THEY WERE CENTRAL figures on the biggest day of the 2023 football calendar and four months on David Clifford and Paul Mannion continue to light up games with their dazzling scoring displays.
Between them they kicked 0-8 in Croke Park in July as Mannion’s Dublin team held off Clifford’s Kerry side to confirm the destination of the Sam Maguire.
Yesterday they shot a combined 0-17 on club stages in different parts of the country. Clifford starring in Tralee in defeat in the Kerry intermediate final, while Mannion’s brilliance was on show in Ardee in victory in the Leinster senior semi-final.
The wonderful odyssey of Clifford’s club Fossa that featured an All-Ireland junior title win back in January, culminated in defeat to Milltown-Castlemaine with a place in the 2024 Kerry senior championship on offer.
Clifford was in virtuoso form in his attempts to get his team over the line, contributing 12 of their 18 points, eight scores with his left foot and four with his right. He shot six from play, including this series of classy scores captured by the Clubber streaming service.
While he was on the losing side today, the 2023 Footballer of the Year, David Clifford, put in some performance for @FossaGaa in the @Kerry_Official IFC Final 🙌
— Clubber (@clubber) November 19, 2023
12 points, some of them were simply incredible 🏳️😅
Watch back that CRACKING Final, here👇
📺https://t.co/8RTIDVIpju pic.twitter.com/rXrkwBROqD
Mannion’s scoring spree was condensed into the opening period of Kilmacud Crokes’ semi-final against St Mary’s of Ardee but that could not dilute the significance of it.
He swung over five shots in that first half, three with his left and two with his right, and ensured his club’s year is prolonged. They also tasted All-Ireland glory in January at senior level, now Kilmacud Crokes bid for three-in-a-row in Leinster against Kildare’s Naas in next month’s final.
Mannion MASTERCLASS 😱
— Clubber (@clubber) November 19, 2023
Paul Mannion scored FIVE points from play in the first half today, booking @KCrokesGAAClub's spot in another Leinster Final🔥
🔗 https://t.co/yMkMTpFUIK | @DubGAAOfficial | @gaaleinster pic.twitter.com/NCRGeOaF3W
