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Despite all the attention, David Clifford remains totally at ease

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by Adam Moynihan

It's not something that most of us - the mere mortals of this world - have ever had to worry about, but being double-marked looks like a complete pain in the arse. It's annoying enough having one sticky back breathing on your neck without having another spoilsport blocking your supply lines from the front.

Kerry superstar David Clifford isn't one of us, though, so naturally enough he's enjoying it.

Speaking via Zoom from Croke Park (the Fossa native was there to launch SuperValu's #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign), Clifford was typically breezy when it came to the topic of rivals doing anything and everything in their power to stop him.

"That’s something we’ve started to come across and will continue to come across," the 23-year-old said when asked about Cork playing two defenders on him in last weekend’s Munster semi-final.

"It’s [about] trying to find solutions, trying to have as many scoring threats as we can. They can’t double-mark everyone, d’you know what I mean?

"It’s obviously tricky and that brings its challenges but trying to find ways around it is enjoyable too."

Clifford is arguably the standout Gaelic football talent of the modern era and witnessing him in full flow must be one of the most joyous experiences in sport. It therefore stands to reason that seeing him getting corralled and penned in by two opponents is one of the most horrid.

Watching him the last day was like watching a lion in a zoo. It’s always cool to see the king of the jungle but keeping him in a cage just doesn’t sit right.

Of course, Cork are perfectly entitled to set up however they want. And for much of the match - the first half in particular - their gameplan worked. Clifford was on the periphery, limited to a single point from play. As the soon-to-be-qualified PE teacher alluded to today, the onus is on Kerry to find other ways to score when they simply cannot get the ball into his hands.

The fact that Kerry’s other forwards scored 0-18 against Cork shows that they are capable of doing it. The fact that Kerry failed to get over the line when Clifford was sidelined for extra time against Tyrone last September shows that they still have a point to prove against the bigger teams.

Clifford was at ease during his 22-minute chat with myself and other print journalists, deftly sidestepping potentially loaded questions like they were hapless defenders clutching at the air around him. A dummy solo past the championship structure debate. A pirouette around the Kerry captaincy issue. A quick turn of pace left my query about the significance of potentially winning this year’s All-Ireland for dead.

He is certainly a lot more comfortable in front of the media now than the David Clifford who burst onto the senior intercounty scene in 2018. Back then, he was wide-eyed and slightly nonplussed by it all. Now, he pretty much has it (us?) all figured out.

But there was still plenty to feed on from today’s briefing. He spoke of his infant son, Óigí, and how becoming a father has put life into perspective for him.

“It’s a change but it’s massively enjoyable. There’s great fun attached to it. It feels like sport is everything and we put everything into it but health and family take a priority."

When asked if seeing his child after a disappointing performance helps, the former MTU Kerry student said that it does. “Óigí doesn’t tend to be too worried about whether we’ve won or not!”

He also spoke about avoiding the hype. Many observers rate him as the best player in the country. Others (including this writer) have publicly stated that he could well be the best they’ve ever seen.

“I haven’t paid too much attention to it, or haven’t seen a whole pile of it,” Clifford insisted. “I’m not on social media really and that’s probably a good thing.”

Perhaps most interesting of all were his insights into his own thought processes. Where does his focus lie? Does he always have football on the brain, or can he switch off?

“I’m just trying to focus on a game-to-game basis. There’s still plenty of stuff to work on.

“Throughout the league you’re just trying to get minutes into the legs, and things come so thick and fast that you don’t have much time to think. The time between the games [during championship] is good to reflect.

“[But] it can be hard to put games to the back of your mind. I’m trying to work on that – to try and be focussed when you need to be focussed and to step away when you need to step away.”

Is there room for improvement in his game?

“Yeah, 100%. Trying to get that consistency of performance is a big focus for me.”

Most would argue that he has been pretty consistent so far in his young career. If he can make improvements in that department, keeping him in his cage might become a three-man job.

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Injured Kerry quartet return for do-or-die showdown with Cavan

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by Adam Moynihan

All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Final

Kerry v Cavan

Saturday 3.30pm

Fitzgerald Stadium

Key players Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Diarmuid O’Connor and Seánie O’Shea are back in Kerry’s starting 15 for tomorrow’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final against Cavan, with playmaker Paudie Clifford also returning to the 26.

All four were sorely missed in last Saturday’s jarring nine-point defeat to Meath in Tullamore, a result which unexpectedly left Jack O’Connor’s men in second place in Group 2. They must now earn the right to play in next weekend’s quarters by defeating the Breffni County in a straight knockout tie at Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium.

The return of O’Connor in particular has lifted the spirits of Kerry supporters. The highly-rated midfielder has only played once since injuring his shoulder against Armagh in the league almost 100 days ago. He did feature in the Roscommon match on the opening weekend of the group phase – playing all 70 minutes – but he was a notable absentee in the subsequent fixtures against Cork and Meath.

With little to no information emanating from the camp about his status, rumours claiming that his season was over had swirled. That gossip was wide of the mark going by the Kerry line-up that was unveiled on Thursday night as the man from Na Gaeil has been selected at right half forward.

O’Shea, who was not risked against Meath due to a tight hamstring, will line out alongside O’Connor on the 40. Ó Beaglaoich reclaims his number five jersey having missed the last outing, presumably due to injury or illness.

Tadhg Morley, Micheál Burns and Tony Brosnan make way for the returning trio. It is believed that Brosnan has sustained a hamstring injury.

Three-time All-Star Paudie Clifford is fit enough for a place amongst the substitutes after sitting out the Meath defeat with a hamstring issue.

Kerry’s other changes see Seán O’Brien replacing Mark O’Shea, and Conor Geaney coming in for Killian Spillane.

Paul Geaney (shoulder) is not included in the match day squad but it is hoped that he will be back in the mix for the quarter-final if Kerry progress.

KERRY TEAM TO PLAY CAVAN:

1. Shane Ryan

2. Paul Murphy

3. Jason Foley

4. Tom O’Sullivan

5. Brian Ó Beaglaoich

6. Mike Breen

7. Gavin White (c)

8. Joe O’Connor

9. Seán O’Brien

10. Diarmuid O’Connor

11. Seánie O’Shea

12. Graham O’Sullivan

13. David Clifford

14. Conor Geaney

15. Dylan Geaney

SUBS: Shane Murphy, Dylan Casey, Killian Spillane, Tadhg Morley, Armin Heinrich, Micheál Burns, Evan Looney, Tom Leo O’Sullivan, Mark O’Shea, Paudie Clifford, Dara Moynihan.

Meanwhile, Cavan manager Raymond Galligan has made one change to his starting line-up for the trip south as midfielder Ryan Donohoe replaces Oisín Kiernan.

Gearóid McKiernan, the 34-year-old forward who has scored over 400 points for his county, is named amongst the 26 having recuperated from injury.

CAVAN TEAM TO PLAY KERRY:

1. Liam Brady

2. Niall Carolan

3. Killian Brady

4. Cian Reilly

5. Brían O’Connell

6. Ciarán Brady

7. Pádraig Faulkner

8. Ryan Donohoe

9. Evan Crowe

10. Gerard Smith

11. Dara McVeety

12. Oisín Brady

13. Cormac O’Reilly

14. Paddy Lynch

15. Cian Madden

SUBS: Gary O’Rourke, Luke Fortune, Killian Clarke, Oisín Kiernan, Jason McLoughlin, Ruairí Curran, Luke Molloy, Gearóid McKiernan, Thomas Edward Donohoe, Ryan O’Neill, Seán McEvoy.

Cavan caused an upset in Round 1 of the round robin by turning over Mayo in Castlebar. They subsequently found the going tough against Donegal (19-point defeat) and Tyrone (13-point defeat), but they scraped through to the last 12 thanks to Donegal’s dramatic late winner against Mayo on Sunday.

In the other preliminary quarter-finals, all of which take place this weekend, Dublin host Cork at Croke Park (Saturday 6.15pm), Down play Galway at Páirc Esler (Sunday 1.45pm), and Donegal welcome Louth to Ballybofey (Sunday 4pm). All four preliminaries are being streamed live on GAA+.

The four group winners – Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan and Meath – await the winners in the quarters, which will take place the following week at Croke Park.

If Kerry manage to beat Cavan, and the other favourites also advance (i.e. Donegal beat Louth, Dublin beat Cork, and Galway beat Down), the only team Armagh can draw in the last eight is Kerry. The reigning champions would not be able to face any of the other challengers as they have already crossed paths in either the provincial final (Donegal) or the group stage (Dublin and Galway).

Of course, none of that is set in stone yet. Far from it. For now, Kerry’s full focus will be on beating Cavan – ideally without suffering further injury setbacks in the process.

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Kerry’s All-Ireland heroes launch new football camp for girls

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Legendary Kerry ladies’ player Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh will be inspiring the next generation of superstars at the new Laochra football camp, which takes place in Killarney in August.

Aimed at girls aged 12 to 16, the camp is being run by three leaders who were central to Kerry’s magnificent All-Ireland triumph in 2024: Darragh Long (joint manager), Declan Quill (joint manager) and Anna Maria O’Donoghue (selector).

Camp ambassador Louise will be on hand to offer guidance in a coaching capacity, as will some members of the current Kerry team.

“We want you to train with your heroes so you can be the next hero,” explains Darragh Long.

“We feel very strongly about ladies’ football. It has been brilliant to myself and Declan over the last five or six years, and it has been brilliant to Anna Maria and Louise over their full careers, so we just see it as an opportunity to give something back to a sport that gave an awful lot to us.

“We’re aiming at an age group of 12 to 16, girls who will hopefully be starting on their intercounty journey. We will be able to give them a skillset they will be able to use as their steps to success. To try and be the next Louise or the next Síofra O’Shea.

“We have three workshops planned. One with Eric McDonnell, who was our strength and conditioning coach when we won the All-Ireland. One with Michelle O’Connor, an All-Ireland winning performance coach. And one with Claire O’Sullivan, our nutritionist when we won the All-Ireland.

“It’s all about giving the girls the skills and the bits and pieces they’ll need if they want to make it to the top. We really think we can give them a good grounding. We’ll also be providing a huge amount of coaching throughout the week.”

Many teenage girls give up on sport around the ages of 15 or 16. Long and his fellow camp founders are hopeful that attending Laochra might encourage girls to stick with it that bit longer.

“We would see it as a huge success if 10, 15, or 20 of the girls who come to the camp continue to play football after the camp because they got a bit of a buzz or a bit of energy from us during the week.”

The Laochra camp will run from August 12-15 at Dr Crokes GAA grounds in Killarney. You can register here.

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