Record-breakers move closer to greatness

DUBLIN captain Stephen Cluxton stands on the brink of history as the champions go in search of the county’s first four-in-a-row of senior football titles. Tomorrow afternoon against Tyrone at Croke Park, the goalkeeper is due to set the bar for the all-time Championship appearance record even higher, moving to 98 appearances. To lift the Sam Maguire as captain for the fifth time, never mind a potential four-in-a-row, would again be unprecedented. As the player who has done more than any other to redefine the position of goalkeeper and bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st century, he has claims to being the county’s greatest ever player. How Tyrone set up to deal with his kick-outs, whether they can press up high and disrupt the flow of primary possession as Mayo did in last year’s decider, will go some way to deciding whether the shock of the Championship is on the cards this weekend. Mickey Harte hasn’t lost an AllIreland senior final as Tyrone manager, his remarkable record reading three wins from three appearances, but this time the immovable object comes up against the irresistible force. Under Jim Gavin, Dublin have been just that, the ambush by Jim McGuinness’ Donegal the only blot on their copybook in six seasons. The latest unbeaten run in terms of Championship games stands at 27. In terms of starting line-ups, at this point it is difficult to know what exactly to expect from the two teams. While Mark Bradley has been named in the Tyrone team to start, that is no guarantee that he will actually line out, as Trillick sharpshooter Lee Brennan parachuted into the team at corner-forward for the semi-final defeat of Ulster rivals Monaghan. Dublin too have made a custom of late changes to the listed started 15 so the official announcement from the reigning champions is to be greeted with a degree of scepticism. In last year’s final, Eoghan O’Gara (left) was the Dublin player who proved to be a late replacement, Gavin’s gamble not exactly paying off with the forward withdrawn at half-time with one point to his name after being a late replacement for the named Niall Scully. In the Super 8s encounter with Tyrone in Omagh, Paddy Andrews and Michael Darragh Macauley were named in the programme but replaced by John Small and Eoin Murchan before the ball was thrown in. A fourth successive All-Ireland would certainly confirm Dublin’s credentials as one of the greatest teams of all time. For Cluxton and a core group of players, it would represent a sixth Celtic Cross since the big breakthrough under Pat Gilroy in 2011. Heady days.