IN HIS 15TH season lining out for the Clare footballers, David Tubridy is looking as sharp as ever.
The 34-year-old racked up 1-8 against Cork in Ennis last Sunday and the Banner will need Tubridy in top form if they are to have any hope in their upcoming fixtures.
They face Mayo in an Allianz Football League Division 2 semi-final on Sunday, 13 June, before their first outing in the 2021 championship a fortnight later — against Kerry at Fitzgerald Park.
On this week’s episode of The42 GAA Weekly, former Kingdom stalwart Marc Ó Sé remembers coming up against the veteran Clare forward during his playing days.
“I marked him a few times and I met him last year in Doonbeg,” Ó Sé says. “Kieran Donaghy was with him, I think Kieran was trying to squeeze a free round of golf off him!
“He looked fit. The longevity he has shown is just incredible. It was Páidí [Ó Sé] who brought him in first and I think he has played under six different managers.
I remember marking him. Oh Jesus, it was nightmare stuff because he’s a serious forward. What sets the great forwards aside for me is their movement off the ball and the way they’re able to create space for themselves and get away from their marker. David Tubridy certainly has that.
“He shot the lights out again the last day to kick 1-8. That’s phenomenal scoring and he’s going to be a really tough task for the Kerry defence to try and nullify.”
Ó Sé added: “You just mention the quality of players that are gone and it’s so hard when you’re playing with a county that doesn’t have the success of the Kerrys, the Corks, the Dublins, the Galways, the Mayos or Donegal and come back year in year out.
“The other guy I thought was a really hard draw was, God rest his soul, Michael O’Shea from Clare as well. So those two fellas, and Tubridy is still going strong.
“You also have Jamie Malone and Podge Collins to come back in so they’re going to be a real threat and it will be a real tough battle against Mayo.”
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