug 9, 2023 19:52:20 GMT orangerhyme said:

I think Paudies a certainty. One of the best footballers in Ireland.
It's funny he never played minor or U21

Neither did Paul Murphy afaik.

Paul Murphy played U21 with Eamon Fitzmaurice as manager, but never played minor.

Both are on the shorter side, so maybe thats why.