Christy O'Connor: Clifford's mortal moments, Limerick scratch the itch
Galway’s Seán Kelly and David Clifford of Kerry. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
In the 20th minute in Pearse Stadium Sunday, David Clifford received possession on the 13 metre line but he was immediately engaged by Seán Kelly and Seán Fitzgerald and forced to turned the ball over. Clifford had also turned over the ball with his previous possession. It was that type of day, where Clifford was never going – or wasn’t going to be allowed – to cut loose like he did against Galway last July.
It’s rare Clifford would fail to score from 21 possessions, but he missed all four shots at the target. Clifford did have four assists, along with being involved in two more scores, but he has set such high standards that he is never measured by those kinds of metrics. Even one of those assists – a first half point by Tom O’Sullivan – was an overcooked hand-pass from Clifford that, if directed lower would probably have led to a goal. Clifford also missed a free in the first half he’d be expected to nail.
As a comparison, Shane Walsh converted his five placed ball attempts but Walsh had much less impact on the game than Clifford; Walsh’s biggest contribution from just ten possessions was being fouled for a free and having an assist for Damien Comer’s point.
After both players adorned last year’s final with individual displays for the ages, it was unrealistic to expect anything similar from both players yesterday. Plenty of time for that kind of magic later in the year.
After continually breaking new ground with their coverage, TG4 raised the standard again Sunday with their split-screen updates and clips from around the grounds during the live broadcast from Salthill. With reporters in Roscommon, Omagh and Castlebar, the viewers were constantly kept up to date as to what was happening, and how the Division 1 table was shaping up.
At half-time, Monaghan were safe and Armagh were going down. Ten minutes into the second half though, Monaghan were in the bottom two after Stefan Campbell had levelled the match at 0-11 each. As the viewers were glued to Galway-Kerry, they were still able to see how the broader picture of relegation was playing out.
A draw would have been enough for Armagh but they didn’t get it. In the end, Monaghan remained the great escapologists again on the last day. Only one team – Cork in 2016 – has been relegated on six points in the last 20 years, but Monaghan would have gone down on six points if Armagh had managed a draw, which would have got them to six points, where their better scoring difference would have kept them up.
In the end, six points remained the magic number for survival.
Early on in the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening, as John Kiely twice remonstrated with the referee and linesman over what he felt were two Limerick frees before Alan Tynan scored a point at the end of that sequence of play, Liam Cahill roared up the line to tell Kiely, in no uncertain terms, to mind his own business. Kiely instantly let Cahill know what he thought of his observation.
Two minutes later, both men exchanged views again after Barry Nash was hit with a late challenge. Before half-time, Kiely got onto the fourth official about Tipp’s use of the single-handed tackle, especially on Cian Lynch and Tom Morrissey. Limerick know every trick in the book but Kiely’s frustration on the line was a metaphor for how difficult Tipperary were making life for Limerick on the field.
Tipperary were slicker and more aggressive in the first half but most of the damage they were inflicting was off their own puckout, with Tipp mining 0-8 from that possession in the first 30 minutes. Their primary strategy on their long puckout was to pack the half-forward line but it was less conventional than normal in how four or five Tipp players broke in, as opposed to out of a cluster, but at different angles, especially in behind Declan Hannon.
Tipp had such a grip on possession around the middle that Limerick’s inside line was being starved of possession. Aaron Gillane had to wait until the 46th minute for his first possession. Peter Casey had to wait until the 19th minute for his first possession, while his three first half plays were in the middle of the field.
Limerick did run the ball more than usual, but they were lucky that Cian Lynch was in such good form in that first half when having three assists and being fouled for three converted frees.
Limerick also finally started to get a hold on the Tipp puckout just before half time. Donnacha Ó Dálaigh pushed out onto Bryan O’Mara and Limerick pressed more bodies in around their half back line to ring-fence it, with at least five Limerick players marking on the outside of any gathering Tipp cluster before they could make their runs. Limerick were also far tighter in the midfield channels to stop Barry Hogan’s pin-point deliveries.
In the second half, Tipperary scored just 0-2 from their own restarts while Limerick won ten Tipp puckouts (some of which were won on the second Tipp ball after a short puckouts), scoring 0-5 from that possession. After having 24 shots in the first half, Tipp only managed half that total in the second half. After scoring three points and winning a free in the first half, Jason Forde didn’t have a shot from play after the break.
Limerick were a totally different team in the second half in terms of aggression, ferocity and skill execution. But they also proved again that they are the best side by a distance to tactically react and problem solve on the hoof.
In the end, Kiely and Cahill smiled and shook hands afterwards. Cahill may have got under Kiely’s skin in the first half but Kiely and Limerick know full well at this stage what they need to do to scratch any tactical itch.
At the end of the Laois-Westmeath relegation game in Semple Stadium on Saturday, the pain and disappointment on the faces of the Laois players told the story of how much the defeat hurt. Some of the top teams treat the competition as an irritant but a league campaign for those outside the top nine is as important as the championship because of its importance in defining a long-term future.
If Laois win the Joe McDonagh Cup this summer, they’ll enter the bear-pit of a Leinster championship next season with only the microwaved sustenance of Division 2 to hothouse them for that potential but brutal reality.
Westmeath were also desperately trying to preserve their Division 1 status for a similar purpose and the match was played out to the noise and nerves of that backing track. It’s not as if both sides don’t know what that looks and sounds like. Laois relegated Westmeath from Division 1 in 2021. Westmeath sent Laois packing from Leinster last May.
Westmeath’s precious win was governed by composure and resilience and sealed with a greater goal threat, raising a green flag anytime they got a sniff at goal. Laois played some good stuff. They showed admirable character by hanging in and refusing to let a game that repeatedly threatened to get away from them in the second half, but the constant chase eventually wore Laois down.
When the excellent James Keyes levelled the match again in the 63rd minute, Westmeath won the puckout and Eoin Keyes rifled their third goal. Westmeath finally had control and, while Laois kept coming, Westmeath weren’t going to relinquish it. The result, and what it meant, was too precious not to.
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