KING DAVID RULES ALL!
Clifford inspires Kerry success
AS Kerry created history in yesterday’s curtainraiser by claiming a fourth All-Ireland minor crown in a row, it was fitting that it was David Clifford who had to walk up the Hogan Stand steps to accept the Tom Markham cup.
Clifford franked his credentials as an outrageous talent with a performance for the ages in this final. At times yesterday, he looked to be playing a different sport to everyone else on the pitch. He showed the full range of his skills. Two feet, balance, movement in the full-forward line.
He tormented Conor McCluskey and the rest of the Derry defence from the opening moment, scoring the first of his four goals within 12 seconds of the throw-in.
There was more to this Kerry team that their supremely gifted captain. Fiachra Clifford found the net twice, while Dónal O’Sullivan and Brian Friel both caught the eye with some exceptional scores. But this match will only be remembered for one player.
Clifford was named at centreforward but immediately went to the edge of the square, where he caught Diarmuid O’Connor’s early delivery. Sending his marker McCluskey one way and then the other, he created enough room to rifle a left-footed drive into the corner of the net.
Clifford showed there is more to his game than scoring when he created a point for O’Sullivan in the fourth minute and set Jack Griffin up for a gilt-edged goal chance in the sixth minute. Clifford was causing all sorts of trouble.
Derry did have a brief scoring spurt between the ninth and 12th minute, where they knitted three points together and brought the game back to a point, 1-2 to 0-4, but that was as close as they were going to get.
Clifford scored his second goal two minutes later, selling a couple of dummies to McCluskey before burying the ball with his right foot this time, despite the attentions of Padraig McGrogan.
A minute later, he set up his namesake Fiachra Clifford with a delightful pass that split the Derry full-back line wide open. After 15 minutes, Kerry had scored 3-2 and Clifford’s fingerprints were all over all but one of the scores.
As he collected his man of the match award, the gifted Fossa native said that Kerry had come up expecting Derry to play a defensive set-up. It would have made sense given that Clifford had scored 4-37 in five previous games this summer.
The Derry management will have to live with their decision not to play a sweeper in front of Clifford, although such is the player’s intelligent movement that it may have only been putting a plaster on a seeping wound.
By half-time, Kerry were already home and hosed, 3-8 to 0-5 ahead. Derry made a raft of changes at half-time, bringing on three substitutes. One of those, Callum Brown, turned out to be their best performer on the day, as he caused a bit of a nuisance on the edge of the square.
It seemed odd that he hadn’t started, especially as he also impressed in the semi-final win over Dublin.
Clifford had a quiet start to the second half. He didn’t score with his first three shots of the half, two went wide and one hit the upright, which proves that he is human, after all. Others took up the slack, Fiachra Clifford found the net for a second time, Friel scored some fine points. Brown made a superb catch on the edge of the square in the 39th minute and used his power to win a penalty as he was taken down by a couple of Kerry defenders. Patrick Quigg stepped up to slot the penalty home. It left the score 4-9 to 1-7 with 20 minutes remaining.
Derry’s goal seemed to be a cue for Clifford to remind us all of just what a special talent he is. He scored two goals within 90 seconds, the first in the 45th minute when he was released by a fine pass from Dónal O’Sullivan.
Less than two minutes later, it was his namesake Fiachra who set him up. With 13 minutes still left on the clock, the scoreboard read 6-11 to 1-7.
The rest of the game petered out but this final will be remembered for one thing — the performance of a teenage footballer who is already a superstar.