Clifford back with bang for the Kingdom
ONE OF the gifts bestowed on All-Ireland winning managers is that they are the ones who get to determine the value of each turning on the road to glory.
In the afterglow of the Kingdom’s 2022 Sam Maguire Cup success, Jack O’Connor chose to reference his team’s one-point win over Mayo in Tralee on a wicked March evening as a moment when he felt his team was on track.
It raises an obvious question as to what significance he will attach to this, but for now it will have done no more than it said on the tin, two more points banked which most likely leaves them one result away from the six-point safety watermark which–with the exception of Mickey Harte – might just be the prize that most are chasing.
That said, the only lesson learned by O’Connor here, one he learned a long time ago, is that without the Clifford siblings he would have a team buried in the game’s pack rather than at the very front of it.
Between them, David and Paudie, in their first start of the new season, kicked 0-9 between them from open play and, naturally, it was the former who snatched a win from the jaws of a draw that would have felt more like a defeat.
With six minutes of regular time left they looked home and hosed when David kicked them three points clear against a Mayo team that were down a man after Sam Callinan was shown a second yellow card.
It should have been simple, but Kevin McStay’s side showed – in their first defeat of the season – that their trademark resilience is alive and well. Ryan O’Donogue and Fergal Boland scored beautiful points from outside the scoring zone, and despite being a man down, they pressed Kerry so furiously on Shane Ryan’s’ kick-out that they won the free that saw Donoghue tie the game as it drifted into injury time.
And then with it all on the line, David Clifford – sensing it was down to a final play – dropped out to the middle to take up possession and exchanged passes with his brother and Sean O’Shea before pointingfrom outside 40 metres.
Apart from that, O’Connor will have been given more food for thought on an evening when they struggled to find their rhythm, although Cillian Burke, following up on his fine performance against Monaghan, once more showed how he may have what it takes to bring a new dimension to the Kerry halfforward line.
However, mainly because Paudie Clifford played so deep, Kerry did not have not the creative playmaker to feed his brother in the inside line.
The other comfort is that even though it is early days, beating Mayo was something they needed to do, given they had lost in four of their previous five National League meetings.
After that, though, the only lesson here is one that is to be expected, both teams have much to work on and you can be certain they will do just that in the coming weeks.
In terms of fluency it was a fitful contest at best, full of good intentions but sabotaged by more than a little rust which was odd given that both teams have been back at it long enough to get those kinks ironed out.
It reached even parts that it normally doesn’t with the only genuine goal chance falling David Clifford’s way in the 10th minute as he faced up Rory Brickenden – a late addition to the Mayo line-up along with Sam Callanan – while throwing his trademark shimmy, it was obvious what a packed Austin Stack Park expected to come next.
But instead of the net bulging, Clifford scuffed his shot and it dribbled into the grateful arms of Colm Reape.
It was a moment that summed up an error-ridden half when Kerry’s execution rate was so poor that they kicked as many wides as scores, leading by 0-7 to 0-5.
Not that Mayo were anywhere near their best, but then they never are unless they are pressing hard on the pedal. However, they were infected by caution in that opening period when it seemed as if they were reluctant to commit bodies to their attacks.
To their credit, though, they did get to grips with some early kickout issues after Reape was forced to go long with two off the tee and were turned over both times, which led to two Paudie Clifford points in quick succession.
And their decision to start Callinan – no doubt informed by the huge game he had on Seán O’Shea in last summer’s Championship clash in Killarney – paid off as he got up to kick two fine points into a strong breeze.
Ultimately, Mayo lost no more than a game and Kerry only learned what they already knew.
Only rose-tinted hindsight will offer this game significance.