A FLIP IN All-Ireland final outcomes in the space of twelve months.
2022 saw David Clifford shoot the lights out as Kerry lifted Sam Maguire at the expense of Galway.
2023 brought the frustration of a few missed chances and the disappointment of a final loss at the hands of Dublin.
If there was no joyous experience for the Kerry captain, his manager was still keen afterwards to hail the Kingdom’s leader on the pitch.
“There is a lot on David Clifford’s shoulders every day he plays,” remarked Jack O’Connor.
“David Clifford has been magnificent for us all the year.
“We were hoping upon hope that we would get him up the steps, himself and Paudie today, after the tough year he’s had, after the long year he’s had
“But I don’t think there is a player that has ever had a player like David Clifford has had since last January when he won the All-Ireland junior here, right through to now.”
As he considered the defeat, O’Connor pinpointed Paddy Small’s second-half goal as a major moment for Dublin.
“Ah look, it is never easy lose an All-Ireland final. It is a tough one because I thought there were stages of that game in the second half when we looked like we were, I won’t say in control, but that we were playing within ourselves.
“I just thought the goal was a huge turning point. It gave massive energy to Dublin playing into the Hill. And while our boys reacted really well to the goal, I felt that the effort it took to come back from the goal and go back up three, that that possibly took it our of our fellas in the last five, 10 minutes.
“Once Dublin smelled it, they have the extra bit of experience and know-how that has seen them get over the line in tight games before. This one was no different.”
Kerry got in front by three points on a couple of occasions in the second half but critically they could not get further clear.
“I don’t think it was we didn’t have chances,” stated O’Connor.
“I don’t know what the wide count was today off the top of my head. I can remember several chances we had, we missed a situation where we had a fisted point for the taking, missed a couple coming in from angles that could have gone over.
“I thought it was a very even game. Maybe they were a bit more clinical in front of goal than we were but very hard to fault our fellas. I thought our defensive display was tremendous. Tom kept Costello very quiet, Tadhg and Jason between them did great work on Con Callaghan. I thought Graham did really well in Kilkenny, a lot of the big players we targeted I thought our men did very well on them.
“But Dublin still have the know how that got them six All Irelands in a row, that DNA is still in the dressing room and maybe in the end it was the bot of experience that got them over the line.”
