'A perfect 10?' Trio of Dublin niners overtake Kerry greats in the pantheon

Was this the last dance for Dublin's decorated trio?

30 July 2023; Dublin nine time All Ireland medal winners from left, James McCarthy, Stephen Cluxton and Michael Fitzsimons celebrate after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Tomás Ó Sé graciously ceded ground at the top of the pantheon to Dublin's 'niners' - James McCarthy, Stephen Cluxton and Mick Fitzsimons, the history-making Dublin trio that now hold the distinction of owning nine senior All-Ireland football medals.

Speaking on RTÉ, Ó Sé said: "In Kerry, you had Páidí, Pat Spillane, Ogie, Mikey, Ger Power, absolute Gods in Kerry…. But I’d have no problem bowing my hat to the three lads that won it. For me, Mick Fitz was man of the match. McCarthy the greatest Dublin player of all time. Absolutely no problem with those fellas having nine All-Ireland medals."

Ciarán Whelan paid rich tribute to his decorated countymen.

“A piece of history created by three legendary footballers. James McCarthy is the greatest... Mick Fitzsimons’ battle with David Clifford will go down in the ages as one of the best one-on-one battles. Clifford showed he was human but Fitz was heroic in some of his tackles and his turnovers.

“Cluxton back in goal didn’t put a foot wrong.

“They said it was the last dance, Maybe there is a perfect 10 for them, but the tone of everything that's going on you get a sense they were coming back for one push. This All-Ireland probably means more than a lot of the other ones. You can see that in the body language.

“Even from Dessie Farrell’s perspective, it was a tough job to take over when Jim Gavin had won five in a row. He got a bit of criticism over the last few years. To get the band back together and deliver one, is incredible.

“It’s huge achievement for Dessie, he could close the door on this now and go out and say he’s done his bit and go out on top.

"It was a heroic game, an All-Ireland final of turnovers and physicality. Both teams put in a massive shift and it was small margins."

One of those small margins was a decision by David Gough to overturn a close-in free awarded to David Clifford after the intervention of an umpire suggested both he and marker Fitzsimons had been tussling with one another. Dublin went up the field to score, making it a likely two-point swing, but Ó Sé had no complaints.

"We saw it from the back and both of them were at it. I hate to actually admit it. You wish umpires to make a contribution like that most games, which they don’t, but they did today and I think the right decision was possibly made. It could have been made either way.

"There has always been a great respect, that’s the beauty of the GAA, there’s no malice, no talking points after it. Hats off Dublin, better team, well done."