IMAGINE THE SCENARIO.
It’s Munster semi-final day and the latest big drop on the Kerry production line is walking towards you. There’s been murmurings about this young punk. A minor starlet. Scored four goals in an All-Ireland final. Has arms that look like they could touch his toes at rest. His legs go on for days. Without even standing up straight, he’s punching through the six foot mark.
This is his senior championship debut. There’s lots of promise about him. Pressure to deliver an All-Ireland for his county isn’t quite there yet. But it’s in the post. Today is his first shot at first impressions. He needs a good start.
That was the challenge facing former Clare defender Gordon Kelly in 2018 when he was appointed to mark David Clifford on his first unveiling. He was handed the job again when the sides met at the same stage of the Munster championship in 2019. By that stage, Clifford’s legend was growing at a considerable pace.
Kelly, who would later go on to receive praise from Clifford for his efforts, coughed up just one point from play in the 2018 encounter and two from play 12 months later. Any defender would be happy with that. Kelly is happy to have that memory, but modestly adds some context to his achievement.
“It’s always nice for someone like David Clifford to name check you, but I have to be honest, it’s probably been three or four years since I marked David Clifford.
“He has developed significantly since I marked him. The David Clifford that exists now is not the one I marked.”
The 2018 encounter took place in Killarney while Ennis was the setting of the Kelly v Clifford sequel the following year on a wet day in June.
Unsurprisingly, the St Joseph’s Miltown Malbay defender got a sense of what Clifford could do immediately from the first play. He needed to adapt. Fast.
“The first thing I noticed about him was his actual pace. His off the ball speed was really fast and it kind of caught me in the first minute or two. I had to wise up to that for the rest of the game.
“He’s physically tall but he’s filled out a lot since I marked him. The one thing I remember was his maturity for a player who is making his first championship game. The level of communication he has with his own players and the amount of talk and leadership he was showing as a young fella.
“I’m sure that’s part of his game and he has grown in it, but that shows the high level of confidence in yourself.”
Neither outing worked out well for Clare as they slumped to a 22-point defeat in the 2018 Munster semi-final. The second bite was more encouraging for Clare as they lost out by just six points in 2019.
When Clifford identified Kelly as one of the toughest opponents he has come across at a Q&A, he used words like “tough,” “experienced,” and “cute.” Kelly can read between the lines of what Clifford really meant.
“When I marked him, I was in my 15th season,” says Kelly. “I had a few tricks for how to get out in front of a player. He’s probably referring to some of the things you do to make sure you’re in the right position.”
Kelly noticed improvements in Clifford’s general play between both meetings, but that was just a taster. Look at how Clifford’s arc has soared since then. Four All-Stars, one All-Ireland medal and a Footballer of The Year award are the measure of his impact on Gaelic football, and he’s still only 24 years old.
So when Dublin jog out on the pitch in Croke Park on Sunday, they must accept that they too will not keep Clifford quiet. They might be able to dial him down, but not all the way to zero. Limiting his influence is the most they can hope for.
Choosing the defender to patrol Clifford’s movements will be crucial to their chances. All signs point to Michael Fitzsimons as being the most likely candidate. The pair go back a long way. In last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, Clifford picked Fitzsimons’s pockets for 0-6 (0-1f, 0-1 mark). They also crossed paths in the 2021 National League where Clifford scored 1-6 on Fitzsimons, including a penalty.
Jonny Cooper was the first choice to mark Clifford in the 2019 All-Ireland final that ended in a draw, but when he was sent-off Fitzsimons took over for the remainder of that game and the replay.
Clifford scored two points from play in the drawn match and five from play in the replay as Dublin completed their historic five-in-a-row. That’s a steady run of scores, and his stats in 2023 make for impressive reading too, as he has 5-39 to his name so far.
Clifford’s highest tally in a game this year is 2-6 against Clare in the Munster final. His lowest? Five points against Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final where he hit that mesmerising cross-field pass as he was being muscled out over the sideline by two players.
“He [Fitzsimons] probably has the best skillset from the Dublin defenders,” says Kelly.
“You will have the structure but there will be times where you’re one-on-one where they will break quickly and you’d have to say that his the best Dublin defender to pick him up. It’s really about limiting the amount of times that you’re exposed at the back and that comes down to limiting turnovers.”
How do you handle a player who is blessed with all of the attributes that Clifford has? Where can you begin to go about getting the better of someone who has already distinguished himself as one of the greats?
When Kelly is asked if Clifford has any weaknesses for Fitzsimons to target, there is a notable pause.
“If there there, I haven’t spotted them. If you’re looking for an insight on how to mark him, I honestly don’t have it.
“I don’t see how you could do it without a team structure where you’re slowing him down and not giving him the opportunity to break quickly. Dublin are very good at getting back and closing off the space.
Of course, Fitzsimons could try some foul play treatment to see if he can force Clifford to unravel. Poke the bear.
But Kelly sees no point in trying to disrupt Clifford that way. Not with the form he’s in.
“He’s been a star player since he was a young lad and I’m sure he gets this stuff quite often. I don’t see how it bothers him and I don’t see the benefit of it.
Whatever is coming down the line this weekend and beyond for Clifford, Kelly is one of the few defenders to have somewhat happy memories of the Kerry star.
“Personally, I was satisfied with how I played but, really, you look at it from a team perspective and we hadn’t put in a good performance that day and we were all disappointed,” says Kelly.
“When I’m older, I might look back and say that I had the privilege of marking him in his first championship game.
“But when you’re out there playing, you don’t think that way.”
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