'It is absolute relief because I couldn’t face back down to Fossa without winning it'
Fossa players celebrate after the game. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane
A satisfying conclusion to a gargantuan season for the Clifford brothers and their beloved Fossa even if it wasn’t without struggle or controversy.
Both 11-point hero David and Paudie were on the wrong side of the whitewash when referee Thomas Murphy blew his whistle for a final time having red carded the pair in additional time.
On top of that, Paudie was incorrectly introduced on the Hogan Stand rostrum and in the acceptance speech he questioned Murphy’s decision to issue him with his marching orders. Up until 2018, the GAA rulebook would have prevented dismissed Clifford from lifting the cup but not even that would have tainted a momentous day for Fossa.
They had to do it the hard way, much harder than had been anticipated. They trailed by three at half-time and while they went ahead as early as the seventh minute of the second half and never surrendered that advantage, Stewartstown remained on the heels until the end.
For Fossa manager Adrian Sheehan, there was sheer relief, especially as he weighed up the possibility of facing into extra-time without the talismanic Cliffords.
“It’s just absolutely unbelievable. One of the boys mentioned to me afterwards there was a great club stalwart Dave Geaney who died three years ago before I actually took charge of the team. He reminded me, ‘Do you remember the night of Dave Geaney’s funeral you told me you’d bring us to Croke Park?’ I said, ‘I don’t remember that at all.’ But I was determined to bring us there and look we got there and thanks be to God it all worked out.
“It is relief, it is absolute relief because I couldn’t face back down to Fossa tomorrow night without winning it. Massive relief."
With four unanswered points in six minutes, Fossa had changed the flow of the game by the time Stewartstown lost their first of four players to red cards. Darren Devlin made contact with Emmett O’Shea’s face after the forward had put the Kerrymen ahead in the 37th minute.
Devlin gave the linesman enough reason to cite the incident to referee Murphy but it was on the minimal side of the offence. The decision angered Harps’ joint-manager Peter Armour.
“The linesman on that side was also the linesman in Glasgow (All-Ireland quarter-final) that had also got a man sent off for us too, which was a wee bit dubious as well. Look, we can go through all the ins and outs. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough.” Despite the numerical disadvantage, Stewartstown were within a point by the 48th minute and Cian O’Shea’s black card three minutes later should have worked in their favour but Fossa outscored them by two in the remainder. David Clifford picked off three, Harry Buckley added a brace, one of them which was a half-goal chance, and Emmett O’Shea kicked over his third.
There was no score after Clifford’s 11th point in the first minute of additional time as the game threatened to go out of control. Anton Coyle’s high elbow on Paudie Clifford saw him sent to the line and Gavin Devlin joined him when he picked up a second booking.
As tempers grew, David Clifford was issued a second yellow after becoming embroiled in an on-the-ground row having earned the first for kicking the ball off Greg Kelly’s tee after scoring that point. Seconds later, Paudie joined him under the Hogan Stand when he was brandished a straight red.
Stewartstown then lost a fourth player when Kyran Robinson was dismissed and a halt was then brought to a game that wasn’t so unseemly until those tense stoppage time moments. “It was manic,” said Sheehan. “I don’t know how many cards it finished up with but it was probably unjustified because it was a great game up to that, it just got a bit messy.” Armour offered: “Look, maybe you can say a wee bit of ill-discipline at times, but look you are going to get these things. It’s the whole occasion and people just get bottled up. Things happen, they just happened probably too late in the game for us to try and recover. That’s just the way it finished and panned out and we can’t do much more really now.” Sheehan hailed the players for putting the management’s half-time advice into action. Trailing 1-7 to 0-7, the difference being Gavin Devlin’s goal when he made the most of a mix-up on Dylan McElhatton’s shot dropping short in 24th minute, they were finding themselves too much on the backfoot. Paudie Clifford wasn’t involved as much as Fossa would have liked and Harps’ blend of running and direct play into Devlin and Dan Lowe was working well.
“We felt was our middle third were dropping back and allowing them to run at us,” said Sheehan. “At half-time, we said, ‘Lads, we’re going to have to engage them further up the field’. When we started engaging them further up the field, you could visibly see the game change."
D. Clifford (0-11, 3 frees); E. O’Shea (1 mark), H. Buckley (0-3 each); P. Clifford (0-2).
G. Devlin (1-5, 0-3 frees); D. Lowe (0-3, 2 frees); M. Quinn, S. Talbot (0-2 each); C. Quinn (0-1).
: S. O’Sullivan; K. McCarthy, F. Coffey, B. Myers; D. O’Keeffe, P. Sheehan, D. O’Connell; E. Talbot, C. O’Shea; P. Clifford (c), M. Rennie, R. Doyle; H. Buckley, D. Clifford, E. O’Shea.
Subs for Fossa: R. Colleran for K. McCarthy (h-t); T. O’Shea for R. Doyle (56); M. Dennehy for D. O’Keeffe (60+7); K. Buckley for H. Buckley (60+2); D. Coyle for P. Clifford (blood 60+2 to 60+3).
Black card: C. O’Shea (black, 51-60+1).
Red card: D. Clifford (second yellow, 60+5); P. Clifford (straight, 60+6).
S: G. Kelly; J. Park, D. Devlin, G. O’Neill; C. Quinn, M. Rooney (c), K. Robinson; S. Talbot. M. Quinn; T. Rush, C. O’Neill, D. McElhatton; D. Lowe, G. Devlin, T. Lowe.
Subs for Stewartstown Harps: A. Coyle for T. Lowe (47); C. Devlin for D. Lowe (53).
Sent off: D. Devlin (straight, 39); A. Coyle (straight, 60+2); G. Devlin (second yellow, 60+3); K. Robinson (60+6).
: T. Murphy (Galway).
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