Predator Clifford delighted as Kerry claim four in-a-row

ALTHOUGH his brother claimed the headlines come Sunday evening, Paudie Clifford did much to match his brother’s goalscoring prowess on Saturday with a run and finish for Kerry’s first goal that David has made his trademark in a short time.

The Fossa player didn’t think Kerry were as lucky to win as some might have thought from the outside looking in.

“You could say we were lucky but you have to remember we missed our own chances as well. Galway football is on the way up and we are just delighted to come through it like we did.

“For the goal I was just hoping that the space would open up in front of me for the goal like it thankfully did. It was vital for us to go in front at half-time we knew we would have the wind in the second-half,” Paudie felt.

That advantage didn’t quite turn out as expected but Clifford said that Kerry were not too worried about the wait for a score midway through the second period.

“It’s a feature of our campaign that scores have come in spurts and we were just able to get enough of a run to be the ones leading on the scoreboard at the end. We had a bit of penalty practice in the build-up but it didn’t go too well for me so it was agreed Niall [Ó Sé] would take one if we got it and he tucked it away nicely in fairness to him,” the Kerry centre-forward said.

Overall Clifford said the journey to Navan for the All-Ireland semi-final wasn’t as daunting as some would have thought as he also felt that this was the first year that he was capable of competing at inter-county level.

“We’d such a serious group of players that we knew that we would be able for any challenge thrown at us.

“Just for myself I’ve managed to put in the effort needed this year and I am thankfully getting the rewards that go with it. In fairness to the management they have everything well covered and had us in great shape for the games as well.”