‘Super 8’ lessons: Home truths, classy Clifford, black-card lull,
THE first All-Ireland quarter-final series has been a hit for some and a miss for others, but with pitch invasions to acclaim winners in Salthill and Ballybofey over the weekend, and Newbridge two weeks earlier when Galway booked their place, reaching an All-Ireland semi-final the hard way felt like an even more rewarding experience. We look at some of the issues that arose over the last month.
SYMMETRY OF SEMI-FINALS AND LEAGUE PLACINGS
So the last four remaining teams – Galway, Dublin, Monaghan and Tyrone – in the All-Ireland football championship correlates directly with the top four placings in Division One of the Allianz football league.
The new format clearly reduces the element of surprise but if its design is to ensure that the best teams make it through to the penultimate stage, which should ultimately be the aim of a championship in any sport, then it has achieved that.
CLIFFORD LIVES UP TO BILLING
There may be despair in Kerry this week after only their third failure in the qualifier era to make an All-Ireland semi-final but it will be short-lived with David Clifford (right, below) around.
His performances during the three-weekend series were sublime, amassing 4-14 (1-2 from placed balls), despite some very close ‘attention’ from defenders.
His speed of thought and the speed with which he whips shots away is tailor-made for survival, and prosperity against heavy defensive orientation. He absorbed the pressure of having his name in lights all season impressively.
But there’s a real contest for the Young Footballer of the Year gong.
Up to now, this award has generally produced a stand-out candidate – Con O’Callaghan (right, above) last year and Diarmuid and Cillian O’Connor twice each in the previous five years, with Ryan McHugh in between. But if it remains a contest open to U-21s and does not follow the lowering of the grade to U-20, then Clifford and Dublin’s Brian Howard (in his 21st year), who has been so efficient and energetic for Dublin between halfback and half-forward and has potentially two more games to frank his credentials, will be a great head-to-head, with Kildare’s free-scoring
U-20 star Jimmy
Hyland sure to come into consideration too.
HOME ADVANTAGE PROVIDES LITTLE COMFORT
Maybe it was the scheduling or just the way other results went but from eight home games in the ‘Super
MONAGHAN’S SPREAD OF SCORERS
Much is made of Monaghan’s dependency on Conor McManus for scores but when Dermot Malone struck a point on Saturday night against Galway he became the 21st Farney player to score in their eight championship games. Every one of their regular