Marking Marty

Six years ago, Eamonn Fitzmaurice was given the role of shackling Mayo playmaker Kieran McDonald in an All-Ireland final. On Sunday, a Cork defender will be handed a similar critical assignment – marking Marty Clarke. The Kerryman offers some vital clues

PURISTS can view defending as a necessary evil, and no more than that. They would prefer to see the game’s best forwards given the time and space to illuminate the big sporting occasions.

However, there’s a counterpoint to the theory that I subscribe to. Good defending is something to be enjoyed and admired. The great American football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “offence wins games, defence wins championships”.