Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
Clucko or O’Hanlon a starter for one?
WE’RE not even sure yet if David O’Hanlon will start tomorrow’s Division 2 final at Croke Park against Derry. It would seem most unDublin like if he didn’t, but that’s one of the reasons he’s in the spotlight this week. Dublin have a habit of making two or three late changes to their side for most games. There’s a big, looming shadow alongside him as much as hanging over him. The greatest goalkeeper of all time is back in the Dublin fold. O’Hanlon (23) might be best having his childhood hero in the Dublin GAA bio changed from Iker Casillas. Dessie Farrell made it clear last week that seven-time All-Ireland winning captain Stephen Cluxton (41) is not back to sit on the bench again, but will be challenging for a starting spot. That doesn’t automatically mean he’ll start against Derry at Croke Park. O’Hanlon has done well and despite Cluxton’s second coming at Croke Park against Louth last weekend did well when the Wee County pressed up on his kick-outs. This is the real test of a goalkeeper. They can pop off uncontested shorts all day. O’Hanlon wouldn’t be human though if he wasn’t feeling the pressure. It would have been fascinating to be a fly on the wall in any conversations between himself and Dessie Farrell over Cluxton’s return. Evan Comerford has been between the posts for the past two years, with Cluxton’s last Dublin appearance the 2020 All-Ireland final victory over Mayo A few weeks back in an interview, Dean Rock shed a little light on where his Ballymun club mate Comerford is at. “He (Comerford) had a bit of a groin operation so he’ll probably be out for the League or until the latter stages of it,” said Rock. “He had the operation from last year so he didn’t play with us for the club either. “So it was just something that was at him and he needed to get it done. He’s on the recovery table.” If Comerford was fit we might not have seen the return of Cluxton. Maybe that’s one way O’Hanlon could look at it, but that doesn’t really matter in the here and now.
Embrace
Another way is to embrace everything Cluxton can add to his game over the coming weeks. Cluxton has been back involved at some level with Dublin for three weeks now. His full range of restarts are well ingrained in the muscle memory. It’s just a matter of familiarising himself with Dublin’s kick-out moves. Philly McMahon offered the opinion during the week that if Farrell is only interested in winning the All-Ireland he should start Stephen Cluxton this week. If he’s trying to evolve a squad in the longer term, it should be O’Hanlon. But O’Hanlon and Comerford will both be acutely aware that Cluxton saw off a long list of allcomers, going back to Davy Byrne back in 2001, and finishing up with Comerford himself two decades later. O’Hanlon and Comerford must be wondering how long Cluxton is back for — or they already know. Is it a stop gap for the season, or until Comerford is fit again? Either way, Farrell’s selection in the number one position tomorrow will tell part of the story. If it’s not Cluxton, and O’Hanlon gets the nod, he has to perform and hit his targets, particularly if it’s tight in the last 10 minutes and there’s pressure points on the Dublin kick-out.